Franchise Today

International Franchising is front and center this week on Franchise Today as Host, Paul Segreto welcomes as his guest, Ray Hays, a seasoned international franchise executive and consultant.

Hays has a successful 20-year track record of developing and supporting Master Franchisees worldwide, including actual field experience in 50 countries. He has earned his Certified Franchise Executive designation in 2007 and his MBA in 1994. Building upon his Bachelors of Science degree in International Affairs from Georgetown University, Hays studied within a Spanish and Cultural Curriculum in Spain at the Universidad de Sevilla.

In addition to his international work as a franchise executive and consultant, Hays planned and executed trade missions and partner searches with U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. State Department, foreign government agencies and the IFA.

In this Encore Presentation on Franchise Today, Paul Segreto welcomed as his guest, David Melton. David is both a successful author and Domino's multi-unit franchisee with locations in New York and Connecticut. Focusing on David's book, "Hire the American Dream" the discussion outlined how to build a minimum-wage workforce into a high-performance, customer focused team. In addition, listen to how David explained what he described as his greatest achievement - helping seven of his former team members become franchisees, and that they now own over 40 stores among them!

In this Encore Presentation on Franchise Today, Paul Segreto welcomed as his guest, David Melton. David is both a successful author and Domino's multi-unit franchisee with locations in New York and Connecticut. Focusing on David's book, "Hire the American Dream" the discussion outlined how to build a minimum-wage workforce into a high-performance, customer focused team. In addition, listen to how David explained what he described as his greatest achievement - helping seven of his former team members become franchisees, and that they now own over 40 stores among them!

This week on Franchise Today, host, Paul Segreto, will be joined by Ben Litalien, a 20-year veteran of franchising, adjunct professor at Georgetown University and University of Maryland and franchising visionary. A developer of several franchise concepts and the former U.S. Franchise Manager for ExxonMobil's "On the Run" convenience store franchise, he has a broad range of franchise experience. Through his franchise management program at Georgetown University, Ben interacts with numerous franchisors across the country and around the world. Paul and Ben will be joined by Franchise Today co-producer, Joe Caruso, to discuss how the successful franchise of the future will elevate its brand by rising above the ordinary through engagement, advanced technology, knowledge management and fostering thriving environments.

This week on Franchise Today, host, Paul Segreto, welcomes as his guest, John Gordon, Principal of Pacific Management Consulting Group. Gordon is a finance and economics expert who provides research and niche earnings analysis, management consulting and advisory expertise to those who need to know about franchise and chain restaurants, hospitality and multi-unit retail sector companies. Paul and John will be joined by Franchise Today co-producer, Joe Caruso. The topic of discussion is QSR Franchise Unit Economics and Profitability and what this show title states, How to be a Winner Restaurant Franchisor.

This week on Franchise Today, Host, Paul Segreto, will be joined by Lon Safko, author of the best-selling book, The Social Media Bible. Lon is also the keynote speaker for the upcoming Franchise Social Media Summit on September, 21, 2011. Segreto, co-founder of the Summit, and Lon will discuss the Summit along with Lon's insight and persepctive on social media today and for the future. Franchise Today co-producer, Joe Caruso, also a speaker for the Summit, will also join Paul and Lon on the show and share some of his thoughts on social media and its role within franchising.

Guest notes - Lon Safko (@LonSafko) is an author of remarkable breadth, writing seven innovative best selling books that have shown corporations how to train managers to think creatively and have detailed the secrets of launching a successful on-line business. His best selling book with John Wiley & Sons “The Social Media Bible,” which hit #1 on Amazon in both their Marketing & Business categories, unlocks the mysteries of the hottest new Internet wave, Social Media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for business.

In this Special Segment of Franchise Today, Host, Paul Segreto, is joined by several of the speakers' panel for the upcoming Franchise Social Media Summit, scheduled for September 21st. Paul, co-founder of the event along with Jeremy LaDuque, will discuss with Jeremy and other guests, including Franchise Today co-producer, Joe Caruso, the philosophy behind the event, what participants will learn at the event along with the perspectives of the various speakers, all who have extensive experience in franchising and social media. The event is the first-of-its-kind all-day virtual event with its focus on franchising.

This segement of Franchise Today is an Encore Presentation. Just prior to the 2011 IFA Convention, Host, Paul Segreto, and IFA President, Steve Caldeira focused their attention on the IFA's Franchise Business Economic Outlook for 2011, IFA efforts on Capitol Hill and the then upcoming IFA Convention itself. Discussion also included a look back at Caldeira's first nine months at the helm of the International Franchise Association.

This week on Franchise Today is an Encore Presentation of the last segment of the Second Annual Franchise Legal Series. In this segment of the seven-part series, Host, Paul Segreto, welcomed as his guest, Michael Webster, Franchisee Attorney and Chairperson of Strategic Committee at the International Association of Franchisees and Dealers. Joining Michael and Paul was Franchise Today Co-producer, Joe Caruso, as they discussed independent franchisee associations and why franchisors should love them, and Michaels involvement in the International Association of Franchisees and Dealers.

Welcome to a Special Edition of Franchise Today. In this two-part special edition, Host, Paul Segreto, welcomes as his special guest, Greg Nathan. Greg has tremendous perspective and insight on franchise relationships formulated from twenty years of working with hundreds of franchise systems around the world, researching the science of franchise relations. With a team of psychologists at the Franchise Relationships Institute, remarkable tools and models have been developed to help franchisors create profitable partnerships. Paul and Greg will discuss developing healthy franchise relationships, and also talk about his upcoming Profitable Partnerships – Franchise Relations Boot Camps.