Marketing options are wide and varied, offering more opportunities than ever before for companies to connect with their customers. Everything is on the Internet, and this has dramatically changed the landscape for business. Even small companies in Arizona are selling internationally, observes Matt Silverman, vice president and managing director of R&R Partners’ Phoenix … [More]
Beau Lane, LaneTerralever
How the world views you, how people react to your product or service — this is the realm of marketing that is fueled by the interactions marketing creates. As your consumer-facing voice, marketing increasingly drives consumers’ engagement with you, creating both challenges and exciting opportunities for your brand. Marketers are now accountable for much more than a … [More]
How to Hire the Best Job Candidates
Most business leaders claim that hiring quality individuals for their organization is one of their highest priorities. Nevertheless, many of them tend to think that skilled interviewing and hiring come naturally, and that, because they are good at their jobs, they must also be innately good at interviewing and hiring. The truth is, effective interviewing and hiring skills do … [More]
Would George and ‘Honest Abe’ Make It in Today’s Business World?
Presidents’ Day, which falls between the birthdays of two of our nation’s most revered leaders — George Washington and Abraham Lincoln — is coming up on Monday, February 16. And as every school-aged kid knows, both men are remembered for their honesty. (OK, “little George and the cherry tree” might be more legend than fact, but it does indicate the extent to which our culture … [More]
The Meeting Market
Heading into 2015, Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau CEO Rachel Sacco sees the local area “really poised for one of the strongest markets in the last five or six years.” Hotels are showing strong demand, and this, she explains, is the first level of how to take the temperature of the industry. Business is booking at a short-term pace, but venues are getting a lot of … [More]
Planning Tips to Avoid Common Meeting Mistakes
With the large array of details it takes to plan and execute on a successful conference, convention or trade show; small details that make a large impact often slip through the cracks. The following are tips to avoid common mistakes of a business conference. Book soundproof conference rooms. One of the largest complaints at business meetings is frequent interruptions. It’s … [More]
Dodge the ‘Got a Minute?’ Misery
Got a minute? The fact is, unless you are a great rarity today, you not only don’t have a minute, you have a yawning deficit of minutes. There is work unfinished on your desk. You have personal aspirations of all kinds that you never find time for and obligations you barely find time for. You’re already stretched for time, so no, you don’t have a minute. Yet when almost … [More]
Building Better Fundraisers
Asking for money seems to induce the same sweaty-palm anxiety associated with daring acts such as skydiving and swimming with sharks. Yet fundraising is a key responsibility for executives who serve as nonprofit board members. Some nonprofit board members don’t realize that fundraising encompasses much more than “the ask.” Board members can contribute in plenty of ways: … [More]
For-Profits Can Pursue Public Good
For-profit corporations must be run to maximize profits to their shareholders. Decision makers who put any other consideration above profit may be sued. Arizona’s new benefit corporation statute, which went into effect January 1 of this year, turns that situation around, providing a route for businesses that want to play to a social conscience. Businesses may now choose to … [More]
Eric Roudi: Seeing the People Side of Commercial Cleaning
Eric Roudi realized in the early 1980s something that others at the time had not: The cleaning business is really a people business. It’s a people business in the sense that clients who own commercial buildings have needs and requests they’d like to convey to someone they know and trust. It’s also a people business in terms of how Roudi recruits those who will interact with … [More]
Gamification Empowers Employee Incentives Program
Two-plus years ago, when Mountain Park Health Center in Phoenix wanted to find a way to inspire and recognize its 750 employees, executives decided on a gamification approach. This is one of many real-world applications in the expanding trend of using features of games to engage people and influence their behavior. For help with the project, Mountain Park Health Center … [More]
Technology for Networking
Pitching itself as a mobile partner to LinkedIn, Reach offers technology to take online networking offline. The app enables users to locate other professionals based on proximity, industry and job title. Users can customize their option to apply to specific industries or disciplines. The app works as a virtual business card, letting users first identify potential partners in … [More]
Calling All Nerds
Phoenix recently welcomed Minneapolis-based The Nerdery to its tech scene. It is the company’s fourth major market since its founding in 2003. The company with the tongue-in-cheek name has earned numerous recognitions in the ensuing years, including making Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest growing private companies for seven straight years. “We took a long look at several … [More]
Mobile App Ops in B2B Market
Mobile apps have become a hot trend, and while B2C has gotten more saturated, Jay Belfore, co-founder and co-owner as well as software director of Scottsdale-based Widely Interactive, sees a lot of room for growth in B2B. “Mostly, now, they address a specific function,” he says. “Projects are unique to the individual business.” The mobile app should serve at least two … [More]
For Health and Franchise
Healthcare franchises are hot. Non-medical homecare was the No. 1 franchise industry a few years ago (2006 - 2009), according to Peter Tourian, founder and CEO of locally based SYNERGY HomeCare, noting that, while it is not necessarily still selling the most franchises, “it is consistently growing at the top level.” The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care … [More]
Music for Health
Scottsdale-based Beamz Interactive, which holds numerous patents for its interactive, laser-controlled technology used in a wide variety of music, education, healthcare and consumer applications, recently launched its Beamz Therapy Bundle. The new therapy package features the Beamz Professional Edition Laser Controller and cross-platform player software with 50 songs and an … [More]
IKEA Designs for Business
Debuting the concept as the only one of its kind in its U.S. stores, IKEA last month held a grand opening of its business design center at the IKEA store in Tempe. In addition to the store’s extensive stock of furnishings and furniture, IKEA Business offers its customers free consultation and design services — in its store or at the customer’s place of business — “to help … [More]
Creditsafe Grows into West
Creditsafe, the world’s most-used supplier of online company credit reports, has opened a sales center in Tempe. “We wanted to be able to better serve our growing customer base in the west of the country,” says Creditsafe’s president of U.S. operations Matthew Debbage. The fast-growing company, which was founded in 1997 in Oslo, Norway, and set up its first U.S. headquarters in … [More]
