Rick Smith founded News USA in 1987, and more than 30 years later continues to innovate new ways to make his customers and clients look brilliant. Early in his career, while at Deloitte & Touche, he realized that PR and advertising people were basically ‘flying blind’ since no news feature service was then providing real, solid metrics to measure success. So he founded News Canada, then launched NewsUSA. He has served on the faculty of the Young Presidents Organization, judged the National Press Club’s Consumer Journalism Awards, and himself has been a Blue Chip Enterprise Award Winner for re-inventing his company. Along the way, Rick authored six books, including the three best-selling, self-help business titles Getting Started, Getting Money and Getting Sales. Today, Rick is on numerous advisory boards and is an early seed investor in 100+ emerging companies ideally where his contacts, media clout and marketing strategy can scale them faster.

WEBSITE: www.newsusa.com

FACEBOOK:

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-smith-news/

I thought of this about 20 years ago because I had hardwood floors and my decorative pillows slid off of my cedar chest when my cats jumped on the bed. I didn’t do anything about it until 2019 because I was trying to survive all those years as a very busy single mom. In 2019, I was happily married to a very messy man and he constantly cluttered the chair in the master bedroom so I needed a place for my pillows. I made a prototype and pitched it to SharkTank and surprise…they liked it and advanced me to the “2nd” level but I didn’t go further. I was not surprised because I didn’t have sales or even a business at that point. I hustled through 2019, learned social media, tweaked my product and developed a business. I was starting to gain a little traction and then Covid hit. I’m a nurse so I took my job serious and put The Secret Shelfie on the “shelf”. In 2021, I was determined to re-launch and I did so by hiring a social media company. They were fabulous and did everything expected but the sales have been stagnant. Currently, I am scratching my head and wondering what direction to take as I scrutinize and analyse the world we live in and why it is so hard to get the public to embrace this lifestyle change. You see, I get terrific feedback about “how cool this product is” once I get people’s attention long enough to explain it but then, when people think about it long enough, the response is generally “Oh, I just throw my pillows on the floor”. Some people have a chair for their pillows and I get that but as a successful realtor in a past life, excess furniture is a no-no. The fact is, it involves a lifestyle change. By this, I mean people must move a piece of wall art or a TV to make a place for their Secret Shelfie. It involves work and the willingness to change habits. I am trying desperately to figure out how to make this work in a world where you get 3 seconds to convince someone to buy a product that involves work and a lifestyle change.

WEBSITE: secretshelfie.com

FACEBOOK:

https://facebook.com/secretshelfie

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/secretshelfie

Military veteran, author, and technology expert, A-Jay Orr, took time to talk with us on this episode of Small Business Small Talk. We spoke with him about his transition out of the military, how he got his start in the tech industry, his book “The Art of War In Business Technology” and everything else he’s bringing as a business owner.

BIO: A-Jay is an author, veteran and is a global digital risk expert with more than 15 years of experience in this ever-evolving field. He is the expert companies rely on to provide sophisticated solutions to achieve business growth and maintain compliance. He implements behavior-based security solutions to protect businesses from cyberattacks that target control systems, robotics, IoT and smart devices that often goes undetected. A-Jay proudly served his country and is a veteran of the United States Army.

WEBSITE: www.simpleplanit.com and www.ajayorr.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TheAJayOrr

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajayorr/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/iamajayorr/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ajayorr

#SBSTpodcast #SBSTshow #smallbusinesssmalltalk #veteran #Army #author #IT #technology #business #smallbusiness #entrepreuner

We had the chance to talk with Tristan Wright, owner of Evolve to Grow in Victoria Australia. He shared with us his pain points of having a business and how he got to where he is today with great advice for all business owners.

BIO: I wasn’t a natural born Business Coach. In fact, I started adult life as a moderately successful (and unengaged) Engineer. Work was never my focus, I’d live for time spent cycling with my mates. It was during this paddle-posse that I was tasked with finding and buying some race gear as we looked to turn our mateship into a serious race team. I explored the caverns of the Cycling Wear world—it left a lot to be desired. And just like that, I created and built Seight Custom Cycling Wear. Before too long I was running a $300,000 business from my kitchen table while still tinkering away at engineering. I wasn’t even 30, and all the success made me arrogant.

WEBSITE:

Meet Business Coach Tristan Wright | Evolve to Grow

FACEBOOK:

Evolve to Grow

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/evolve-to-grow/

SBSTpodcast #SBSTshow #smallbusinesssmalltalk #EvolvetoGrow #business #smallbusiness #entrepreuner #businessowner #businesscoach #VictoriaAustralia #Australia

Attachments

On this episode of Small Business Small Talk, host Christy Smallwood, talks with Woman-Owned Distillery of the Year Award-Winner, Pixie Paula on what it’s like to be a woman entrepreneur in today’s business environment.

To learn more about Pixie Paula visit her channels:

www.localchoicespirits.com

www.Skirt.com

Instagram: @PixiePaulaOfficial

Facebook: facebook.com/PixiePaulaOfficial

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/PixiePaulaDezzutti

#entrepreneur #smallbusinesssmalltalk #smallbusinessrocks #bourbon #spirits #whiskey #distillery #skirt #skirtmagazine

Brittany Murphy, owner of One Thing Marketing located in Louisville, Kentucky, talked with us about her beginning in the fashion industry and how she got her start in marketing. We got some insight as to what One Thing Marketing is doing for their clients to help their businesses thrive and we talked all about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and social media.

BIO: Over the last 7 years, Brittany has created over 300 digital marketing strategies for local clients here in Louisville and nationally. As the Marketing Director at One Thing Marketing, Brittany focuses on helping business owners get their phones to ring with new clients through optimizing their website and online presence. Through her strategies and team at One Thing, they have helped local trade businesses increase their business by an average of 30% every year.

WEBSITE:

Digital Marketing Agency Louisville, KY | Web Design & SEO

FACEBOOK:

One Thing Marketing

LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/one-thing-marketing

smallbusinesssmalltalk #OneThingMarketing #entrepreneur #LouisvilleKY #SEO #searchengineoptimization #marketing #digitalmarketing #podcast #Google #business

In this episode of Small Business Small Talk, Christy talks with Jeff Murphy about the business of ECT Services and how leadership and culture make a difference with his team and how amazing things happen when you show up.

Mr. Murphy is the President and CEO of ECT Services, Inc. which is “The Building Technology Integration Leader” for commercial and industrial customers in a wide variety of industries. Mr. Murphy is a strategic, competitive business executive driven to win others over to achieve significance with a vision for an incredible future! He is extremely customer focused and provides a great deal of energy to solving business problems. He enjoys helping customers get what they want and has tremendous passion for strategic planning and setting a vision for the future. He is focused on leadership and has proven his ability to deliver results for over 20 years.

Learn more at https://www.ectservices.com/

Catching up with Serena Gay, a new friend I randomly connected with in a Facebook group for podcasting late 2020. In this episode we talk about the status of business since the pandemic happened and how different areas of the world are re-opening and the effects.

Serena Gay, www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk
2020 Series of “Business Revival – In Gloucestershire” live now.
NOW…Podcast Launch Pad, https://www.made4u-podcasts.co.uk/podcast/

Links to information discussed:
COVID Delta Variant:

5 Things To Know About the Delta Variant

Dee Dee Taylor, owner of 502 Hemp in Louisville, Kentucky, shares what it’s like to have a business in a very unregulated industry. She started 502 Hemp from a medical necessity and has helped thousands of people with her insight and expertise of CBD oil. Her latest adventure in this industry includes State crackdown and competitive shadiness on Delta products.

Learn more about Dee Dee and 502 Hemp at https://502hemp.com/502-hemp-staff/

Learn more about cannabinoids:

Weedmaps: https://weedmaps.com/learn/dictionary/cannabinoid

Healthline: https://www.healthline.com/health/endocannabinoid-system

FDA Regulations on Cannabis: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/public-health-focus/fda-regulation-cannabis-and-cannabis-derived-products-including-cannabidiol-cbd

In this episode of Small Business Small Talk host, Christy Smallwood, shares some updates about the podcast including the newly launched website and insights from previous episodes.