Business Startup – New Century Dynamics Executive Search

November 12, 2018

Craft an Effective Elevator Pitch

Networking meetings can become stale and boring over time. When this happens attendance will decrease and the networking group risks becoming irrelevant. This point was on my mind as I planned our ITB Partners monthly Members meeting for Friday, October 19. We have an excellent speaker scheduled to talk about selling skills for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Her presentation is highly relevant to our members. So, I saw an opportunity to build on that theme and address one of my pet peeves. I decided to modify our standard agenda to accommodate a contest to reward the best elevator pitch. My thinking is two-fold; first to support salesmanship as the theme of the meeting, and secondly, to reinforce the importance of an effective elevator pitch.

Helping our members understand the importance of a well-crafted elevator pitch is important. Also, its an opportunity to have some fun at our meeting, while ensuring that it’s informative and productive. So what is an elevator pitch? The name itself is a metaphor for a short but highly effective positioning statement. The analogy is that if you’re sharing an elevator ride with someone, say for 30 seconds, how would you respond if asked: “what do you do?” An elevator pitch is similar to a positioning statement, also known as an Executive Summary at the beginning of a resume. It should be memorable, believable, and interesting enough to generate a follow-up discussion or meeting.

I’m a big believer in positioning statements; whether it’s for a brand, a resume, or especially as an elevator pitch. This goes back to my days in corporate planning where I learned the value of a coherent positioning statement. One should never underestimate the ability of a positioning statement to focus the organization on its strategic goals. It is difficult for me to get past a poorly constructed Executive Summary on a resume. I have my doubts that job seekers fully appreciate the importance of this paragraph. It’s the candidate’s personal positioning statement, indicating their career interest and unique selling proposition. If the Executive Summary is compelling, the reader will have a greater interest in a closer examination of the resume. If not, it may wind up in the circular file.

When I provide resume coaching advice, I always begin with the Executive Summary. My counsel is to define yourself in the first sentence by stating your career level, your functional discipline, and your principal industry experience. The follow-on sentences can provide additional detail to address one’s particular skill sets. For example, if you are proficient at bringing new products to market, or revitalizing legacy brands, those strengths would be important follow-on statements.

So, why is an elevator pitch so important? If you are engaged in networking as a means of landing a great job or to generate more sales, you need an effective sales pitch. When meeting strangers, your elevator pitch is an effective way to establish a connection. It is a tool to help you recruit evangelists for your brand. Evangelists become a force multiplier, leveraging your business development efforts. They can connect you with people looking for your services. It is meant to capture the imagination of a prospective client, and to establish you as a viable referral for people in your network. If your elevator pitch is memorable, you will be remembered! Your elevator pitch communicates a rationale to consider you as a potential employee or service provider. The quality of your sales pitch is a vital component closing the deal. It should be memorable, so the construction of your elevator pitch must be clear, easy to understand.

At the most fundamental level, an elevator pitch describes who you are, who you help, and why your services are needed. Your elevator pitch is your personal positioning statement. It is short and to the point, and hopefully interesting. In some respects, it is a conversation starter, intended to generate requests for more information. A good elevator pitch will identify your target market, the prospective client’s problem, and how your company solves those problems. Your elevator pitch is important, so make an effort to develop an effective pitch. Practice your pitch! Use it! Refine it!

Hello, I am Jim Weber. I connect good people with great job opportunities! My clients are leaders of mid-cap companies who need C-level professionals to achieve their goals.

Thank you for visiting our blog.

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

NEW CENTURY DYNAMICS EXECUTIVE SEARCH

Current Assignments

COO- Northeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – Completed
CEO- Northeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – Completed
VP Operations – Southeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – In-process.
Sr. Staff Accountant – Atlanta-based Not For Profit – New
Corporate R&D Chef, Atlanta-based Home Meal Replacement Company – Complete
Area Supervisor – Legacy Pizza Chain, Carolinas – New
Operating Partners – Legacy Pizza Chain – New
Controller – Atlanta-based Consumer Products – Digital Company – Completed
Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: Complete

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

June 25, 2018

Beyond Delivery: A Guest Post by Eric Norman

By Eric Norman, Partner, ITB Partners

Thinking back on both the successes and disappointments I’ve experienced in my career as a leader of organizational initiatives, the recollections that surface most often are not the successes… or even the difficult efforts I’ve led. The thoughts and underlying concerns that haunt me most frequently gather themselves around the discovery, after-the-fact, that some of the initiatives I believed were successfully delivered had actually been only a temporary fixes, or when viewed at a later date were revealed to be failures masquerading as success – to be discovered for what they really were only after the passage of time.

Let me briefly explain. The challenged initiatives (projects, programs, portfolios of work) I’m referring to were efforts that defied easy resolution – every step a difficult and exhaustive slog upstream. These “successes” were initiatives that had effectively ticked all the traditional performance boxes… meeting project or program objectives, achieving initial acceptance criteria and benefits targets, delivered within budget, on schedule. On later review, however, the changes we understood to be successfully delivered and implemented were nowhere to be found. New products, practices or systems sat idle – never to be used; new processes and guidance regularly circumvented or entirely ignored; new organizational structures reworked or fully replaced, no longer recognizable. In these cases, what had initially been seen as resounding success was, in reality, complete and utter failure.

Fortunately, this did not happen often, but when it did, I found it particularly disturbing and difficult to accept. I found myself asking “what had we, as the leadership team missed, what had we not done to ensure success – what had I overlooked as the initiative leader that enabled and led to this outcome?”

Answers to these questions have not come quickly. It’s taken more years than I care to admit to gain adequate perspective on the common thread that ties these failures together. Taking time to look more deeply into the initiatives I’ve led, I’ve focused specifically on the challenged initiatives and those initial successes I found later to be failures. I looked for common themes and conditions embodied in these efforts and what I found surprised me. Here are three themes common to all of them that stand out:

Solutioning, not Solving Business Problems: Common among nearly all of these challenged and failed initiatives was the notion that we were delivering “solutions”. In many cases, they turned out to be fixes to symptoms that truly didn’t address underlying business issues and conditions. Examined more closely, these were often “pet” initiatives sponsored by influential leaders intent on changing something within the organizations they led, without much real concern for, or understanding of long-term organizational or business impact. Many times these came as mandates or pronouncements, such as: “we are going Agile… every project in the organization will now follow Agile principles”, or “Regardless of what the demand study says, we are going to deliver that product by September”. To help ensure we, as initiative leaders aren’t led down this dangerous path, perhaps we should inquire about the strategic significance of such initiatives, asking organizational decision-makers: specifically, what business problem are we trying to solve? Then follow that question with another: and how will this _______ (fill-in-the-blank initiative) help achieve that outcome? In the end, it is our responsibility to ensure that the degree of clarity in the answers we receive actually guide our actions.

Delivering, not Generating Business Outcomes: Another striking similarity among this group of initiatives was the continual drumbeat of process and delivery – and we followed that drumbeat dutifully, attending to the management plans (process), and getting the job done (delivery) with mechanical precision. Whether the initiative was heralded as a model for success or one that struggled to cross the finish line, we celebrated at the conclusion and congratulated ourselves for a job well done. What becomes obvious now recalling these initiatives as a collection, was that in nearly every case the work wasn’t complete. We had prematurely declared success when we hadn’t actually achieved it. We had entirely ignored the need to measure progress against intended business outcomes. To put it simply, what we missed with our exclusive focus on process and delivery was the awareness that if we were delivering a new or changed product or service, delivery wasn’t the end of the process, it was the beginning. Measures and activities that would have served to focus the team, stakeholders, and sponsors during the initiative were entirely absent. How will we ensure adoption of the new ______ (fill-in-the-blank product or service) during and after the close of the effort? What must we do now, during the initiative, to ensure the benefits we achieve can be sustained after the effort ends, and what must we put in place to make certain these benefits continue to accrue into the future? Who, specifically, will own sustainment of the changes we’ve implemented after the current champion, sponsor and team move on? I call these questions and others like them outcome-oriented thinking, and this approach now shapes and influences the methods, processes, tools, and systems I put in place for initiative leadership, benefits achievement and sustainment.

Maintaining Systems, not Sustaining Benefits: Finally, short-sighted or limited post-delivery planning characterized many of these failed efforts. Because we had focused so intently on delivery, our post-delivery plans emerged mostly as traditional, backward-facing maintenance activities. Warranty periods, call centers, support plans, problem/issue tracking, all targeted at correcting fallout from the delivery itself – and only for a relatively short period of time. On reflection, what I noticed common among these initiatives was the absence of a forward-looking sense of sustainment and continuous outcome improvement. During the initiatives, we hadn’t anticipated and planned for systemic issues that may have occurred. We viewed support as a passive, reactive activity, without planning-in the necessary components for acting on support information and feedback, employing this key information for ongoing outcome improvement. We spent little effort on defining post-delivery adoption, utilization or effectiveness measures, or the people and processes required for monitoring and acting on them. This reinforced our view of delivery as an endpoint, leaving the difficult follow-on work to others. Related to this – and most importantly in all these initiatives, we neglected to specifically identify the individuals responsible for carrying forward the new structures, products, services or benefits sustainment activities. This was a significant omission, leaving critically important considerations completely unaddressed. In effect, we had actually built short-lived success into these efforts, without a foundation for ongoing business value generation behind it. Armed with this insight, I now regularly begin thinking of the post-implementation “who” and “how” during the planning stages of the initiatives I take on. To summarize, in my view these three “Beyond Delivery” themes are inseparably linked, and to employ them as effective initiative leaders, we must:

Ensure alignment exists between the organization’s strategic objectives and the efforts we lead
Focus attention on post-delivery activities. Identify what must be put in place during initiatives to ensure durable and sustainable success after

Anticipate and plan for process ownership and sustainment activities, specifically identifying the individuals who will carry on the good work delivered by initiatives long after the original efforts have ended

Outcome-oriented thinking; it’s what results from considerations of things that occur in business…Beyond Delivery

Eric Norman

For more articles, presentations, books, and lectures by Eric Norman, check out his website: https://nncweb.net/publications/

Thank you for visiting my blog.

I hope you enjoyed my point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, Managing Partner

ITB PARTNERS

Jim.Weber@itbpartners.com

Current Assignments

COO- Northeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – Completed
CEO- Northeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – Completed
VP Operations – Southeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – In process
Sr. Staff Accountant – Atlanta-based Not For Profit – New
Corporate R&D Chef, Atlanta-based Home Meal Replacement Company – Complete
Area Supervisor – Legacy Pizza Chain, Carolinas – New
Operating Partners – Legacy Pizza Chain – New
Controller – Atlanta-based Consumer Products – Digital Company – Completed
Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: Complete

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

May 30, 2018

Max Sutherland Joins ITB Partners

“Drive Global Growth through Asset Optimization”

Overview

Max Sutherland is a multi-industry, global corporate strategy and development executive, bringing more than 25 years of strategic Fortune 500 CEO initiatives experience to the table. Having started his career in Wall Street Banking and transitioning to manufacturing via Big 4 Consulting, Max focuses on growth, mergers and acquisitions, and enterprise-wide asset optimization to maximize top- and bottom-line financial performance, expand into new markets, and strengthen brand equity to achieve long-term objectives.

Read More…

May 26, 2018

Align Change With The Needs Of Your Culture.

The plan was to meet Chris and Aaron Monday evening, for conversation and a fine cigar. The venue was Cigar City Club, in the Buckhead Neighborhood of Atlanta. Chris is a Member of ITB Partners, whereas Aaron is new to our network. Aaron is Millennial with a background in IT Consulting. He is also an entrepreneur. Chris believes that Aaron would be a good candidate for ITB Partners. Aaron is looking for new clients. Aaron canceled due to illness but Chris and I decided to follow through with our plans. I’m glad we did as I needed a good cigar. Additionally, I had developed two networking contacts I wanted to discuss with Chris.

I met Chris through Cliff, a mutual friend. It was two years ago, just after I had published Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal. When Cliff learned that Chris was months away from publishing his first book he decided that we should meet. The full story is more interesting, but I’ll save those details for now. Chris is 27, a Millennial Expert, Keynote Speaker, and Best-Selling Author of The Millennial’s Guide to Making Happiness. He is building a Consulting Practice around Millennial career development and job satisfaction. Much of that work is focused on helping baby boomers understand their Millennials. His objective is to help them become more effective, leading to longer tenures, and a lower cost of turnover.

Arriving first, I planted myself at the right-hand corner of the u-shaped bar. I placed my drink order, then headed for the humidor. One of the Managers helped me make my cigar selection; one new to me, and an old favorite. On the way back to my seat, I saw Chris, sitting in the seat next to mine.

As one would expect, our discussion was far-ranging. We compared notes on the dynamics of the economy and opportunities to build our businesses. The economy has seen significant improvement, but individual companies are in a state of flux. There is tremendous pressure to maintain relevancy and to increase market share. Therefore, a lot of opportunity for us.

Toward that end, Chris told me about a new product he is developing, a cultural risk assessment. He wanted my thoughts on how to position his concept. He asked my opinion on three particular options and price points, based on variations of the number and mix of people to interview. Fortunately, I have recent experience with a similar assignment so I was able to talk with some authority.

Last year I completed a consulting gig, helping my client improve their internal recruiting, selection, and onboarding program. I have found that the best way to approach any assignment is to begin by understanding the client’s culture. So, I began that assignment by interviewing the leadership team to get their perspective on the company’s values, management style, and opportunities. Next, I talked with a cross-section of employees for thirty minutes each. The results were revealing. To make a long story short, the client was surprised to learn that the values and career goals for their employees aligned with their generation. The baby-boomers were focused on developing their professional skills, whereas the Millennials were trying to “fit in.” The Baby-Boomers had a lot of job satisfaction. The Millennials, not so much. They complained that internal communication was not helpful. Leadership was surprised by these findings. Although it was not my primary mission, I recommended that Management consider a Mentor program and prominently display their KPI’s. Those two ideas got them moving in the right direction. I recommend that Chris follow a similar process.

The success of any new project or change in procedure is dependent on buy-in by the employees affected. Achieving that buy-in requires a communication plan that resonates with the company’s values, its culture. Stated another way, if one wants to ensure a successful outcome, one must understand the current state of the company’s culture and respond to its needs.

Three hours later…we made our exit, well-fed and relaxed but energized by our commitments to one another.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

I hope you enjoyed my point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

NEW CENTURY DYNAMICS EXECUTIVE SEARCH

JimWeber@NewCenturyDynamics.com

Current Assignments

1. COO- Northeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – New

2. VP Operations – Southeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – New

3. CEO- Northeast-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – Completed

4. Corporate R&D Chef, Atlanta-based Home Meal Replacement Company – Complete

5. Area Supervisor – Legacy Pizza Chain, Carolinas – Completed

6. Operating Partners – Legacy Pizza Chain – New

7. Controller – Atlanta-based Consumer Products – Digital Company – Completed

8. Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: Complete

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

October 21, 2017

The Ideal Way To Begin A New Assignment

Good News! We just closed another deal! But, it required a lot of effort. As it should.

This week my colleague David, and I closed a deal to help a new client plan and build a ten-store territory for a California-based franchised restaurant concept. This is a complicated assignment as it involves a family in various stages of immigration to the U.S. and inexperienced operating partners. Nevertheless, it is a fascinating opportunity and we are happy to participate. We even provided our prospects with referrals to attorneys who will help them with immigration issues, offshore financing, and finalizing the franchise agreement. During a meeting this week, David and I clarified the remaining details to begin our work, including the retainer.

The genesis of this project was late Spring when David invited me to a meeting with the prospective clients. As this was a referral from their Attorney, who we both know, it seemed like a viable investment of our time. Prior to that meeting, David explained that the prospects were interested in buying a franchise of an Oriental restaurant concept. That was the extent of his brief, based on information from the Attorney. David brought this opportunity to me because he lacks a background in restaurant franchising. He thought I could help him close the deal and to collaborate on the project. We were clear that if we closed the deal, David would be the lead consultant and I would play a supporting role. Based on our contractual agreement, David is entitled to a referral fee from me, a percentage of my earnings from the project. This point was clear before our first meeting with the client. This is how we work together.

Subsequently, we had several meetings with the client to learn the details of their plans and to establish mutual respect. As with many projects, the prospective client’s circumstances changed which affects the scope of the project. In this case, the scope has grown significantly requiring modification to our proposal. Over the Summer, the prospective clients became disenchanted with their lead opportunity and began searching for an alternative, including the acquisition of a going concern. Additionally, a brother and his family, the principal financiers for this project, decided to begin the process of immigrating to the U.S. This increased the scope of our work as we will interface with the Immigration Attorney to help her complete her work. The good news is that David and I have established our bona fides, and have developed a good rapport with the client. We scheduled to meet with them one more time to finalize our agreement and scope of work. That meeting occurred this week.

Our next step is to plan the “kick-off” meeting with the client and their attorneys. We also finalized our fee splitting arrangement. To that point, the client requires a flat fee for our services. Our proposal for the first part of the assignment, Phase I, is a flat fee, paid in advance. It also specifies the number of man-hours anticipated to complete Phase I, the planning phase. As a result, David and I have a defined hourly rate for our services, the basis for the referral fee. David will collect and escrow the engagement fee for Phase I. We agreed to track our hours and make a settlement each week. I will receive our hourly rate times my weekly hours, less 10% of that sum. Simple enough.

Before this deal closed, David and I established our working relationship and formalized our financial arrangement. This is how we work together. It is the foundation for trust and respect. People new to freelance consulting often have difficulty on joint assignments because they begin without this foundation. This is a stumbling block that creates difficulty completing the assignment. It is probably a combination of inexperience and ignorance, however, it is a major detriment to a successful working relationship.

David and I have collaborated on a number of assignments, so our process is well defined. This is something our new consultants must learn as it hasn’t been a part of their career experience.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoyed my point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list. Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, Managing Partner

ITB Partners

Jim.Weber@itbpartners.com

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

Current Assignments

1. COO- Atlanta-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – New

2. Controller – Atlanta-based Consumer Products – Digital Company – Completed

3. Director of Biz Dev, Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company: Completed

4. Payroll-Benefits Manager, Atlanta-based Retail Company: Complete

5. Senior Accounting Manager – Atlanta-based Manufacturer. Complete

6. Controller – Atlanta-based Restaurant Company: New

July 13, 2017

Social Media Is A Game Changer!

During my career working for major retail brands, I knew the value of advertising on radio and television. Also known as major media, we could see the results of our buys, almost in real time. However, I understood the cost and limitations of traditional media. Successful advertising was all about the message. A lot of money could be quickly wasted if the message was not relevant. Social media has changed the game, especially for small business. These tools allow smaller companies to leverage their marketing budget to compete on a larger stage. It gives them a voice they could not achieve through major media. They can dialog with customers and prospects in a cost effective way. It is akin to the difference between a rifle and a shotgun. I have found social media to be very helpful in building my business.

Executive search is an interesting business. I am hired by employers, my clients, to find people who want to become their employees. One could say that I am selling prospective employees, so I guess Job Seekers are my inventory. Often, candidates become clients and vice versa. Over time, I have become more productive as my industry knowledge and relationships have grown. These relationships serve to generate more contracts and to complete assignments faster. My business is not unlike any other service-sector business as success is all about building lasting relationships. I learned that building and managing a large network is a viable strategy to build my business.

Early on, I recognized the value of talking to my clients and prospects. I created a database of followers and invited people to sign up for my periodic updates. By today’s standards, it was fairly primitive. I used Microsoft Outlook to manage my list, and mail merge. It began as a collection of clients and prospects. In time, as I received more unsolicited resumes, I added job seekers to my outreach. Later, I added strategic partners. I would tell these folks about my new assignments as well as assignments I had completed. That activity generated new business and more followers. I was an early adopter of LinkedIn and became involved with Facebook and Twitter. I didn’t understand the full potential of those applications at first. However, now I am a believer. I even migrated my email marketing campaign to Constant Contact and Mail Chimp.

SEND ME THE FREE EXECUTIVE RESUME CHEAT SHEET!

I learned the importance of blogging to engage prospects who needed employees, and to professionals who are interested in career advancement. The focus of my blog is on career issues facing Baby Boomers, my prospective candidate base. This is an important target audience, as they represent my primary placements. When I began blogging, social media became even more important. I began using Twitter to generate interest and to direct readers to my website. I subscribed to Hootsuite to expand my message to my followers on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+. I believe my experience with executive search is relevant to all small businesses. It is an effective business practice to maintain contact with customers, prospects, and prospective employees.

Now that I am building a Consulting Company, I am using the same digital marketing techniques to promote this line of business. In fact, I have adopted the social media platform I built for my executive search business to present this opportunity to my network. The results of this effort have been remarkable. I use social media to speak to prospective clients and to freelancers who may be interested in joining our company.

As I have done with my business, small companies should consider for theirs. Build a community of prospective job seekers. Last week I talked about using the company website to generate interest in employment opportunities. In the same way that one would reach out and cultivate prospective customers, companies should be talking to prospective employees to build a following. Maintain their interest in your brand for future employment opportunities. Depending on the nature of the business, prospective employees could become current customers. Social Media is an excellent way to engage these people.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoyed my point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

JimWeber@NewCenturyDynamics.com

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

Current Assignments

1. COO- Atlanta-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – New

2. Controller – Atlanta-based Consumer Products – Digital Company – New

3. Director of Biz Dev, Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company: Completed

4. Payroll-Benefits Manager, Atlanta-based Retail Company: Complete

5. Senior Accounting Manager – Atlanta-based Manufacturer. Complete

6. Controller – Atlanta-based Restaurant Company: New

7. Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: New

June 17, 2017

Exit Planning or Succession Planning is a Team Sport.

Article by David Shavzin

Exit Planning or Succession Planning is a Team Sport. When I speak on exit planning/succession planning, I talk about four high-level steps; Succession Planning; Knowing Your Business Value; Transferable Value Drivers; Exit / Succession Planning; and Business Exit Options.

Step 1: [Tweet “Exit and Succession Planning is a Team Sport”]

We have advisers and coaches in all facets of life. But in this most important area for our future, for our family and for our retirement, most business owners are pretty much just “winging it”. Oh, they may have an accountant but not much more of a team to focus on exit planning in all its facets.

That team is critical for successful succession planning.

Business owners start their companies to create their future. But they often lose sight of the key to making that future happen – building value. They get caught up in the day-to-day and don’t get to implementing the sustainable, positive change that allows them to transition on their own terms.

Consider: “…78 percent of small-business-owner clients plan to sell their businesses to fund their retirement. The proceeds are needed to fund 60 percent to 100 percent of their retirement needs. Yet, less than 30 percent of clients actually have a written succession plan…”

[I would suggest that 30% is generous, and even if accurate, that those plans are not very effective, for growth or for exit planning.]

When I speak on exit planning/succession planning/transition planning, I talk about four high-level components. The first component is to Build a Team of Advisers.

Nobody knows everything about everything. Many of my clients are in creative industries, designing, creating, building. You don’t want me in that role. But I have worked with many organizations and have a different experience and skill set than my clients. I bring ideas and experience from many industries and many client engagements. The other critical exit planning team members bring their own expertise to the table. These should include:

Business Consultant / Coach
CPA
Financial Adviser
Business Attorney
Insurance Expert
Estate Planning Attorney
Banker
Business Transaction Expert

When I work with a client, we build this team. The players may already be in place. Or, we may bring in advisers where there is a gap. Either way, we need this core team working with the owner. A business is complex. An action taken in marketing impacts finance, HR, and more. Big decisions need to take into account the effect on the whole organization and should support clear goals focused on building value.

The client receives much better advice and guidance with this approach.

This does not mean that you are going to start hiring all of these people and employing them full time as you work toward your transition…especially if you have a few years to go. But, you should use them strategically as you build your business plan/succession plan. With major decisions on growth, expenditures, hiring…engage their expertise.

The Bottom Line;
Find advisers who understand what you are all about. And, find those who understand your growth and exit planning objectives. More importantly, find advisers with whom you can feel comfortable. Make sure that they can work together and with you as a team.

David Shavzin, CMC
Shavzin & Associates, Inc.

770-329-5224
Our BLOG // LinkedIn // www.ShavzinAssociates.com

dshavzin@shavzinassociates.com

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

JimWeber@NewCenturyDynamics.com

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

Current Assignments

1. COO- Atlanta-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – New

2. Controller – Atlanta-based Consumer Products – Digital Company – New

3. Director of Biz Dev, Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company: Complete

4. Payroll-Benefits Manager, Atlanta-based Retail Company: Complete

5. Senior Accounting Manager – Atlanta-based Manufacturer. Complete

6. Controller – Atlanta-based Restaurant Company: New

7. Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: New

June 11, 2017

Business Development’s Role in Digital Social Media

The Currency of Digital Social Media is Visibility

The Value of Visibility is a Derivative of Relevance of Content

Trying to frame the workings of the internet within the context of traditional offline business activity is analogous to applying the terminology horseless carriage to describe the automobile circa 1900. The internet opens up seemingly unlimited possibilities; however one must be ready to expand their range of thinking to maximize its potential much like comparing playing chess on a traditional chessboard to playing on a 3D chessboard.

This new way of thinking can be illustrated by how CBS has shifted its evaluation of its programming from traditional Nielsen ratings to their ranking on social media. Quick question: Which late night TV host is most followed on the internet? You might be surprised to learn it is not Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert; the two leading hosts ranked by Nielsen, the arbiter of television ratings. They are not even close. Nor is it one of the other 11:30pm primetime late night show hosts. It is James Corden, who follows Stephen Colbert on CBS at 12:30pm EST.

Fallon, Colbert and the other late night hosts are not carried by local broadcast stations globally, neither is Corden. But Corden’s popular recurring sketch, Carpool Karaoke in which he sings with singing sensations and celebrities such as Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber, and with Michele Obama have been outrageously successful on the internet. The clip of Corden singing with Adele alone had over 129 million views and was the most-watched YouTube video of 2016.

CBS, the network that broadcasts Corden’s, The Late Late Night Show refers to Corden’s global popularity as having relevance and defines relevance as a value in the currency of visibility. Similar to bitcoin currency, the currency of visibility is ethereal and must be converted to U.S. dollar currency. CBS monetized Corden’s relevance by creating a Car Karaoke YouTube channel and partnering with Google AdSense generating revenue from the number of views from the show’s nine million subscribers.*

The fundamental marketing principle for developing business through digital social media is that the more people who become aware of your company increase the potential for doing business with them and their companies. Search engine optimization for online social media sites allows for individual customization of your marketing message. More importantly, it provides the opportunity to have a dialogue between your potential client and your company.

The challenge for most companies is how they can profit from digital social media. One rule has been established by the market; you should not use digital social media to blatantly advertise or to directly sell anything.

As dramatically demonstrated by CBS and Corden, relevant content is the secret sauce that distinguishes and elevates your visibility over the competition. The question most often asked by companies is how they can increase their company’s visibility. The currency of digital social media is visibility. The value of visibility is a derivative of the relevance of content.

Content needs to be current. You can identify current issues and trends that are of interest to businesses in your industry by reviewing what is being posted on digital social media and craft your company’s social media to respond to the culture.

There are volumes readily available on the internet for why it is important and how to develop business via digital social media. However, consideration should be given to work with companies that specialize in digital social media because of the connectivity for all of your online activity from security, e-commerce, and other Internet issues.

An online marketing campaign requires the equivalent strategic process for crafting an offline outreach plan that communicates your company’s value proposition. The key is to carefully define your company’s target firmographics and demographics who would be interested in your company’s products/services. The same consideration should also be given for ROI for digital social media costs, measured regarding dollars, time and effort required.

There is a multitude of social media sites. eBizMBA Rank continually updates averages of each website's U.S. Traffic Rank from Quantcast and Global Traffic Rank from Alexa and SimilarWeb. The most popular social media sites as determined by eBizMBA Rank on May 1, 2017, are listed below.

Social Media Site	eBizMBA Rank	Est. Unique Monthly Visitors
Facebook	1	1,500,000,000
YouTube	2	1,499,000,000
Twitter	3	400,000,000
Instagram	4	275,000,000
LinkedIn	5	250,000,000

There is not an ideal social media site for every company. Understanding your target firmographics and demographics will determine your optimal social media sites for your company’s products/services. Measuring the value of having a lot of viewers and relevance are subjective and will vary from each company. For example, if you are an art dealer, having viewership or correspondence with only a thousand wealthy art collectors is more valuable than having viewership from ten thousand people whose interest and disposable income are not known.

Connecting your value proposition to your company’s target firmographics and demographics is essential for offline and online marketing. A business development professional can provide the strategy and implementation for offline strategies and for balance content and relevance for visibility for online social media.

*The author would like to give credit for references to Corden and CBS to A. O. Scott for his article, James Corden Is in the Driver's Seat, published by Esquire in Feb. 2017.

Arthur R Ruderman, Principal

InnovativeGrowthSolutions

A B2B Corporate & Business Development Company

Partner, ITB Partners

Artie.Ruderman@itbpartners.com

May 28, 2017

Beating The Feast Or Famine Cycle: Safety In Numbers

It is gratifying to receive positive feedback for one of my posts, especially if it is a personal request for a discussion. Actually, I received inquiries from two freelancers who had read last week’s post regarding my recruiting efforts for In The Black Partners. They wanted to know if our program would fit their needs. I was pleased to learn that I had made an impression on these folks and we scheduled a time to talk.

I was interested in learning how they promoted their business. What were they doing to overcome the “feast or famine cycle?” Were they making a seamless transition from one project to the next? This question is important to me as our value proposition addresses this issue. I learned that they need help promoting their businesses. They are mostly focused on word-of-mouth marketing and networking. None of them talked about any digital marketing efforts.

Many freelancers rely on word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing. I am a firm believer in WOM as it is a powerful way to build a business. I endorse it completely. However, word-of-mouth marketing is too passive to be an exclusive promotional strategy. It is based on the hope that clients will say good things about you. As the saying goes, “hope is not a strategy.” Even WOM promotion must be managed proactively.

If you have made it to the point where you are ready to become a freelancer you probably have a well-established network. This is your principle asset. The goal is to turn those relationships into recurring revenue. The challenge is maintaining top-of-mind awareness for your brand. By managing your network you can create a Business Development machine. However important, this can be a time-consuming endeavor for free agents.

Time is the freelancer’s nemesis. If they focus 100% on their current projects there is no time left to prospect for new business. When you're not selling you aren't generating revenue. The first step in breaking the cycle is to schedule time to pitch your business. Making a commitment to spend one day a week promoting one’s business is an admirable goal. But, it is a goal that is very difficult to achieve. Most freelancers will agree.

Developing the skills to develop and execute a digital marketing strategy is also time-consuming. In fact, one could easily question the rationale for developing these skills unless one’s practice is related to marketing and public relations. It is generally better to focus your efforts on your strengths and employ outsourced solutions to compensate for your weaker areas. This is a sensible decision if funds are available.

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Executive search is as close to pure marketing as I have seen. There may be better examples, like direct mail marketing or network marketing but few other businesses seem to come close. Whomever I talk with is a prospective client, a prospective candidate, a referral source, or all of the above. Everyone! My work is all about talking to people, so every point of contact is brand building and selling in one form or another. Even so, in addition to networking, I employ a fairly comprehensive digital marketing strategy.

As mentioned in my last post, helping freelancers break the feast or famine cycle is part of our mission. Now, more than any other time in history, we have powerful tools to promote your business. Email marketing, social media marketing; blogging; and webinars, for example, have been game changers. However, it is still difficult for a single freelancer to find the time and resources to network, and to execute a digital marketing strategy.

Let’s face it, selling isn’t easy. For many freelancers, it’s dreaded; especially dealing with rejection, a normal part of the process. Rejection can be painful, and we humans tend to avoid pain. So, we devote less time to selling. Cold calling is the worst. Forget about it! But, we must sell or face the famine! To become a successful freelancer you must leverage your time and financial resources. The best way to accomplish this is to become affiliated with a larger group of free agents. We recommend an association with an organized group of freelancers working together as a brand.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

JimWeber@NewCenturyDynamics.com

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

Current Assignments

1. COO- Atlanta-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – New

2. Director of Business Dev, Atlanta-based B2B Professional Services Company: Complete
3. Payroll-Benefits Manager, Atlanta-based Retail Company: Complete
4. Senior Accounting Manager – Atlanta-based Manufacturer. Complete
5. Controller – Atlanta-based Restaurant Company: New

6. Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: New

May 21, 2017

The Freelance Paradigm Is The New Normal

This week’s focus has been on building our consulting division, In The Black Partners. I announced the addition of a new consultant, a CFO level professional with experience as a freelancer. I scheduled two meetings to talk with potential freelancers interested in joining our group. I had lunch with a client to tell her about our program and capabilities. I scheduled a smoker for next week to get our group together for some fellowship. And, I added a virtual assistant to help our team, and promote her business.

In 2001 I read Daniel Pink's book, Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself. That publication was timely as I had recently begun my career as a free agent, focused on Executive Search. Mr. Pink was spot on predicting the growth of freelancing, as this trend has continued unabated. By 2020, Freelancers are expected to account for 40% of the workforce. His thesis validated the decision to start my business.

Much has been written about Millennials who have chosen freelancing as a career or to augment their incomes. Many of these people perform SEO writing and graphics design to aid businesses in their digital marketing efforts. Others are engaged in developing Apps, and of course, a large component, are Uber drivers. To support this trend, on-line services, like Upwork.com and Fiverr.com offer platforms to connect freelancers with customers.

By 2006 some of my clients began asking for help with significant issues which could be resolved in a short time frame. As their needs did not require full-time equivalents, I placed consultants or freelance project managers. I recognized the value of free agents at that point but didn't see it as a trend that would reshape my practice. In fact, my business was in high gear. However, I knew the demand for free agents was accelerating.

Finally, in 2014 I joined a group of freelancers to capitalize on this opportunity. We branded ourselves as In The Black Partners, drafted a business charter, created a logo, and built a website with email capabilities. Our strategy is to help small, emerging companies and established mid-cap brands, resolve their strategic issues.

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It wasn't long before we found ourselves in the classic time management trap. We were so busy that we couldn't focus on building our team. This year I set a goal to recruit more consultants. We are looking for Baby Boomers who find it difficult reconnecting with the market; executives with corporate experience who want to make a contribution. These folks enable us to fulfill our mission.

The fundamental problem for most freelancers is devoting time for business development while managing their current projects. It is often called “the feast or famine cycle” as new projects aren't generated seamlessly to replace completed projects. Most people are good at performing the work they are hired to do, however, business development isn’t a strong suit. We provide an umbrella for freelancers, working under a brand to defeat the "feast or famine cycle."

Another issue faced by freelancers is the ability to leverage time to expand their revenue potential. One of my colleagues, I call him "Old School," often complains that he cannot take on new work because he has exhausted his available time. I remind him to develop someone to take over his lower value-added tasks or subcontract some of his work. He would retain responsibility for quality control while making better use of his time. Working with a group of consultants helps build our revenue beyond that which they could achieve on our own.

I remain convinced that this strategy is aligned with the New Normal. As more and more companies become comfortable with a blended workforce where freelancers work alongside full-time employees, the opportunities will continue to grow. Likewise, free agents need support to build and manage their businesses. It is a win-win-win proposition.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

JimWeber@NewCenturyDynamics.com

Author of: Fighting Alligators: Job Search Strategy For The New Normal

Current Assignments

1. COO- Atlanta-based Casual Dining Restaurant Company – New

6. Outplacement Assignment – Atlanta-based Manufacturer: New