Monday Morning Radio

How to Automate Your Business Success and “Productize” Your Genius

  Noah St. John is the creator of the 6-Figure Business Machine, a self-paced mentoring program that allows any entrepreneur or professional to automate profits, increase sales, and work a lot fewer hours each week. Noah specializes in turning AFOS (average frustrated opportunity seekers) into HSBOs (highly successful business owners). Noah’s popular Mastermind group for small business owners requires a 5-figure admissions fee, if you’re lucky enough to grab an open slot. But this week...

Rieva Lesonsky is a Walking Small Business Encyclopedia

Rieva Lesonsky is a living, breathing, encyclopedia of small business wisdom. Whether the topic is boosting sales, harnessing technology, overcoming obstacles, or finding that extra dose of entrepreneurial inspiration, Rieva is the expert. She’s the former award-winning editorial director of Entrepreneur Magazine, a syndicated small business writer, an author, and CEO of her own successful business, GrowBiz Media. This week on Monday Morning Radio, host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart ta...

Editor’s Desk: Her Finger is on the Pulse of Talent Development

Ann Parker is an expert on talent development. As editor of CTDO Magazine – Chief Talent Development Officer – she has a unique window on state-of-the-art personnel development, be it at Fortune 500 companies or small businesses with fewer than ten employees. This week on Monday Morning Radio with reputation coach and host Dean Rotbart, Ann shares some of her practical insights, highlighting the power of talent development to make or break a business. Photo: Ann Parker, CTDO Magazine Po...

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The Inspiring Tale Behind Hyperkid v. BullBorg

Emerson Daub recently published his second book, HyperKid v. BullBorg. Backed by a national PR campaign, the juvenile novel is selling well on Amazon in several categories, including Growing Up & Facts of Life. What makes Emerson different from the crowd of other children’s books writers is that, he, himself, is just 9 years old – at least until July 22nd that is, when he turns the big 1-0. Many parents think about teaming with a young son or daughter to create a book, write an opera, o...

Senior Citizen Waltz Proves a Viral Success for Tiny Milne Court in Nova Scotia

Scott Frazer and his son, Sean, help run the family’s service station and convenience store, Milne Court, in tiny New Minas, Nova Scotia, population 2,500. Last month, when out of the blue an elderly customer in their store asked Sean to dance with her, he obliged. Sean’s impromptu senior citizen waltz was captured on Milne Court’s security cameras and Dad Scott posted it to Facebook. In a two-step, the video went viral and is now nearing 1 million views. This week on Monday Morning Radi...

Star-Spangled Reputation: How Janine Stange Became a Reputation Hall of Famer

From the time she was in high school, Janine Stange was touched by our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, and all it represents. So she began singing it, and singing it, and singing it, right into the record books. Now known as the National Anthem Girl, Janine has performed the Star Spangled Banner publicly thousands of times, in all 50-states, in venues from Madison Square Garden to Arlington National Cemetery, and at untold numbers of major sporting events, festivals, and patriot...

You Can Become the CEO of Your Own Health and a Self-Made Wellionaire

We all can’t be rich in life, but by relying on some well-established business protocols, we all can be much healthier than we are today. That’s the premise behind Jill M. Ginsberg’s new book, “Self-Made Wellionaire,” which draws on her background as an MBA, serial entrepreneur, and former corporate brand manager to show overworked business owners, professionals, and do-it-all working moms how to succeed at health. Jill, who is based in Seattle, is a much-in-demand health coach and corpo...

Trust Us, the IRS Doesn’t Want You to Listen This Week!

After 33 years as an IRS tax collector, Richard M. Schickel and two of his former IRS colleagues have written a tell-all book intended to help small business owners and others defend themselves from the harsh tactics of the IRS. What to Do When the IRS is After You is not a book the IRS wants you to read or to own. Why? Because it is brutally honest about the vindictive nature of the IRS, and what you can – and can’t – get away with once the IRS is on your case. Join host and reputation ...

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‘Know-it-All’ CEOs Seldom Do: The Power of Curiosity in Business

Having spent more than 10,000 hours coaching senior executives and their teams to greater performance, Allan Milham concluded that genuine curiosity is the core trait that separates successful leaders from the pack. Together with Guy Parsons, a lean manufacturing consultant to companies such as BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman, Milham is helping Corporate America redefine the role of owner/CEO from “Knower Leader” to “Learner Leader.” Milham and Parsons, co-authors of Out of the Question...

Overseeing Guests & Ghosts at Denver’s Iconic Brown Palace Hotel & Spa

Every president since Teddy Roosevelt has been the guest of Denver’s iconic Brown Palace Hotel & Spa, except two (Calvin Coolidge and Barack Obama). Wizard Academy co-founders Roy & Pennie Williams are among the list of distinguished guests whose names grace the venerable logs of the hotel’s register. Built in 1892, the triangular-shaped Brown Palace is the crown jewel of Rocky Mountain luxury hotels. For the past 11 years, Marcel Pitton has served as the managing director of the hotel...

X-It Interview: A Candid Look Back (and Ahead) with One of Nation’s Top Small Business Journalists

Until March of this year, Raymond Hennessey served as the editorial director of Entrepreneur Media, publisher of Entrepreneur magazine. He was one of the nation’s top small business journalists. This week, Ray sits for a candid X-It Interview with Dean Rotbart, host of Monday Morning Radio and executive editor of NewsBios.com. Ray is now Chief Innovation Officer at JConnelly, a respected New York-based communications and marketing agency. Free to speak his mind, Ray shares his frank thou...

Celebrating Its 50th Anniversary, Peets Coffee & Tea Remains True To Alfred Peet’s Vision

Peet’s Coffee & Tea has grown from a single retail shop at Walnut and Vine in Berkeley, California, into an $800 million, 240-store chain now celebrating its 50th anniversary. Dave Burwick, president and CEO, ascribes the success and longevity of the coffee roaster and retailer to “scaling the smallness” – a method that allows businesses to remain true to their founding principles, while constantly keeping pace with the changing times. Sit back, and drink in some genuine business wisdom ...

She May Be a Pig Farmer, But She's Also One Savvy Entrepreneur

You may think you have little in common with a pig farmer and butcher in upstate New York, and you’d be right, unless you value great customer service, superior products, passion, perseverance, and profits. Heather Sandford has carefully packaged each of those qualities into her store, The Piggery, which helps explain why there are often lines of customers snaking out the door of her farm-to-table butcher shop. Heather joins host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart this week on Monday Mornin...

School Teacher Turned Entrepreneur Collars Celebrities and Their Canines

Sarah Hassenger is a successful entrepreneur, making and selling quality handcrafted bowties that are so popular they’ve been included in the swag gift bags distributed at the Primetime Emmys and MTV Movie Awards. Celebs who proudly own Sarah’s products include Ryan Gosling (and George), Amanda Seyfried (and Finn), Rachel Ray (and Isaboo), and Alison Sweeney (and Jorge and Winky). Oh…. Yes…. did we forget to mention that Sarah’s company, Four Black Paws, makes bowties and a full range of...

Is Dave Thorell the Best Farm Radio Personality Ever?

If you love larger-than-life personalities, you’ll enjoy hearing Dave Thorell’s colorful reflections on his career at KRVN 880 Rural Radio in Lexington, Nebraska. Farmers and ranchers in the Midwest consider Dave Thorell as much a part of their daily routine as milking the cows, watering the crops, and planting seeds. Later this year, Dave will be inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Monday Morning Radio host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart and his photographer daughte...

Fantasy Meets Reality For An Aspiring Filmmaker

Jeffrey Biers, who heads Pittsburgh-based All Season Productions, is an entrepreneur and aspiring filmmaker who has written the script and intends to play the lead character in a new Spiderman fan film. The catch: Jeff is swinging into more obstacles than success at the moment. As many an entrepreneur can attest, pursuing your dreams can at times seem like a scene from a horror film. This week on Monday Morning Radio, Jeff shares his struggles to vanquish the business villains that stand be...

“Hello” From the Other Side of the Customer Service Line

It’s been almost exactly 140 years since Alexander Graham Bell first phoned his assistant, beckoning, “Mr. Watston – come here – I want to see you.” While the telephone is decidedly old-school, it is still one of the most prominent and important conduits for business. Charlie Fusco specializes in turning each and every call from, or to, a business prospect into a brand-building exercise. Charlie, founder and CEO of Synergixx, chats this week with host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart abou...

Jaw-Dropping Insights: The Origins of Idioms, Slang, & Other Common Expressions

Do you worry that your business might be going belly-up? Just launching a business means you’re not a yellow-belly, although most entrepreneurs do have a propensity to bellyache. Are you detecting a pattern here? Well, belly-up to the bar and share a few belly laughs this week on Monday Morning Radio as Dr. Per-Olof Hasselgren, a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, shares his collection of common idioms, slang, and everyday English expressions that reference body parts. Eve...

The Path to Saving Global Capitalism? More Capitalists.

The former deputy speaker of the New Jersey State Assembly, a diehard Democrat, and a prominent New Jersey Republican businessman are on a bipartisan campaign to get more private businesses to give their employees partial ownership of their companies. As Upendra Chivukula and Veny Musim view it, the only way to save capitalism is to exponentially increase the number of capitalists. Their new book, The 3rd Way, spells out the argument and backs it up with substantial empirical evidence. Thi...

Mind the (Generation) Gap: The Principal Financial Well-Being Index

How’s this for role reversal – Gen X and Baby Boomer business owners stand to learn a lot from (…wait for it) – Millennial business owners. That’s the conclusion of a survey of 600 American small businesses conducted for The Principal Financial Group, a Fortune 500 financial services company based in Des Moines. Amy Friedrich, a senior vice president at The Principal who helps oversee the Index, shares the survey results and her analysis this week with host and reputation coach Dean Rotbart...

You’re Not Too Small or Too New to Profit From (And Afford) a Celebrity Endorsement

Celebrity endorsements are not just for giant consumer-products brands anymore. Many small businesses are discovering the sales magnetism of celebrities who talk up their products – whether in advertisements or social media posts. Evan Morgenstein, president and CEO of CelebExperts, specializes in matching celebrities with businesses – including startups and not-ready-for-prime-time companies. His results have been nothing short of amazing. This week on Monday Morning Radio, Morgenstein sh...

How to Prevent Boneheaded Management Actions (or Inactions)

For decades, Sears stores in Miami stocked snowblowers in their garden centers, even though no one ever bought one and it hasn’t snowed in Miami since 1977. That, says Steven D. Goldstein, a former Sears senior executive, results from management disengagement – an ailment that plaques many owners and senior executives. Steve, who has been a top executive at several Fortune 500 companies, is an evangelist for management engagement. His first book, Why Are There Snowblowers in Miami? – due o...

Kickfurther Creates A Unique Business-Financing Marketplace

Success has killed more than a few companies that had plenty of orders, but not enough affordable funding to finance sufficient inventory. Sean De Clercq and his company, Kickfurther, solve that age-old problem. Kickfurther is a unique business-funding marketplace in which investors – rather than taking equity in a company – actually purchase a share of its inventory. In exchange, the investors get a potential return on their money that trumps the stock market, mutual funds, and real estate...

KRVN AM Radio Succeeds By Defining Its Mission and Sticking to It

The big party is on today in Lexington, Nebraska, as the town and nearby residents gather to celebrate 65 years since local farm radio station, KRVN, began broadcasting. There is no other radio station in America comparable to KRVN, which is owned by more than 4,000 Nebraska farmers and ranchers. How in this day and age a rural AM radio station that concentrates on commodity prices and weather forecasts has survived and prospered holds ample lessons for all business owners and entrepreneurs...

Commerce with China is a Two-Way Street, Even for Small U.S. Businesses

When most Americans think of doing business with China, they think of outsourcing American manufacturing jobs. But that’s not the big opportunity according to Mark Matsumoto. “Why buy from China when you can sell to China?”  Many small and mid-size businesses today are making jumbo profits by exporting products and services to China and other Asian Pacific markets. Thanks to modern technology, it’s easier than you might think. According to Matsumoto, who has been doing it for 25 years, all ...

The Fine Art of Inspiring Creativity: Survey Results No One Expected

Robert Gerlach, a global expert on organizational creativity, has taught companies such as Microsoft, Samsung and BASF the fine art of inspiring creativity. Based in Stuttgart, Germany, Robert’s company – iQudo, recently conducted a landmark survey in the U.S. to discover the secret ingredients of company-wide creativity. The results were not what anyone expected. This week on Monday Morning Radio with reputation coach and host Dean Rotbart, Robert offers some of his best tips on how to i...

What Global Trends Portend for Your Business in 2016

Each year, Stratfor – which is based not far from the Wizard Academy in Austin, Texas – issues its much-anticipated predictions for what we can expect in the coming year on a geopolitical front – and how developments in areas such as the Middle East, Russia, and China will affect global economics. That includes the impact on commodity prices, the value of the U.S. dollar in global markets, and consumer consumption.  By placing global events in a geopolitical framework, Stratfor gives its cl...

Mark Grisafe's Blueprint for Making His Clients Success Partners

For a residential and commercial architect, Mark Grisafe has an unusual business motto: Advise, Advocate & Collaborate. It’s an unconventional approach that over the past decade has helped him grow his Long Beach, California, firm – M. Grisafe Architect – into a thriving business. While many professionals shun taking advice from their clients – think lawyers and accountants, for example – Mark actually cultivates his clients’ involvement at every step of the way. In turn, they consistently ...

This is YOUR Blind Voice (Speaking) Audition: Do You Have What It Takes?

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain! Perhaps. But Audrey Hepburn’s My Fair Lady transformation from a lowly Cockney flower girl to a gentile society lady with impeccable speech is anything but authentic. It’s not that such a speech makeover isn’t possible, it’s just that the fictional professor of phonetics Henry Higgins doesn’t use the correct methodology. Ita M. Olsen, this week’s guest on Monday Morning Radio, has spent more than two decades honing the right methods to correct s...

The Sharks Were Brutal, But The Owners of Switch Witch Remain Resolute

A few days after Lara Spear Riley and Rob Bouley were guests on Monday Morning Radio this past October, they appeared on ABC-TV’s Shark Tank, asking $55,000 for a 25% equity stake in their company, Switch Witch. Instead of funding, Lara and Rob got ridicule and left empty-handed. Shark Kevin O’Leary was blunt: “If I were you, I’d take this behind the barn and burn it. Because I think it sucks.” This week, Lara and Rob return to Monday Morning Radio to reflect on their Shark Tank experience...

Everyone is a Salesperson, and Anyone Can Be a Better Salesperson

Wes Schaeffer has helped tens of thousands of entrepreneurs and salespeople sell more goods and services, and amazingly, actually come to enjoy the sales process that so many people dread. Wes, a Wizard Academy alumnus who is known as The Sales Whisperer, not only teaches others how to electrify their sales, he demonstrates the process – (walks the talk) - daily on his website, in his sales newsletter, his weekly podcast, and via his free online mini course. Anyone, Wes believes, can becom...

Think Less, Live More: For Those Who Can’t Make Up Their Mind On Important Business Decisions

On important decisions, do you have a difficult time making up your mind? Do you engage in endless, “on the one hand, but on the other hand” thinking? Shelley Row, a self-described “recovering over-thinker,” coaches executives and entrepreneurs on ways to make better, smarter, more insightful decisions. In her new book, Think Less, Live More, Shelley promotes a Cognition-Intuition Balance Model, which strikes a balance between relying on hard data and gut feel when it comes to making crucia...

The Antiquated Art of Face-to-Face Communications

Dr. Cheryl Bauman is a global evangelist for face-to-face communications. In this increasingly digital age, Dr. Bauman, author of Just Say It, is reintroducing the world to the many benefits of holding face-to-face meetings – and sharing her insights on how to make those interactions even more successful. To demonstrate her point, this week Dr. Bauman joins reputation coach and Monday Morning Radio host Dean Rotbart via a Skype video call, so you can both see and hear her business communic...

The Fired Up Selling Project From "The Bard of Austin"

The Fired Up Selling Project is a nationwide campaign to identify and showcase the top 300 statements ever made for brightening the spirits and focusing the minds of sales professionals and entrepreneurs. Would you like to be one of the judges who gets to decide which quotes make that list? Ray Bard, the owner of Bard Press (and the first-ever chairman of the board of Wizard Academy) is inviting you to help him select the final 300 quotes that will be published in 2016 and sold in bookstor...

An Under the Covers Report: Meet Kangapoda’s Eclectic Founder

The human foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Perfect for walking. But when many people tuck their tootsies under their bed covers – to read or sleep - they wind up with leg and foot pain, and cramps. Hal Mintz was one such sufferer. So the seasoned entrepreneur and venture capitalist set out to invent better bedding. The result: Kangapoda, a line of U.S. made, patented ergonomic sheets and blankets that offer relief to bedtime foot-pain suf...

This App Can Prevent Distracted Teen Driving

Can a free phone and desktop application reduce the incidents of distracted teenage driving? Las Vegas entrepreneurs Leon Wilde and Phil Randazzo believe it can, and they are betting their ample experience as successful business owners and investors on DriveSafe Mode, a patented application they designed to save lives – and parental anxiety. Think of DriveSafe Mode as a 24/7 tattletale. If your teen is texting, tweeting, snapchatting, of otherwise posting – when he or she is in a moving ve...

Behind the Scenes at ABC-TV’s Shark Tank

Business partners Lara Spear Riley and Rob Bouley are the co-creators of Switch Witch, a Halloween-themed plush doll, cauldron, and accompanying storybook. Come Halloween, children dress up and still go trick-or-treating. Only when the kids get home, they deposit a portion of their candy stash with their Switch Witch, and in the morning – Presto, Change-o – the candy has been transformed into a special switch gift. The real magic is how this unlikely product and duo caught the attention of ...

These Model CEOs Were Genuine "Chief" Executives: The Wisdom of Native American Tribal Managers

Author, entrepreneur, and business coach Barbara Wittmann gives new meaning to the term, “Chief Executive Officer.” Because the chiefs Barbara models her management advice after are those historic leaders of Native American tribes who led their people drawing upon ancient wisdom and a respect for the natural world. Barbara, who is based in Munich, Germany, and runs an IT consulting business, is the author of “Meetings in Moccasins,” which is a practical and spirit guide to sustainable bus...

“Who Am I, If Not My Company?”

Groucho Marx famously used to warble, “Hello, I must be going.” Most business owners don’t pay nearly enough attention to their eventual exits, nor are they prepared to answer the soul-searching question, “Who am I, if not my company.” Enter Dr. Pamela Dennis, author of Exit Signs – The Expressway to Selling Your Company with Pride and Profit. She successfully sold her own multi-million consulting practice and has never regretted it for a moment. This week on Monday Morning Radio, she’ll s...

Janelle and Matt’s Wedding and the Marketing Lessons it Offers

On October 8th, in Ogden, Utah, Janelle Page and Matt Misbach will seal their love by exchanging wedding vows in front of a large gathering of family, friends, neighbors and colleagues. Theirs is not only a story of romance, it’s also a valuable lesson in personal branding and video marketing. Divorced and the mother of four, Janelle was having no luck attracting eligible suitors last year when she decided to apply her business experience - using video testimonials to help her clients gener...

Online Communities Surpass Blogs for Generating Customer Engagement

You don’t have to be Mark Zuckerberg, Noah Glass, Biz Stone or any of the other social media moguls to own and operate your own successful online community.   Which is great news, because custom online communities – where customers, clients, or members talk to and support one another - are rapidly surpassing blogs and the major social networking platforms as the very best vehicle for fostering brand loyalty and engagement. That said, what works in theory often fails miserably in practice. ...

Reputation Tool Chest: The Five PIllars

Weigh Anchor on the Next Amazing Chapter in Your Life

Larry Jacobson walked away from a lucrative business and well-established life to spend six years sailing around the world. Why? Because he dreamed of doing it since he was a boy. Now Larry has set sail on a new voyage – teaching others how to follow in his wake.  Larry’s “Sail Into Retirement” program is NOT about 401ks, pension plans or reverse mortgages. It is about finding the courage and the commitment to weigh anchor on your old life and begin anew. Join Larry and Monday Morning Radio...

A Hiring System That Really Works - From Minimum Wage Workers to CEOs

Hiring the wrong person to go to work in your company can be a very expensive mistake. But don’t feel bad. Four out of five new hires nationwide never see their 18th month.  Jeff Wilson knew there had to be a better way. A graduate of the Wharton School, Jeff designed the Ultimate Hiring System, a simple-to-follow method that allows every business – no matter how large or small – to attract, hire, and retain great people. Learn the dos and don’ts of recruitment this week on Monday Morning R...

Heidi Ganahl Shares Some of Her Favorite Entrepreneurial Treats

Heidi Ganahl has lived a dog’s life. And a lucky dog at that. She is the founder of Camp Bow Wow, which she grew from one doggy day care center into the largest pet-care franchiser in North America. When Heidi sold her company in 2014 (she remains CEO), it had about 3,500 employees and generated system-wide sales of $71 million. Want to know how you can follow in her paw-steps?  Heidi shares her favorite entrepreneur treats this week on Monday Morning Radio. Photo: Heidi Ganahl, Camp Bow ...

You Will Finally Write Your First Business Book This Year. Bet On It!

Procrastinators and self-doubters forewarned.  This week on Monday Morning Radio, Wizard Academy graduate Julie Anne Eason will kick to the curb all your best excuses for not writing a book to help promote yourself and your business. Julie, a professional writer and coach, has heard every excuse in the book – for not writing one.  She’s not buying any of them.  Julie’s own book, The Profitable Business Author, is due out any minute. Moreover, Julie will be joining Rich Carr (last week’s gu...

The Education Engine Can Rev Up Your Reputation

It’s Back-to-School week at Monday Morning Radio.  Only your role is as teacher of your own powerful online course. Online education is a booming industry and Rich Carr, founder of The Education Engine and a Wizard Academy alumnus, is here to explain how business owners and managers can easily become online professors.   Whether your students are employees, customers, or paying registrants, The Education Engine makes building an effective online course simple and effective. Rich and his p...

A Special Treat For Your Medial Orbito Frontal Cortex (Pleasure Center)

You’ve read this week’s Monday Morning Memo, now hear all about the Whisk(e)y Marketing School from Professors Daniel Whittington and Tom Fischer. Daniel, in Austin, and Tom, in London, will orate on exactly why storytelling, showmanship, and Single Malt Scotch make for an ideal blend. As Daniel and Tom instruct the always sober Dean Rotbart, the Whisk(e)y Marketing School is only partly about understanding the world of whiskey. More importantly – and in keeping with the ethos of The Wiz...