Enterprise Podcast Network

Yohan Jacob, the President and Founder at Retailbound, a retail solutions agency that helps innovative product brands scale in retail joins Enterprise Radio.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Yohan Jacob discuss the following:

* How are retailers that you work with faring in this global pandemic? Would you advise product entrepreneurs to sell to retailers in this current environment?

* As a product entrepreneur interested in working with retailers in this “new normal”, what should I be doing to get prepared?

* What is the best path in retail for product entrepreneurs that started on Amazon or on crowd-funded sites like Indiegogo or Kickstarter?  Will large retailers buy from small product entrepreneurs directly?

* In your book “Retailbound; Learn How to Sell Your Products to Retailers”, you talk about Sell Through. Why is that important for product entrepreneurs to understand?

* If I was interested in selling to retailers but did not have an established relationship with them, should I cold-email or cold-call a retail buyer? Which is a better strategy and why? What about sending unsolicited samples to a retail buyer?

Yohan Jacob is known internationally as the Retail Coach. A noted author, retail consultant and retail coach, Yohan teaches entrepreneurs, inventors, and small suppliers on how to stand apart from the competition and get their products sold to North American retailers and distributors.

Yohan has been in retail industry for nearly 3 decades. Unlike most retail consultants, Yohan has hands-on experience on both sides of the retail buyer’s desk. Yohan started his retail career as a regional sales & marketing manager at a small product manufacturer. Like most product brands, Yohan made a lot of mistakes getting his products in front of retail buyers.  However, Yohan learned from his mistakes and was very successful in getting placement with national retailers. Yohan got his MBA in Marketing and switch roles as a large retail buyer. Yohan was a senior retail buyer for two different billion-dollar retailers and has managed hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and inventory.

Yohan has literally written a book on retail. If you are a product entrepreneur and want to understand the mind of a retail buyer, check out Yohan’s book on Amazon “Retail Bound: Learn How to Sell Your Products to Retailers“.

Website: https://retailbound.com

Social Media Links:

Facebook: facebook.com/retailbound

Twitter: twitter.com/retailbound

People also listened to this: The power of PR with Beth McRae

Beth McRae, the President at The McRae Agency, a full-service PR, marketing and social media firm that was named the number one PR firm in Arizona in 2020 joins Enterprise Radio.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Beth McRae discuss the following:

* You’re an experienced PR pro – how did you get into the business?

* What does public relations mean, exactly?

* What are some of the most effective ways for people to use PR?

* Can you give us a case study from one of your clients that illustrates a great use of PR?

* What are some tips for hiring a PR agent?

Tip: Write a press release on your business or product and send it to a handful of local journalists. While PR people are experts at this, anyone can do it.

Beth McRae is the President of The McRae Agency. Beth oversees The McRae Agency with 30-plus years in the public relations, social media and marketing industries. She specializes in strategic planning; news media, community and public relations; social media and online relations; and marketing communications in various industries, including retail, franchises, consumer products, and business-to-business industries.

Beth has secured coverage in news outlets such as Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, CNN, Better Homes & Gardens, USA Today, The Today Show, Consumer Reports, U.S. News & World Report, Los Angeles Times, This Old House, Robb Report, CNET, Parenting Magazine, Popular Mechanics, Self Magazine, MSNBC, Entrepreneur Magazine, HGTV, CNBC, and virtually every conceivable local, regional and national, traditional and online news organization out there.

She has worked with a variety of clients, including Google, Nextel/Sprint, Sunny Delight, Red Bull, CBRE, Piper Jaffray, Z Gallerie, Skanska and Cushman & Wakefield, including franchises such as Massage Envy and The Joint.  Beth has received more than 45 awards for her public relations and marketing campaigns, including the Bank of America Enterprise Award.

She was recognized in the Business Journal “Who’s Who in Business” special report and has served as a board member for numerous non-profit organizations over the years.  Beth is a graduate of LEAD, a leadership-training program, and is a member of the Junior League.  She has worked with the Children’s Services Bureau to help develop a marketing program to educate the public on child abuse.  She was one of the chairs for the Super Bowl fundraiser for Children’s Hospital, “Super Ball,” and is a graduate of Valley Leadership, a Phoenix-based leadership-training program.  She won the Community Megastar Award for excellence in community service.  She was named a 2011 Trendsetter for lifetime achievement in civic and charitable contributions.

She has served on boards ranging from the Arizona Humane Society and HomeBase Youth Services, to the American Heart Association and American Cancer Society.  She is on the boards of Barry and Peggy Goldwater Foundation, Instant Signature, The EAT Community and NuCure Naturals. She has previously been appointed to the Governor’s Commission to Prevent Violence Against Women and is a founder of Las Palomas, a women’s group that has raised over $1 million for women’s and children’s charities. She is a graduate of the FBI Phoenix Citizens Academy. She is an editor/writer at Women of Wisdom Magazine.

Beth earned a Bachelor of Science in journalism, with an emphasis in public relations and advertising, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing from Texas Christian University where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and Delta Sigma Pi.  She received a master’s degree in business administration from the ...

Eran Pick, the CEO and Founder of Solid Commerce, where you can manage your eBay, Walmart & Amazon inventory from one platform joins eCommerce Radio.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Eran Pick discuss the following:

* What is the best way to start selling online?

* You’ve picked your inventory, you’ve set up your shop(s) online.  What are the best ways to attract customers to your stores and get them to complete their shopping carts?

* Online retail is typically full of siloed sales channels. As an entrepreneur, what are the best ways to manage them while keeping your business profitable?

* The online retail world is full of sellers. How can I differentiate myself and win the customers

* Can you please explain why managing shipping properly is so critical.

TIP: It takes an entrepreneur and someone who truly understands the complexities of eCommerce to know how to help you properly.  Find that mentor and you will be ahead of the game.

Eran Pick, is the CEO and Founder of Solid Commerce. Eran Pick is a serial entrepreneur and founder of high value technology companies focused on the eCommerce space.  As the CEO and Founder of Solid Commerce, he built an integrated SaaS platform connecting marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, Rakuten, Overstock, Sears, etc.), on-line shopping carts, vendor inventories, and shipping options together where clients can manage inventory, orders, warehousing, pick/pack, and shipping all in one place.  

Liquidate Direct, which was also founded and run by Mr. Pick, assisted large brick-and-mortar retailers in liquidating stale stock through eCommerce channels.  He also founded and ran Smart Media, a provider of solutions for delivering Internet radio, on-demand music and other audio content via a standalone audio device.

Mr. Pick is based in Los Angeles, California.

Websites: solidcommerce.com | ordersconnect.com

Social Media Links:

Facebook: facebook.com/solidcommerce

Twitter: twitter.com/solidcommerce

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Pradeep Khurana, Managing Director of ContinuServe. ContinuServe is a leader in IT and finance business process outsourcing joins Enterprise Radio.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Pradeep Khurana discuss the following:

* Tell us about ContinuServe, and what type of services you provide to other businesses?

* Tell us more about carve-out transactions and provide a recent example if possible.

* Tell us about your recent partnership with Amazon Web Service.

* The private equity world is niche, how did you find your calling?

* What is your perspective on the current PE market?

Pradeep Khurana – Mr. Khurana is a Co-founder and Managing Director of ContinuServe, LLC and Chairman of ContinuServe India Private Limited. ContinuServe provides outsourced back-office solutions to Private Equity backed portfolio companies with a focus on Carve-Outs.

Mr. Khurana was also the founder of Surebridge, Inc., a company started in 1996 and a pioneer in the Software as a Service industry. Mr. Khurana has served as Chairman, Co-President, and Co-CEO of the firm. He was also part of the founding team of i-Cube, a systems integration firm headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts which filed a successful IPO.

Mr. Khurana received his B.A. from Wesleyan University where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.  He received his MBA from Harvard Business School where he graduated with distinction.

Website: https://continuserve.com

People also listened to this:  The Reason for the Rhymes: Mastering the Seven Essential Skills of Innovation by Learning to Write Songs

Cliff Goldmacher, the author of The Reason for the Rhymes: Mastering the Seven Essential Skills of Innovation by Learning to Write Songs joins Enterprise Radio. A GRAMMY-recognized songwriter, Cliff has built a catalog of over a thousand songs.

This episode of Enterprise Radio is in association with the Author Channel.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Cliff Goldmacher discuss the following:

Presumably most people who have never written a song wouldn’t believe that they can do it. Yet you say in the book that in your work with business leaders and executives you’ve never failed to get them to succeed at writing a song. Do we all possess the creativity ability and how do you unlock it?

How did you make the transition from the world of music to the world of business? What have been some surprising similarities or differences?

Being innovative is one of the skills people believe they either have or they don’t. How does songwriting unleash the creativity that fosters innovation?

You state that songwriting not only increases creative output but also productivity. How are they connected?

How does songwriting help organizations clarify their message both internally and to their customers or end users?

What’s the most surprising thing you’ve discovered in working with businesses?

The Reason for the Rhymes: Mastering the Seven Essential Skills of Innovation by Learning to Write Songs. A GRAMMY-recognized songwriter, Cliff Goldmacher has built a catalog of over a thousand songs. He’s worked as a staff songwriter for a Nashville publisher and his songs have been cut by major label artists across genres from country, pop and jazz to classical crossover.

Cliff’s songwriting collaborators include Keb’ Mo’ (with whom he co-wrote on the GRAMMY-winning album “Oklahoma”), multi-platinum selling artists Ke$ha, Lisa Loeb, Chris Barron (Lead singer of the Spin Doctors) and Grateful Dead drummer, Mickey Hart. His music has been used on NPR’s “This American Life” and in national advertising campaigns. Cliff’s co-write with artist, Spencer Day, “Till You Come To Me” went to #1 on the jazz charts.

Website: thereasonfortherhymes.com

Social Media Links:

Twitter: twitter.com/reasonforrhymes

Instagram: instagram.com/reasonforrhymes

People also listened to this: A Conversation with Tom O’Malley, CEO of Currnt

Rebecca Page, Co-founder and CEO of Rebecca Page, a global digital sewing pattern and supplies company joins Enterprise Radio.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Rebecca Page discuss the following:

* How/why did you start the business?

* The sewing industry is predominantly bricks & mortar – how are you disrupting this?

* Rebecca Page has experienced fast growth over a short period of time – how did you achieve this?

* Your team of over 30 all work remotely and are based in 11 countries – how do you manage this?

* Your business bucks the trend with female co-founders, an all-female board and, unusually, with more than half female investors – have you experienced any challenges relating to gender when you’ve raised investment?

Tip: Establish your revenue model and product before you start to scale. My favorite book is The Lean Startup by Eric Reis. We’ve been following it since the beginning and test everything we do on a small scale, tweaking and changing until we can see the data all lines up and the KPIs work for us.

Rebecca Page Ltd creates a range of beginner-friendly, easy-to-sew clothing and craft patterns and sewalongs. We have over 600,000 members (and quickly growing) in our engaged and creative global community. We are a female co-founded business, with an all-female board and a remote-based team of over 30 based in 11 countries.

Website: www.rebecca-page.com

Social Media Links:

Instagram: instagram.com/rebeccajpage

Facebook: facebook.com/rebeccapageofficial

People also listened to this:  A Conversation with Tom O’Malley, CEO of Currnt

Tom O’Malley, CEO of Currnt, a marketing intelligence startup that uses AI to recruit on-demand, curated teams of experts for virtual focus groups and ongoing advisory boards joins Enterprise Radio.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Tom O’Malley discuss the following:

* Why did you create Currnt?

* What are the biggest challenges companies are currently facing?

* How is marketing changing and what can companies do to adapt?

* In this “new normal”, what can companies do to build employee and customer loyalty and satisfaction?

* Why is empathy so important these days? Is the CMO the new CEO (Chief Empathy Officer)?

TIP: Think about what keeps you relevant.  There is a tendency to focus on the solution and  while understanding your company and your competitors’ products does matter, your ability to empathize with your potential customer and anticipate their needs is a far greater determinant of relevance today.  Empathy is not just a good idea, it’s a competitive advantage.

Tom O’Malley, Innovation Enthusiast and Practicing Entrepreneur, CEO of Currnt

Tom O’Malley is Founder and CEO of Currnt, a marketing intelligence startup that uses AI to recruit on-demand, curated teams of experts for virtual focus groups and ongoing advisory boards. Tom launched Currnt in 2015 while living in Palo Alto, and fulfilled his vision for the company to be fully remote and 90% gig in 2018.

Prior to Currnt, he held various senior leadership positions at Oracle, Avaya and Qwest Communications. Tom received his MBA from the University of Chicago – Booth School of Business and his bachelor’s degree in business from Emory University – Goizueta Business School. As a demonstration of the work-from-anywhere culture, Tom resides in the resort town of Coronado, Calif. with his wife and two daughters.

Website: https://currnt.com

Social Media Links:

Twitter: @getcurrnt

Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/getcurrnt

People also listened to this: Monarch Tractor Drives Farming into the 21st Century

Chris R. Keller, Position at Customer Service Manager and Owner at Profitworks that provides digital marketing services, specializing in content creation and SEO joins Enterprise Radio.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Chris R. Keller discuss the following:

* Of your fasts growing clients, have you noticed anything in common that they are doing differently than your other clients?

* How fast are some of your clients growing?

* What have you seen as some of the things are most important for building a great customer service reputation?

* How do these fast-growing companies put a priority and focus on their SEO and digital presence?

* What are the keys to being successful at SEO?

* How can someone find a good SEO firm, as many in the industry seem to have bad reputations ?

Chris Keller is the Founder and Owner of Profitworks Small Business services. In Chris’s spare time he first loves spending time with his family and second loves coaches football at Wilfrid Laurier University as the defensive assistant. Chris loves coaching football because of the relationships it creates, the great impact it can have on players, and the strategy it involves.

Chris was born in Kitchener Ontario and raised in Haysville, Ontario. He attended Wilfrid Laurier University from 2000 to 2004, where he obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration. Currently, Chris resides in Waterloo, Ontario with his wife Janette and their three children.

Website: https://profitworks.ca

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Kevin Wolf is President of Wind Harvest International, whose solutions capture enormous amounts of untapped wind energy joins the Green Business Podcast Show on EPN.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Kevin Wolf discuss the following:

* Please give us an overview about Wind Harvest.

* How does Wind Harvest make wind farms more efficient and affordable?

* Why is Wind Harvest critical to the delivery of clean, renewable, and cheap (or cheaper) power?

* What makes Wind Harvest easy to deploy, or easier to fast-track than other sources of energy?

* Finally, what theme or point should listeners remember about Wind Harvest?

Kevin Wolf is the President of Wind Harvest International. Until his recent move to the role of President, Wolf served as Wind Harvest’s Chief Operations Officer, overseeing the company’s science, engineering, project development and website. He facilitated the engineering team that developed the Wind Harvester v3.1, wrote all the grants and developed the relationships and projects in Scotland, Barbados and California.

His science degree, environmental background, consensus-based facilitation expertise, and years of work with the company helps in his leadership role with Wind Harvest where he now leads the capital raising campaign. Wolf graduated with honors from UC Davis in 1980 with a degree in Evolution and Ecology. He volunteers as the chair for the California Clean Money Action Fund, which works on campaign finance reform. He co-founded and lives at N Street Cohousing in Davis, CA.

Website: windharvest.com

Social Media Links:

Facebook: facebook.com/windharvest

Twitter: twitter.com/windharvester

People also listened to this: Deltec Homes: Changing the Way the World Builds

Ray Hein, CEO of Propel, a SaaS platform that helps companies achieve product success by connecting the people, systems and processes needed to deliver products from concept to customer joins Enterprise Radio.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Ray Hein discuss the following:

* What inspired the launch of Propel? Was there a reason you wanted to disrupt the old-school manufacturing process?

* Why do manufacturers need Propel?

* Why is a product success platform important in today’s ever-changing environments?

* In what ways can cross-collaboration in real-time benefit manufacturers?

* How can a product success platform like Propel change the way traditional manufacturing operates?

TIP: Customer loyalty is fickle, and revenue growth relies on delivering the products and experiences those customers demand. Consolidated technology platforms that allow you to execute, track and collaborate across the entire company are the only way to deliver a truly unified experience that will delight your customers.

Ray Hein is the CEO and co-founder of Propel, which helps companies achieve product success by connecting the people, systems and processes needed to deliver products from concept to customer. Based on years of experience building and leading product management teams in both SaaS software and hardware companies, Hein launched Propel in 2015 to disrupt a fragmented PLM process by harnessing all disparate elements into one flexible and easy-to-use platform that is the single source of product truth for the entire value chain.

Prior to founding Propel, Hein served as Senior Vice President of Product Management at Apttus, where he was responsible for product strategy and new product launches. He has also held senior leadership roles at Vendavo and Centric Software. Hein spent nearly a decade at Agile Software where he led product strategy and development and created the company’s product development roadmap, based upon his in-depth experience and knowledge of manufacturing. Hein was also responsible for the identification and acquisition of seven companies, ultimately resulting in Agile’s own acquisition by Oracle.

Hein is known as a results-driven leader, as well as a thought-leader within the analyst community. He has been awarded three patents covering product network effect and enterprise platform integration. Hein is Pragmatic Marketing certified, focusing on value propositions and prioritization to drive focused, market validated, product launches. Additionally, he is a Certified Agile scrum master.

Website: propelplm.com

Social Media Links:

Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/propelplm

Twitter: twitter.com/propelPLM

People also listened to this:  Female Founder, Liseda Shelegu, founder of The Main Tab discusses new opportunities for small retailers and luxury brands