Small Business Conversations

We begin a new year by inviting Mike McCormick, CPA to return to the  conversation. Mike's specialty is small business. Participants were  invited to send questions about their business, their plans to sell  their business, their retirement, and even their 'concerns' about the  accountant they are currently using. Mike has great advise and we are  thrilled to have found someone who has a specialty in small business.

Ron Friedman of Damomics joins Tom Shay Ron's company,  Damomics, sells point of sale systems for small businesses. During the  conversation we discussed Small Business Saturday for 2012 as well as  how to create customer loyalty programs and utilizing gift cards in a  number of unique ways to build your sales and customer base. This was a  fast paced hour as Ron was full of great ideas.

Linda Cahan was our special guest as we spent the hour  asking Linda about visual merchandising. Not just window displays and  end caps; we talked about the social media and the presentation a person  makes when they are selling - be it in a store or as an outside  salesperson.

What a change of pace with our guest during this call. Dave Doucette was  our guest as we discussed business partnerships; how to pick a partner  and how to divorce yourself from one. It was a great call with a lot of  insight being shared that many people have asked about. If you missed  the call, download it now.

Jon Schallert, creator of the Destination University was the special  guest for our June e-retailer conversation conference call. He spoke on  his unique 14 process of making a business or community a destination; a  business or community that is different from those who are dependent on  others to bring customers in close proximity to the first business.  This was a great session that you will definitely want to listen to.

The start of our fourth year of e-retailer conversations conference  calls with our special guest, Anne Obarski.  Anne and Tom discuss shopping the competition, having your  business shopped - by professions or individuals you select, and focus  groups for your business.

This call is taking on two individuals. The 'taxman' and the person that  assists your business with issues of taxation. During part of the call  we are going to discuss what this 'accountant person' should be doing  for your business. In the second segment of this conference call, we are  going to look at how, and why, you should conduct an interview to find  the right person to be partnering with you regarding the accounting and  tax issues of your business. Our special guest for the evening was CPA,  Mike McCormick, the 'Cincy Tax Coach'. Mike shared some great  information about how your relationship with your accountant should  work.

Larry Pfarr, who spent 24 years with Bachman's of Minnesota and is know  for being an extraordinary merchants was the guest for January as we  discussed merchandising and displays.

We are joined by Dan Jablons of Retail Smart Guys. With only one hour to  visit, we focused our conversation on marketing and staff management.

Crystal Vilkaitis, teacher of social media was the guest on the program  for this show. The discussion focused on the strategy of using social  media; which to use and those to not use. This was an hour full of  questions and answers that will surely help any business.