Archive for 2009

I’ve seen a lot of posts lately about sales, with many questions revolving around how to make the perfect sales pitch in either a B2C or B2B context. Based on my prior experience, I felt it’d be relevant to now throw my two cents into the bucket with a series of posts on the topic.

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On December 24th, NJ lawmakers officially asked MTV to cancel the “Jersey Shore.” The latest criticism comes from the New Jersey Italian American Legislative Caucus- which believes the wildly offensive show could significantly reduce tourism to the well known area this upcoming year.

The announcement can be found here.

Social Media Can Generate Revenue For My Business. Really?

Description: Panelists discuss unique strategies they’ve implemented for leveraging social media to generate substantial revenue for their businesses. Long and short-term strategies for generating this important additional revenue source will be explored.

Entrepreneurial Ventures: The Impact at Home

Description: Launching a business can have a significant impact on your family and personal relationships. This panel discusses many of the common challenges, and offers strategies to strike a healthy balance between business and relationships.

I Have No Money, Now What?

Description: Panelists will discuss creative approaches to sustainability and stability as well as how to develop, build and scale a breakthrough company with limited resources, such as:
1) Unique incentive structures for your company
2) Free and low cost resources for entrepreneurs

Success is in the Company You Keep

Description: Seasoned entrepreneurs and CEOs reveal how to diligence partners, suppliers and employees; as well as
1) How to find an attract the right talent and partnerships
2) Understanding the pitfalls of hiring just on resume alone
3) Understanding how and where to find a complimentary partner
4) Hiring, managing, getting the most out of non-full-time employees

My Product isn’t Cool? What in the World Should I Do?

Description: Panelists discuss how to get the word out about your product, even when it isn’t flashy. Topics include:
1) Understanding hype and why it’s a power weapon
2) Clever ways to get publicity for your brand
3) Learn the pros and cons from top-tier “spin doctors”

The $5MM Company: Growing Fast. But Also the Right Way

Description: Panelists will share tactics they’ve leveraged to achieve unprecedented business growth; as well as strategies for mitigating marketshare loss in the face of stagnant growth.

The new business landscape is truly a game changer. It allows smaller businesses to reach 1,000s of potential customers without huge marketing budgets like that of larger corporations. Viral videos, Facebook, and Twitter are a few of the new tools available to small business.

But, just like any tool, social media tools are worthless unless you know how to use them. Paramount in successful use of social media is to avoid what’s termed interruption marketing. That is, disrupting people with your sales message when they haven’t asked for it.

Instead, people want to be helped. Rather than selling to someone, it is more effective to provide useful information. If someone on a forum asks a question, one should answer it rather than saying “hire me”. By providing help and showing your knowledge, you’re more apt to actually have a follow up discussion involving being hired.

The old days of spending tons of cash for print, TV or radio ads are gone. The new landscape involves being nice and un-solicitous. For more information about the new business landscape, attend New York Entrepreneur Week.

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About the Blogger:

Matthew Weiss is owner of Weiss & Associates, PC, a boutique vehicle and traffic law firm located at 419 Park Avenue South, New York, NY. For more information visit his site New York Traffic Lawyer. Mr. Weiss is also the Global Learning Chair for the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, a worldwide not-for-profit dedicated to helping businesses owners learn and grow.

On Tuesday, I will be part of the NYEW panel “A Roadmap for the Tech/Mobile/Telecom/Media Sectors: Top Entrepreneurs Reflect.”

It is a perfect topic and promises to generate a lively discussion. I have lots of Silicon Valley tech start-up experience and some Fortune 50 Telecom experience – but for reasons that will become obvious I will focus on mobile. Mobile changes everything and we are just beginning to realize it. What interests me most is how profoundly mobile phones are changing the way we work.

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Lately I have been teaching a uniquely green focused FastTrac Tech Venture program run by ITAC – New York City’s Industrial and Technology Assistance Corporation.

Our class is full of small start-up and early-stage businesses with state-of-the-art green technology business concepts. Super cool ideas ranging from solar panel manufacturers to internet-based companies that measure energy usage of your home and commercial buildings.

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For the fearful, our current economic environment is an obstacle, for the bold, it is an opportunity.

What do companies like GE, HP, Microsoft, CNN, Hyatt and Burger King have in common? They were all started in economic downturns by entrepreneurs whose passion, commitment, and ability to execute far out-shadowed the temporary economic obstacles.

New York Entrepreneur Week (NYEW) scheduled November 16^th to the 20^th 2009 celebrates the opportunities to be found in this economy. Through a series of panels, keynotes and networking sessions, entrepreneurs will learn from over 120 speakers from 18 states and 3 continents the resources available to them and how to launch, grow, and manage a successful business venture.

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Last month I saw a fascinating movie premier, “The Age of Stupid”.

Never mind that it was the first time a movie premier was broadcast live via satellite (from here in New York) around the world on over 550 screens in 45 countries. Or that they had in attendance the likes of Kofi Annan (former Secretary General of the United Nations), Heather Graham and Jillian Anderson as well as music from Moby and Radiohead.. Or that The Huffington Post called the movie launch “One of the most important films of the year (perhaps decade)”, as both a new way independent films will be released and also a way to give additional exposure to the environmental message. Read the rest of this entry »