Laura, GFR's great Guest Host!

Today’s show made me hungry.  All we talked about was food!  It was great though because I had an awesome guest host, Laura Scholz, filling in while Erik is on vacay.

First up we were joined by Sue Sullivan from Hot Squeeze.  Sue is an Atlanta-area entrepreneur who was a caterer for a long time before making the leap into the retail food business.  She had used the Hot Squeeze recipe in her catering business for years and then finally decided that she should bottle it and sell it.  Four years and a lot of hard work later, she has a great product that a lot of people love! She didn’t go the traditional route though.  Most people start by making batches of their products for family and friends and then selling at farmer’s markets and growing from there.  She went straight to the New York Fancy Food Show.  The rest is history and again, a lot of hard work.  Sue is a self-described “workout-aholic” so she has a lot of energy.  Her free advice to anyone looking to launch a product was to be ready for the long hours.  She’s still going it alone but you can tell just from talking to her that she is passionate about this product and won’t rest until it’s on every table in America.  She calls it “ketchup for adults.”  I love that!  If you’re looking for her online, she’s got a Facebook and Twitter page and there’s even an iPhone app!  As for the product, it can be found in Whole Foods as well as many other specialty grocers and online.

Michael Erickson and Robbie Kukler

Next we were joined by Robbie Kukler and Michael Erickson from Fifth Group Restaurants in Atlanta.  Robbie began with just one restaurant, South City Kitchen which turns 17 this year.  The other Fifth Group restaurants are: La Tavola, El Taco, Ecco, South City Kitchen Vinings and their catering/special events company Bold American.  Michael is the Director of Marketing for Fifth Group restaurants and does a great job using social media to spread the word about promotions and upcoming events.  We talked about how their marketing efforts have changed with the new media phenomenon.  They said that they do far less print advertising and that any that they do today is focused on publications which might be in hotels or for tourists.  Michael uses Facebook and Twitter primarily to connect with guests and monitor what people are saying about any of the Fifth Group restaurants.

One thing we learned which I think is pretty amazing and because Atlanta doesn’t really tout itself as a “green” city as much as it should is that Ecco has NO DUMPSTERS.  They compost or recycle everything.  That is amazing!  So, whenever you eat there, you can feel good knowing that you aren’t contributing to the landfills.  Surprisingly, Atlanta is actually ahead of the curve on the environmentally-friendly efforts in the hospitality industry.  Robbie got the chance to showcase that at recent conference for event planners which was held at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Robbie and Michael’s free advice was that you really have to love what you are doing.  Michael used to be in advertising and now gets to use those skills in an industry he is more passionate about.  Robbie also said that being a restaurateur is hard work and anyone considering getting into the business needs to be prepared to work long hours and have well over six figures to invest in their business since they won’t be making any money for at least the first eighteen months.

Thanks to all of our guests and to Laura for being such an awesome guest host!  See you next week!

David is passionate about helping small business owners.  He began his legal career as a corporate attorney but realized that he wasn’t helping the community of people that he was most passionate about–small business owners.  He left the high-powered corporate world and now really loves helping small business owners realize their dreams of becoming their own boss and not having an income cap.  David had some great free advice and you can find him at www.DavidMWalker.com or www.thebom.biz

Next up we talked to Steve Rae from Roam Cafe here in Alpharetta.  Roam is a unique concept for those small business owners or corporate employees who may not have permanent office space.  For any of us who have tried to have a serious meeting at a coffee shop or restaurant, you know how challenging it can be to do that.  Roam is a game changer in this regard because it offers great open space but also has private meeting rooms and a forum room if you needed to conduct a larger meeting or training.  Unlike a co-working facility, you do not need to be a member to come to Roam.  They offer food and beverage service in their open area.  And, memberships start at just $50 and go up to $150/month.  With the highest level of membership, the great thing is that you get reciprocal privileges at other business and golf clubs making this a really great value and alternative to permanent office space.  With more and more people “workshifting” or working from anywhere, it’s nice to have a place that provides not only a social environment but one where you can be more focused and professional as well.  Roam has terrific coffee, by the way.  So if you want to try it, stop by and mention Gravity Free Radio and you’ll get a free cup of coffee and a guided tour of the space.

For everyone here in Atlanta, we hope to see you on Thursday at Strongbox West for our marketing presentation and book signing. 6:30pm. RSVP here.

We started with Shawn O’Keefe from SXSW Interactive (SXSWi).  Shawn is the producer for this year’s conference.  We talked about the fact that SXSWi has been steadily growing–rapidly over the past two years–and that attendance is expected to be up over 40% this year.  Last year there were about 12,000 attendees for the conference which is considered one of the premier technology, developer, and social media conferences.  Taking place in Austin, TX each year, SXSW Interactive is part of a three-part conference which also includes Film and Music.  What’s cool about this conference is the way the panels are chosen.  With over 2,000 entrants, the job of the organizers is to narrow it down but that process is helped by the Panel Picker which allows attendees to vote on what panels they would like to see each year.  For such a big conference, it is incredibly well-organized and I know that Erik and I are looking forward to speaking this year.

Next up we were talking socially-responsible business practices in for-profit businesses.  We had Dru Dalton from Realthread and Tom Lynch, founder of Worthwhile Wine.  Realthread uses environmentally-friendly ink for its products but also gives back by supporting children in Africa.  Worthwhile Wine imports sustainably made wines, but also runs their operations guided by “triple bottom line” business principles; the focus is on Profit, People, and Planet (versus the more traditional philosophy of business that is only focused on Profit).  They both said that running a socially responsible business is much more rewarding but that you can’t just do it as a marketing ploy.  It has to be something that you truly believe in and are willing to invest the effort (and perhaps extra money) in to making it successful for both yourself and the cause you are supporting.

Our last guest brought me a pair of pajamas.  It’s a wonder I didn’t put them on right then and there because they are soooo soft!  Isabella Padua, one of the three founders of Zielo Dreamwear, talked about what encouraged them to get into the business of designing comfortable and fashionable sleepwear.  She talked about some of their biggest surprises–the demand for plus sizes which are some of their best sellers–as well as what she would do differently if she were starting over.  She claims that being more organized has been really key in helping them continue to grow.  Her free advice was to be flexible and be willing to adapt and change with your business.  And, they are offering a 40% discount to any Gravity Free Radio listener until next Tuesday.  Go to www.zielodreamwear.com and enter the code “gravity” when checking out to take advantage of that great offer!

Announcements:

We’ll be at Strongbox West on February 18th for a presentation and book signing for Marketing: Unmasked.  RSVP here.

Great show and we’ll see you all next week!

Michael Tavani introduced us to ScoutMob, a local web business featuring one incredible discount every day and talked talked about their innovative model for promoting local businesses via web, email, text message and iPhone. ATLians should definitely visit the web site and sign up for the daily updates.

More details will be available soon, but be sure to mark your calendars for February 18th when Erik and Stephanie will be doing a book signing and presentation at Strongbox West.

Next up we were joined in the studio by Pete Canalichio who is an expert on licensing which is a very interesting business topic.  We both learned a lot about what big brands are looking for in a licensee and vice versa.  He also talked about how to balance your private products with your licensed products.  Pete is heading off to Vancouver soon where he is working with Coca-Cola’s their licensing program with the Vancouver Organizing Committee.

Definitely a very interesting show so if you have any questions about strategic planning or licensing, listen to this one!

Mike is best known as The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur and is the author of a book by the same name. His book, website, and blog are great resources for entrepreneurs and small business owners.  The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur philosophy is based on the notion that not only can one start a business with fewer resources (his analogy being a near-empty roll of toilet paper that you have to work with), but that having fewer resources can actually work to your benefit. For example, having fewer resources can force the business to address an issue in highly innovative ways versus simply spending money blindly to solve it.  Great free advice from Mike at the end of the interview.

Next up was Billy Hoffman from Zoompf.  Given Billy’s high energy and personality, it’s no wonder that he created a company that helps makes websites faster.  Zoom + Oompf was the inspiration for the name which we love.  According to the Zoompf website, here’s what Zoompf does:

“Zoompf analyzes your entire web application for over 150 performance deficiencies. Zoompf detects a wide range of performance problems, from the obvious (like HTTP compression and caching) to the advanced (like CSS rule issues, web font issues, WordPress and other applications), and Zoompf even identifies performance issues with Flash and Silverlight and Ajax.”

We couldn’t have said it better.

Definitely two very informative guests.  Download the podcast and get some great advice from both guests!

This was definitely one of the most eye-opening sessions we’ve ever done on the topic of online marketing and search engine optimization in particular. Todd and Jamie talk through the what’s and why’s of conversion rates online, how you track them, how you impact them and pitfalls to avoid along the way. We also discussed the basics of landing pages and what to expect from search engine optimization efforts.

This is a must listen!

Jennifer is also part of a new startup called XpenseTrack which was launched over this most recent Startup Weekend here in Atlanta.

To find out more about Startup Chicks check out their website at http://startupchicks.net or follow Jennifer on Twitter.