Enterprise Podcast Network

Enterprise Podcast Network

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Enterprise Podcast Network episodes

  • How to manage the sales process across new markets - Entrepreneur Podcast Network – EPN

    Mikko Jauhiainen, the Vice President of Sales and a partner with software as a service company Vainu that offers a platform to help salespeople automate the prospecting process joins Enterprise Radio.
    Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Mikko Jauhiainen discuss the following:

    * Your company, Vainu, has been able to scale very quickly in a matter of months, going from 0 to more than 100 employees in just a few years. What has been the key to that growth?
    * Recently, Vainu opened its first office in the U.S. in New York City. What lessons have you learned so far?
    * As someone who has spent some time in the software as a service industry working with salespeople, can you shed some light on how salespeople should choose the tools in their own toolkits?
    * Can you talk more about some of the differences you’ve seen in the sales and marketing process here in the U.S. versus Europe and the Nordics?
    * Along those lines, what are some practical tips for writing a pointed sales pitch?

    Mikko (MJ) Jauhiainen was one of the first employees of SaaS platform Vainu in 2015. He soon became a partner in the company and is now the VP of Sales, leading a team of employees in the company’s New York office.
    MJ has been a consistent driving force within Vainu, a leader in sales as the company expanded offices (it now has four locations across Europe: Helsinki, Amsterdam, Oslo and Stockholm, along with the New York office). Vainu now has more than 100 employees and monthly bookings of more than $1 million, due in large part to the company’s strategic B2B sales system.
    Prior to orchestrating sales efforts at Vainu, MJ spent time working at other SaaS startups across the Nordics, managing and directing sales and marketing teams. He earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the Aalto School of Business in Finland and later earned a master’s in marketing from Aalto. MJ lives in New York with his wife.

    Website: Product.vainu.io
    Social Media Links:
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vainuio

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/vainuio
    People also listened to this: How this startup is to be one of the largest providers of medical supplies to educational institutes in North America
    10 min
  • What Does for Better or For Worse Really Mean Anymore? - Entrepreneur Podcast Network – EPN
    When we get married and we say our vows, they almost invariably include the phrase, “For Better or For Worse,” but what do people really mean by this? Often it feels like they assume that things will always be, “For Better or For Better,” and never consider how far they are willing to go if they are really challenged. What if one of you loses your job for an extended length of time and the other must cover all household expenses? What if you cannot have the children naturally that you always assumed you could? What if one of you comes down with a serious or eventually fatal illness, and the image you had for your life and your marriage is changed in an instant? What if there is a case of infidelity, but the partner is genuinely remorseful and wants to work on the marriage?
    These are all exceptional stressors and challenges to the marriage that no one planned on. However, you stood and promised, for better OR for worse. What did this really mean to you? Are you committed enough to stay the course and do whatever needs to be done, or are you only able to engage in a relationship when things are going well? There is a portion of the population that the latter is true. With over a 50% divorce rate, it seems clear that many people treat marriage like it is disposable, that when the going gets tough, they get going. They want an idyllic relationship, but the perfect relationship does not exist. Even the best relationship is work. Even the strongest of couples will be tested. However, if the fundamental seed of the marriage is that they will give everything they must make the relationship work, then they can survive even the most difficult of obstacles.
    It does not make someone a bad person if they cannot commit to a life that will be full of challenges and sacrifice. As someone with a rare disease, I have experienced people who thought they could handle the ongoing challenges I faced, but learned quickly that they could not. In this case, them being honest with themselves, and me, early on was a blessing and not a curse. I was lucky enough to find someone who lives the true meaning of for better or for worse, and knows that if you truly love and want to be with someone, you will deal with whatever comes your way, together. That togetherness is a key to many of the issues that couples struggle with when faced with some of the challenges I mentioned. Instead of pulling together and supporting each other, they pull away, isolate, and keep their thoughts and feelings in. Sometimes making it through the “For Worse,” is having to, and being able to talk about the hard and uncomfortable things.
    In an ideal world, couples would have thought about and discussed how they would handle various situations BEFORE they get married, but people often think they will handle things one way, and it is very different when it becomes a reality. The most important thing to be honest with ourselves about it the question of this person we are considering marrying. When we look past the wedding day, and the excitement of planning the wedding, what does the life look like? A wedding is a day, a marriage is supposed to be for life. Do you know that there is nothing you would not do, no trial you would not endure, no pain you would not suffer to be with this person? Or, have you only imagined the ideal wedding, and the ideal life where nothing goes wrong? If the latter is true, you need to have some deep and hard talks. You need to ask each other the hard questions and the important truths. You need to know what issues are deal breakers, and if they are things that neither of you can come to agreement on, evaluate if you can give this person your everything, no matter what. While no one should stay in a bad marriage, too many people are too quick to leave a diffi…
    0 min
  • 5 ways to rank your new site - Entrepreneur Podcast Network – EPN

    You have built your new site. Now you have to find a way to rank it so that it can bring forth a lot of traffic that you can profit from. As many would say, ranking a site is not an easy task to fulfill. In fact, it is extremely difficult to get your website on the front page of the search results with relevant keywords. Even if you managed to get your website to rank on the front page for a keyword, it doesn’t help much if the keywords your rank for is not a highly search keyword. Fortunately, there are five ways to rank on a site.

    1. Publish Content That is Relevant

    This is the most obvious method. Publish relevant content on your site. In order to do this, it is important to do this, first you need to have an understanding of your niche. This includes the topic you are going to focus on, the keywords you need to use, and information that is relevant to the content you are posting. When composing content, use the main keyword that you have decided on. Make sure that you sprinkle the keyword several times in your content. The worst thing to do is stuff your content. However, you want to enter the keyword just enough to rank your page. You can also get the help of SEO services. Among the service providers you can get help from is SEO.

    2. Provide Regular Updates to Your Site

    This is perhaps a big deal for search engines. After you setup your site and start adding content, you have to keep adding content. If the site seems “dead”, then it is less likely to get a high ranking. A site that is constantly getting new content is going to gain higher rankings. This is one of the reasons that sites often have forums or platforms for people to discuss topics.

    3. Use Metadata

    That space between the tags is where you can put in metadata. CMS sites will already have the data filled in by the UMC Web team. There are three types of Metadata. There is the Title metadata which is responsible for the display of the title. Another type of metadata is the textual description for browsers to use on search pages. There is also the keyword metadata for search phrases. If too many keywords appear, the browser will ignore the keywords.

    4. Make Sure the Site is Worthy of Links

    When creating links, the worst thing to do is just type the words “click here“. There is no value in these words. The better word to link with would be the name of the destination. Both pages linked to will experience improvement with ranking.

    5. Alt Tags are Useful

    If you have any video or other type of visual media, you can use alt tags. This helps search engines find your page. For people that use browsers that only use text, this can be of much help.

    There are plenty of other ways to rank on search engines and bring traffic to your site. You can learn about the many different techniques you can use for search ranking from different sources.

    0 min
  • Featuring Jon Smith Subs in honor of the newest location in Stuart by the brand president, Scott Stuck - Entrepreneur Podcast Network – EPN

    Scott Stuck, Franchise Owner and Brand President of Jon Smith Subs, the casual dining, fast, table-service concept which offers high-quality sub sandwiches prepared with fresh ingredients and boasts consistently superior quality joins Enterprise Radio.
    This episode of Enterprise Radio is in association with the Franchise Channel.
    Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Scott Stuck discuss the following:

    * How long have you been with Jon Smith Subs?
    * What motivated your decision to open your own franchised Jon Smith Subs? Was this decision as a result of getting the “brand president” title, or did you fall in love with the brand before then?
    * What was your takeaway from the opening process of a location? How do you think this information will help you throughout your career as the newly appointed brand president?
    * Do you operate any other brands?
    * Why did you chose to open your location in the Stuart market? Why the Stuart, FL location specifically?
    * What is your favorite aspect of being a franchise owner for Jon Smith Subs?

    Stuck started his career in hospitality at the age of 10, working at his father’s Big Boy franchise. After college and some job offers he turned down, Stuck went to work as the manager of a Bennigan’s wanting to learn even more about the industry. He then went on to work for Brinker International (Chili’s) managing then opening several restaurant locations for them.
    From there Stuck’s career consisted of a multitude of franchise experiences from partnering in Miller’s Ale House franchises, becoming President and equity partner in a multi-unit owner group overseeing several locations of Rock Bottom/Old Chicago throughout the Midwest, and then Einstein Bagels.

    Website: www.jonsmithsubs.com



    Social Media Links:

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JonSmithSubs

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonsmithsubs
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    7 min
  • Check Out These Four Must-Have Office Automations - Entrepreneur Podcast Network – EPN
    An incredible amount of progress has been made thanks to technology in just the past couple of decades. Workspaces are constantly in shift, with both employees and employers feeling the effects. Some of these changes are positive, while others are negative – but all are affecting how we do business.
    Office spaces are increasingly under pressure to automate and improve overall efficiency. This pressure can sometimes be too much to handle, especially when it affects the bottom line. In keeping with the times, here are four must-have office automation solutions that any workspace should consider implementing or adopting pronto.
    Enterprise Resource Planning
    The more your office can be integrated and automated, the more efficient most processes and tasks become. One hot new way to bring the office closer together is through the use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Not only does ERP help automate a variety of office-related tasks, but it also connects departments, devices and processes more seamlessly to ensure faster completion and better organization.
    Some of the best ERP implementations have helped boost office productivity by as much as 50 percent. For any office space that dreams of getting more done with less, it’s difficult to justify ignoring this critical automation system.
    Visitor Management Systems
    When people come to your office, how are they greeted? Did the receptionist know they were planning on coming? How do your visitors disrupt (or enable) day-to-day office work?
    Visitor management systems are automated solutions that can help filter through the disruptions of people showing up to your office. Not only can  VMS help schedule visitors in advance and assist them in finding the right person in-office, but similar systems can also be used to coordinate when each employee arrives or leave every day. Many businesses have eliminated their traditional receptionist positions altogether with VMS solutions.
    Energy Efficient Heating and Cooling
    Anybody who has worked in an office for a while understands that office politics surrounding the thermostat is a real thing. Some people are too hot, while others are too cold. Heating and cooling is one of the biggest recurring expenditures tied directly to the office space itself. Moving toward a more efficient solution is key.
    An increasing number of offices have installed climate-controlled, automated systems that balance both cold and warmth to produce more efficient work environments. Some systems even allow for personal customizations at each employee’s desk, helping to reduce discomfort and improve productivity.
    Shared Document Systems
    Spreadsheets, presentations and conference call summaries: these are just a few of the many items businesses and offices have to keep track of on a daily basis. Any office wanting to pursue efficient automation should highly consider the use of shared document systems – many of which are free.
    Examples include Evernote and Google Drive, both of which allow for the seamless sharing of documents, easy storage, specific permissions/access options, and real-time editing which can be accessed from anywhere. Any changes are automatically synced and available to anybody with permissions to view them. There really isn’t any excuse to have offline documents at this point, especially when they need to be shared throughout the office.
    With literally hundreds of potential automation ideas and optimizations to be made around the office, it’s hard to know where to begin. Bit by bit, you can make changes to the office environment that’ll be minimally disruptive and still provide improvements. These four automation ideas are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s possible.
    0 min
  • Top Level Executive Leaders responsibilities for Organizational Effectiveness - Entrepreneur Podcast Network – EPN

    Dr. Amicitia (CITA) Maloon Gibson, Founder and CEO of ATIC and MGAA Professional Developments Institute who are Growing and empowering future leaders for now for extraordinary success again joins Enterprise Radio.
    Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Dr. Cita Maloon Gibson discuss the following:

    * What are your most recent updates?
    * What is your topic of conversation today?

    Top Level Executive Leaders responsibilities for Organizational Effectiveness

    * Lead and Invest in self.
    * Set and achieve organizational goals
    * Increase Customer Satisfaction
    * Be A firm Decision Maker
    * Prioritize and focus on key functions
    * Be the Role Model
    * Set the Performance Bar
    * Assessments and repeats


    * What one goal, if you could achieve in 24 hours, would have the greatest positive impact on your life?
    * What one book could you read again that would help our listeners?
    * What suggestion you would give her listeners that would make them more productive?

    Amicitia (Cita) Gibson, Phd, is the Founder & President of MGAA Professional Development Institute and ATIC & MG Center for Excellence (non-profit). She has dedicated her career to developing others in a plethora of diverse industries. An expert advocate of selecting and developing talent for leadership and business success who has held various leadership roles in industries such as non-profit and for-profits on board of directors in corporation, ministries, state, local, Department of Defense and federal governments in the U.S. and international. She is a retired Executive Leader with over three decades of excellence in careers.
    She is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel with 29 years of distinguished service to the nation. She has worked in various leadership positions throughout Department of Defense. Her experiences are inclusive of local and national board of directors. Her MISSION is Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders to Be Executives and the Best Leaders possible. “She says, Living is a part of giving and leaving a Legacy for others.
    Dr. Cita has received numerous Professional Awards for community and national leadership as a senior leader. “Growing and Empowering Future Leaders Now” and LeadingwiththeMedals is her brand. She has authored and co-authored numerous books and CDs on empowerment for women and leading others with the stepping stones for success in life, careers and relationships. Her why is your success.  She serves as a keynote speaker, trainer, and a workshop leader.
    She is an advocate for veterans that are homeless especially women and ministers and feeds the homeless. Her travels are throughout North America and International.  She is a native of St. Thomas US Virgin Islands and resides in central Florida.

    Website: www.inspireleadgrow.com

    Facebook: facebook.com/inspireleadgrow
    People also listened to this: How to Grow Your Email List Through a Challenge
    18 min
  • How to Grow Your Email List Through a Challenge - Entrepreneur Podcast Network – EPN

    Angela Henderson who is a business consultant from Angela Henderson Consulting that partners with small and medium sized businesses to grow their brands and businesses through human to human support joins Enterprise Radio to discuss how to grow your email list through a challenge.
    Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Angela Henderson discuss the following:

    * What’s the fastest way to bring brand awareness and sales to your business?
    * How would you go about growing your email list?
    * Where would you even begin with creating a challenge?
    * So once you survey your audience what would you do to get started?
    * How often would you run a challenge?
    * Once the one tip you’d give for doing a challenge?

    Angela Henderson is a Business Consultant who partners with small and medium sized businesses to grow their brands and businesses through human to human support. After spending nearly a decade creating her first successful business Finlee and Me and learning everything from branding, to PR, to sales funnels, email marketing, website, copy, SEO and more Angela knows what it truly takes to have a strong brand, consistence sales, steady growth and over all dedication.
    Angela has partnered with major brands like Netflix, P&O Cruises, Club Med, Holiday Inn Resorts in a variety of different working relationships. In addition, Angela has been a speaker at numerous conference such as Australia’s learning blogging conference Problogger, has her own sell out mastermind events, appears on Australian and International Podcasts and traveled to Cebu, Phillipines with Tropical Think Tank (leading entrepreneur conference in the world).

    Website: www.angelahenderson.com.au
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    8 min
  • Inline Validation Keeps Ecommerce Customers Engaged - Entrepreneur Podcast Network – EPN
    Once upon a time, in the early days of the internet, if you made one mistake while filling out a form online, you’d get an error message when you clicked “Next,” the form would clear, and you’d have to start all over again. Of course, those were the heady days when the idea of doing anything on the internet was so exciting, we’d put up with such nonsense. Today, you can know something is wrong the moment you enter poorly formatted data. This is called inline validation and it keeps ecommerce customers engaged.
    Live Inline Validation Defined
    Live inline validation is defined as the process of determining the validity of a user’s form inputs as they progress, rather than checking it when their inputs are complete. Surprisingly though, a 2016 checkout usability study by the Baymard Institute revealed some 40 percent of websites still don’t have it. And, 20 percent of those that do have it are using it improperly.
    Proponents say providing immediate feedback shortens form completion time by affirming everything is correct as the user progresses rather than notifying them of errors when they thought they were finished. This keeps the user moving along (say, through checkout for example) free of frustration. Remember, checkout issues are one of the key stumbling blocks to conversion. Annoy a customer at this stage of the transaction and they may decide buying from your site isn’t worth the irritation.
    Proper Implementation is Key
    For this reason, it’s important to look for this feature in free ecommerce website templates when deciding which platform to use for your store. Now, with that said, you also need to make sure the way the tool is implemented won’t disrupt the checkout process. A phenomenon known as premature inline validation occurs when the input is flagged as erroneous before the user finishes typing. This can make shoppers think something is wrong when there isn’t. Or worse, anger them because the site is correcting them before they actually make a mistake. Rather than anticipating, it’s better for the validation engine to wait to check the field once an input is complete.
    Proven Faster and More Accurate
    Digital customer experience expert Luke Wroblewski conducted a test with a London-based usability firm to observe 22 average users completing six variations of a registration form. He used three with inline validation and three without. The findings showed users were faster, more successful, less error-prone and more satisfied with inline validation. When asked, they said it was because they didn’t have to reread the entire form to resolve errors after submitting it. They could correct them as they went along instead.
    The “Joys” of Pogosticking
    Wroblewski says, “Submitting and resubmitting forms to check answers can lead to a form of the frustrating and often unsuccessful behavior sometimes called ‘pogosticking.’” This often occurs when people are asked to provide an answer they may not be able to guess correctly the first time. As an example, selecting a username can result in pogosticking because you don’t know which usernames a website has available. So you make a guess, click “create account,” learn the username you want is taken, guess again, click “create account” again, and so on—until you find one you can live with that isn’t already taken.
    Now, imagine how your customers will feel trying to register for your loyalty program if your interface forces them to operate in this fashion.
    More Engagement = More Conversions
    Your goal, with everything you do on your ecommerce site, should be to move the customer along to a purchase. Inline validation keeps ecommerce customers engaged, which will always have a positive effect on your bottom line.
    0 min
  • Why Managing Growth Is Critical - Entrepreneur Podcast Network – EPN

    Michael Laps, one of the co-founders of Yoghurt Digital, an Australian digital marketing agency specialising in SEO, paid search and conversion optimisation again joins Enterprise Radio to discuss why managing growth is critical.
    Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Michael Laps discuss the following:

    * It’s been a while since we last caught up on EPN, how have things been going at Yoghurt Digital?
    * So you’ve just ticked over into your fourth year of business, what are the most noticeable changes you’ve seen year-to-year?
    * Given the rate of change within your business, how have you managed to keep on top of changes and shifts within your industry?
    * Have you changed your business structure or service offering to reflect market trends?
    * What’s next for Yoghurt Digital? What does the next 6-12 months look like?
    * Why managing growth is so important?

    Yoghurt Digital is a Sydney-based digital marketing agency specialising in Conversion Optimisation (CRO), Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Paid Media (SEM). I co-founded the agency to provide companies both nationally and internationally with the best of both worlds – big agency experience, small agency hustle.
    Our reputation in the Australian marketing landscape is as conversion specialists, and our track record in the Conversion Optimisation space is the reason many companies choose to engage us. Our work encompasses qualitative and quantitative consumer behaviour research, user experience design, personalisation and multivariate testing.
    At our core, we’re a team of data lovers and number crunchers, forever devoted to intimately understanding our clients’ customers and their behaviour.
    As one of the co-founders of Yoghurt Digital, I spend my time using data to deliver goal-focused digital strategies for Yoghurt’s clients. My role encompasses business development, agency partnerships and setting the overall strategic direction for the agency.
    With a background in client service at both traditional advertising and digital agencies, I’ve been privileged to have worked with some of Australia’s largest brands, including ANZ Bank, H&R Block and Converse.

    Website: www.yoghurtdigital.com.au
    Social Media Links:

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YoghurtDigital

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/yoghurtdigital
    18 min
  • Why A Failed Relationship Does Not Make You A Failure? - Entrepreneur Podcast Network – EPN
    Often, patients speak to me about the fact that they feel like a failure, because a relationship failed. They take the fact that a relationship, or even a series of relationships, not working out, is a direct indication that there is something deeply wrong with them. They feel flawed, unlovable, and that there is not hope for future success for them in relationships. Long term relationships, and especially a marriage, can feel like an unsurmountable failure, as you have invested so much of yourself, your time, and your identity into this relationship, and being part of a couple. Many times, people have tried to work things out, gone to counseling, adjusted issues their partner was not pleased with, but inevitably, the relationship still fails. What we need to learn, is that the failure of a relationship, does not make US a failure.
    No one is perfect, and hopefully no one is claiming to be. We all have things that we could work on. However, if you genuinely tried to make the relationship work, if you did the hard work and things still did not work out, you should give yourself credit for your efforts instead of focusing on the inevitable outcome. The truth is that no matter what we do, sometimes relationships are just not meant to work out, or the issues have become too great to overcome. Many times, couples go to couple’s therapy, if this means that things will be fixed, and they will move forward together. This is the ideal outcome, but is also not a given, by any means. The national average of first time marriages ending in divorce is 50%+, and is even higher for second time marriages. Now consider that a couple that enters couples therapy is already largely teetering towards the negative 50%, or they would not be in couple’s therapy. They do show strength and willingness to try by simply going, but about 50% of those couples will divorce as well. The benefit is that the couple is with a supportive and unbiased third party who can help them navigate an amicable break up. This is especially important If children are involved.
    Other times, relationships come to an end due to infidelity, falling out of love, years of poor communication and stress, or any number of issues. While the relationship may not work, how you choose to navigate going forward can be your success. Good or bad, there are lessons to be learned from each relationship we have, and the lesson is not that you are a failure. The lessons revolve around identifying many things more clearly, which will allow you to be more successful in your future relationships. A relationship not working out allows us the opportunity to reevaluate what we do and do not want in a relationship. How we have grown and changed, and therefore so have our needs. What is most important to us, and what does not really matter. Often, and especially after a long relationship, we will discover that what we thought we once wanted, has changed a great deal over the years. To find our more ideal match, and to have greater success, we need to adjust what we are looking for and our knowledge of what we have learned is most important to us.
    This is also an exceptional opportunity for self-growth. Many people are serial monogamists, who never really take the time to get to know themselves as a strong and self-confident individual. They have always viewed themselves and their identity as part of a couple. To these individuals, I express the importance, and the essential exercise of being single for a while and really getting to know yourself, as an individual. Also, as none of us are perfect, this is an ideal time to take stock in your half of a relationship, and what you need to work on to be a more ideal partner. When we have a more secure and more confident sense of self, we attract more quality par…
    0 min

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