How not to break up in smithereens - the story of a very messy breakup - told by Roger. “I just need to be able to drink coffee and listen to you” is how this episode starts. Recorded in the Republic of Work in Cork, with Louis the dog who’s been drinking coffee this morning. Listen to Why was Louis genuinely attracted to Rogers coffee? You find out Was Paul really frazzled or focused? And that’s just the warmup chat. _________ If you run (or imagine yourself running) - this episode is for you. However, this episode is about BREAKING UP. Strava - “Run and cycling tracking on the social network for athletes” & Relive - “ turns your adventure into a personal video worth sharing”. You hear the emails sent by both companies (read by unbiased Roger). You can judge which company’s style appeals to you. You can take sides in the BREAKUP. “As a human being, I warm very much to the text that (No Spoiler here) put out ...” reveals Roger. Business Jazz Paul offers his perspective & advice - but you must listen to the very end to uncover Paul’s stance.

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 26th October 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): The number one thing that holds us back from achieving our goals, from grasping our full potential, is ourselves. Instead of taking action, we wait. We wait for the perceived risks to abate, the circumstances to change, more time to become available to us. We wait for the support of others. We promise we'll leap into action as soon as we have more money, fewer commitments, clearer goals. Nothing happens. Even when opportunity comes knocking. "I'm not quite ready," we reply. Courage This week, Paul and Roger discuss two emails - one from Chris Brogan, the other from AJ Leon. Both highlight the need for you to be courageous. They urge you to take action over finding excuses. Chris and AJ want you to become the whole person you are capable of being. They offer advice.

This is Part Two, the second instalment, (the second coming?) of last week's episode. Paul says, small businesses can't afford big branding budgets. Instead, they should listen to Business Jazz for free. Roger says, if you choose pink socks then you'll know what other decisions to make about your colours. Excitement: there is a discussion about the benefits of making any choice over no choice and the joys of consistency. Consistency brings you business. Flakiness loses you business. But whom should you hire? A practitioner or someone who talks well, but walks much less? If the solution offered by two businesses is the same, the way the solution is communicated is important.

Tony Macken (managing director of "Daylight.ie") joins Roger & Paul at the start. He sparks the agenda for this episode. Part 1: If you know what you're trying to achieve, you have a better chance of achieving it. This leads to a discussion about socks, shirts, ties, wardrobe & shoes - including what Tony Macken is wearing. Paul says The male world is divided into - men who put their socks on first (before other clothes) - men who put on socks second last (just before putting on shoes) This opens up discussion about What is the foundation - the anchor - of your image? A company will have a "sock". What is that sock? This leads on to a discussion of the branding of Republic of Work (RoW) in Cork (where this episode was recorded). - the use of the colour blue by RoW Tip: If you want to "own" a colour (like Coca Cola do), you must use that colour throughout your business. What other colour has been chosen consistently by RoW to go with their blue? Tip: If branding is done in an absolutely perfect way, this is what you'd do ... Part 2: This podcast is not aimed at corporates that spend €25m on their brand development. It is aimed at SMEs & startups. They - think about their business image & reputation - can't afford to invest in research to help brand development. What should they do? (The conversation, which makes up this episode of the podcast, will be continued in the next episode which will be shared next week.)

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 19th October 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): Ideas - we all have them. Some are fantastic, some less so. Most are never acted on. In his latest email, Chris Brogan gives you seven steps to help you pick those ideas that are good for you and implement them. Paul and Roger discuss their own experiences of implementing ideas. During the podcast, you'll hear occasional interference from someone's smartphone. Our apologies. The person responsible (Paul and/or Roger) has been spoken to.

This week, Roger & Paul talk about "The secret about being genuinely attractive in business." Roger found the marketing "Holy Grail" in a video. He reveals the three secrets of food marketing - while describing "The Secret" as a "vile book". Is the secret tongue-in-cheek, or genuine? You decide. Here's the secret to successfully marketing food: (1) Say how food is produced - "farm fresh" - "grass-fed" (2) Say that food production is "cutting-edge", "scientific" - like "super food" However, these two things pale into insignificance alongside (3) Find customers who don't care - about misleading advertising & chemicals in food. You hear Paul say "Roger you've been abusing language". "You're twisting words". 'I've found a nest of deceit & lies" admits Roger. Have we uncovered a major difference between Roger & Paul? Is the future of the podcast precarious? You'll have to listen to the whole podcast to find out...

This is a rebroadcast of the second episode of the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 12th October 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): Email newsletters can be great things, full of useful information that can help you achieve your goals. They can also be horrible pieces of writing aimed solely at your wallet rather than you. In his own latest email missive, Chris Brogan discusses the right way to do things.

This is a rebroadcast of the second pilot of Business Jazz. You could say, it is the first recognisable episode of Business Jazz. It first went live on 5th October 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): Welcome to episode two of the BusinessJazz podcast, or as Paul would say: the second pilot. We’re making progress. This week we have an intro. We also have a producer. Our producer is Mark Cotton, and he is so much more than that. He is a sound engineer, sounding board, musician, “stunt guitarist” (we haven’t asked), composer, wrangler, adviser and all-round solid human being. We don’t know where or how to start thanking Mark, whom serendipity placed in our path. Please check him out on his About.me page. On twitter he’s @mcfontaine. We also have to say a big thank you to Sarah Langston, Mark’s partner, who has stepped in to record an intro while our voice artist recovers from an ill-fated encounter with some food. (Get well Jane). Sarah recorded our current voiceover with grace and elegance at short notice. You can find her on Twitter under the handle @misspheric. Sarah and Mark bring the band of people associated with the production of this podcast to five, not counting ourselves. The others are Chris Brogan (our inspiration), Jane Boyd (our cheerleader, our rock), and James Macolgan (the man who thought of the podcast in the first place). We hope to add to this troupe. Of course, there is a second group without whom we couldn’t do this. You. Thank you for letting us into your lives. By the way, if you want your own copy of the emails written by Chris that we discuss in this podcast, please go to his website and sign up. He’s also at Human Business Works. We’re working on some artwork for the podcast. Once we have it, we’ll push the programme to iTunes and the Blackberry and Zune libraries. You’ll be able to find us easier that way. If you’d like to get in touch, we’d welcome feedback. You can reach us via Marketing Write Now (Paul) and The Digital Storyteller (Roger). Thank you for listening.

Tony Macken (Daylight.ie) gives wisdom before the episode even starts. He got it from Brennan Scanlon (“super sharp”): you have to sell yourself—become a person(ality). Then talk passion. End up with your profession: person, passion, profession. The three Ps. Paul thinks of Pat O’Connell, fishmonger in the English Market. Then the episode ends. It starts again at 2:57 with Paul sitting like a naughy school boy. Paul’s buttons are pushed. How do secondary make themselves attractive to new pupils? He recounts a case study: it is a horror story. There is no fun in secondary school: homework, tests, the world’s heaviest bag. Roger tells legal joke very badly at 6:45. Paul recovers the episode in military style. There is talk of a letter to a photography magazine by someone who was looking for advice about becoming a war photographer. This appeals to certain people, Paul says. Advice: You can’t appeal everyone. Does secondary school appeal to people who want to build muscle to become a shot putter? Tony made himself attractive by wearing a super jacket that made us ask questions. It gave us a hook. A way into a conversation. How lucky was that? So much of what people understand from a message is determined by people’s previous message experiences. If your message is successful, is it down to you or sheer luck that your audience was set up well to receive your message? Communication is fraught with risk. Paul urges urgency. We talk about naming your company. Use words that explain what your business. Carrot is a bad name for a computer company. Paul expresses gratitude. And so ends season 7.

Show Notes:
 This week there’s a guest on the show. Somehow he sleeps during the complete recording. The theme for this episode is “Complaints”. Listener’s complaints about our last episode have Roger (almost) in tears. This leads us into a discussion about the value of complaints from customers. The effect negative criticism has - and how to turn criticisms into long time loyalty. The Bits Size Example: What Bite Size (cafe bakery) do when they get complaints. They embrace the critic and the criticism. Acknowledge the complaint - assure the critic that something will happen. The owner speaks to the person - Roger describes what the owner does. Paul refers to research: When people have a bad experience, they usually don’t come back. Paul advocates a radical approach to win back the affection of the disgruntled customer. enhance your reputation in the wider society Paul summarises the Nordstrom story told by Tom Peters in “A Passion for Excellence”. The “Re-film Game of Thrones (last season)” demand has made Roger angry. “Pay no attention to the critics” says Roger. Creative people must resist. Some films are regarded as dreadful when launched - and are later regarded as masterpieces. What does this mean? What about fashionable opinions? [Damien Hurst’s cow is mentioned.] The good thing about complaints People care enough to complain Complaints shows there is a relationship Some people have confidence you’ll do something. Additional discussion about Bite Size leads Paul to disclose “This episode is not sponsored by Bite Size.” The London Buses Story Paul’s crazy, off-the-wall, bizarre scheme that failed to take off. “You devious man” quips Roger. You have to listen to this bit of the episode to understand this part of the show notes. The Richard Branson Virgin Airways Story from Paul’s dream. Negative reviews on your website may be good for your business. They may give credibility to five star reviews. References & Recommendations on LinkedIn - Roger will rush to add negative criticism to his profile - Paul won’t. There’s plenty more in this episode. Fortunately, there isn’t time to write about everything. The identity of the lead critic of our last episode is revealed by Paul at the end.