Don Draper knows a thing or two about fixing what’s broken when it comes to business.  Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a job seeker, he’s got some lessons to share.

In last night’s season premiere of Mad Men, his newly formed advertising firm seemed doomed for three reasons:

– He bombs an important media interview.

– He alienates his colleagues and staff.

– He loses clients.

So what does Super AdMan Don Draper do?

He does what the rest of we mortal entrepreneurs and job seekers have to do:  he hits the reset button.

In his case, that meant recognizing the cold reality of having a new company with diminishing revenues and the need to do three things:

1. Clarify what it is that he wants.  (In his case better press, more and better clients.)

2. Find a way to increase the firm’s visibility and viability by identifying his audience, the market he wants to reach. (In his case, it’s a The Wall Street Journal reporter.)

And a third element:

3. Make sure he’s got contacts that allow him to try to try correct his mistake, or at least try a do-over.

In Draper’s case, a colleague’s contact at The Wall Street Journal, enabled him to hit the reset button by pitching a compelling story to another high-visibility media outlet.

Now if he could just figure out his personal life…

(photo by Salvatore Vuono)

What’s in store for entrepreneurs on ABC’s Shark Tank next season?  Be sure to tune into a Blogtalkradio interview with one of the show’s star’s, Barbara Corcoran, successful businesswoman and savvy real estate adviser for the Today Show.  You can hear her today at 11 a.m. (Eastern).  To find it online, click onto blogtalkradio.com/money-matters–more.

Thanks!

“To twitter or not to twitter?”

That’s increasingly the question being asked by entrepreneurs looking to reach new and established customers.  With apologies to Shakespeare for modifying his words, it can be tough to know whether, or how much time and effort to spend on social media, when so many small business owners have to tend to a myriad of tasks, from administrative to sales.

What’s the answer?  Are Twitter and Facebook worth the effort?  Sarah Needleman (see photo), staff reporter with the Wall Street Journal joins me today on the Money Matters & More radio show to help answer that question and to talk about her recent  WSJ column, Entrepreneurs Question the Value of Social Media, 10:30 a.m. Eastern on BlogTalkRadio.com.

Got a question before the show?  Contact at moneymattersandmore@yahoo.com, Twitter (moneyandmore) or Facebook (moneymattersandmore).

Thanks.

Community Business Partnership

9th Annual Business Plan Contest

Two local business plan contests in the DC/MD/VA region make an offer no new entrepreneur should refuse:  enter and you can’t lose.

How is this possible?  Easy.

That’s because every registered contestant to the Community Business Partnership’s 9th Annual Business Plan Contest and Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI) 7th Annual StartRight! Women’s Business Plan Competition is guaranteed at a minimum perhaps the most important win an new entrepreneur could achieve:  clear, detailed and written feedback from a panel of judges with the skills and experience to offer expert guidance.

And that’s just for participating!

And what if you win a prize?  Depending on the contest, you could win between $250 and $10,000 in cash.

Interested?  Check out the fine print at http://www.cbponline.org, or call (703) 768-1440, and www.RockvilleREDI.org (301) 315-8096.

Deadline for CBP:  Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

Deadline for REDI:  March 26, 2010 (Executive Summary); March 31, 2010 (Business Plan)

Be sure to join me on News Channel 8 (in the DC region) today between 10 and 11:00 a.m., where I’ll talk more about the value of business plan contests.

Thanks.

Ready to launch?  Think that business idea is ready to go, but you could appreciate some solid advice to ensure success?

Be sure to tune in for Part Two of my interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Small Business Editor  Colleen DeBaise today at 10:30 a.m. (Eastern)  DeBaise’s new release, The Wall Street Journal, Complete Small Business Guidebook, offers great practical advice.

From strategies for finding funding for your venture, on through creating and managing your business successfully, and beyond, the book provides a useful blueprint for prospective entrepreneurs.

In today’s interview, we’ll be talking about the nuts and bolts of getting started, including the ins and outs of managing your finances, how to find great employees and balancing work and family time.

To tune in, click onto blogtalkradio.com.  It’s the Money Matters & More radio show.

Got questions for Colleen DeBaise?  Call into the listener line at (646) 929-1832, between 10:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. today.

If you want to email questions, click onto moneymattersandmore@yahoo.com; for Twitter: moneyandmore; Facebook: moneymattersandmore.

Look forward to hearing from you.  Enjoy the show!

Imagine for a moment that it’s1996. You’re a married businesswoman living and working in sparsely populated rural Canada. How do you find customers and clients? For Denise Wakeman, a business and online marketing strategist the answer was clear: use the Internet. Today, Wakeman is based in California and has spent nearly 20 years helping a wide variety of professionals gain greater visibility and attract more clients and opportunities using social media.

In a live interview on yesterday’s edition of Money Matters & More on blogtalkradio.com, Wakeman explained that she “fell in love with the Internet” in the ‘90s because of its “global nature and access.” Despite the fact that she lived out in the country, the Internet enabled her to build a business with clients all over the world.

Wakeman offered a number of benefits from blogging, Facebook, Twitter and other social media:

n Can help businesses develop relationships with customers/audience they’re trying to reach

n Researching what’s happening on other site can help businesses discover a need that’s not being met

To hear the interview from Thursday, September 24, 2009, click onto the media player at the top right corner of this page.  (To learn more about Denise Wakeman and what her company has to offer, check out her website at www.denisewakeman.com)

Entrepreneurship 101: Let’s Talk Live Guest Appearance on NewsChannel 8 on Monday, September 28, 2009 (12 Noon)

If you’re thinking about setting up your own business, be sure to tune into NewsChannel 8 on Monday, September 28^th. I’ll be talking with the hosts of Let’s Talk Live about “How to Start a Business: What Things You Should Know.” (For those who aren’t in the DC area, click onto letstalklive@news8.net)

Thanks for reading the Money Matters and More blog!

Given the crummy unemployment numbers for August, and the state of the current economy, it would be hard to blame any job seeker for pulling out all the stops in his or her approach to the job market.  But how much is too much?  And what techniques work most effectively in a slow market?

Be sure to join me tomorrow September 8th at 11:00 a.m. (Eastern) as I pose those questions for Joann Lublin, Management News Editor for The Wall Street Journal. Last week, she wrote “Lessons of Extreme Job-Hunting,” a Careers Column that featured the experiences of three job hunters as they used unconventional, somewhat risky approaches to their job searches. (To read the whole article, click onto http://tinyurl.com/nypakc.)

What are the three most important ways to find work, no matter the state of the economy?  For the answer, tune in at 11:00 a.m. for the live broadcast of Money Matters & More, or later for a podcast at www.blogtalkradio.com/Money-Matters–More.

Thanks for reading the Money Matters and More blog.  Drop me a line with suggestions for upcoming show topics at www.moneymattersandmore.com.

Heather Taylor

This Labor Day at noon, be sure to tune into CBS affiliate WUSA Channel 9 in Washington, DC where I’ll be interviewed by award-winning and veteran TV anchor J.C. Hayward about “Extreme Job Hunting:  What Works, What Doesn’t.” The segment will include tips on effective (and ineffective) job-hunting tactics.

Thanks for reading the Money Matters and More blog.

Heather Taylor

Journalist Emily Brandon of U.S. News & World Report joins me at 10 a.m. (Eastern Time) today, to share tips for Boomers who want to start their own businesses.  And she’ll talk about a brand new study from the Kauffman Foundation that reveals that “baby boomer businesses are booming.”

Check out the live stream on www.blogtalkradio.com.

(Click onto Money-Matters–More)

And if you’re in the DC area, join me for a “Money Monday” interview with award-winning TV anchor, J. C. Hayward, on CBS Affiliate (WUSA9), Monday, July 27, 2009 at noon.

Have a great weekend!

Thanks.

Heather Taylor

We didn’t get nearly enough time to talk about Carla Hall’s experience on Season 5 of Bravo TV’s Top Chef, so Carla willingly agreed to return to the Money Matters & More radio show.  Be sure to tune in today, June 11th at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern) on blogtalkradio.com/Money-Matters–More.

Thanks for reading the Money Matters and More blog!

Heather Taylor