Listen to “#610 How a 22 Year-Old Company Pivoted During COVID” on Spreaker.
On this episode of The Small Business Radio Show…
SEGMENT 1 with Meredith Schmidt, starting at 0:00: How are small business owners doing six months into the pandemic? Meredith Schmidt is here from Salesforce to talk about the Small & Medium Business Trends Report.
SEGMENT 2 with Joy Gendusa, starting at 19:45: Postcardmania successfully rebounded from big hits early on in the pandemic and had their best summer ever in 2020. Joy is here to share how they made a pivot during COVID and have been successful in the coronaeconomy.
SEGMENT 3 with Devin Miller, starting at 37:00: Unfortunately a lot of entrepreneurs work very hard to build a successful business over many years but never sufficiently protect their intellectual property. How can we make sure we don’t make this mistake?
Sponsored by The Hanover Insurance Group and efile4Biz
More on each segment below.
Segment 1: Meredith Schmidt is the Executive Vice President and GM of Essentials and SMB at Salesforce. She is responsible for creating products that help small businesses take advantage of the Salesforce Platform to grow their businesses.
1:30 – The Salesforce Small & Medium Small Business Trends Report provides an up-to-date look at how SMB owners and leaders are adapting to the current climate.
3:15 – What trends are we seeing?
5:15 – How can small business owners keep a personalized connection during this time of contactless service?
7:30 – Customer loyalty is up for grabs, depending on how well you communicate with customers.
9:45 – Small business optimism persists amid new challenges.
12:00 – Digital-forward SMBs are more equipped to handle market volatility.
15:45 – How can high-contact businesses ensure their success through the pandemic?
Segment 2: Joy Gendusa grew PostcardMania from a small startup into an industry leader employing 285 people and generating over $60 million in sunny Clearwater, FL. PostcardMania has been featured on the Inc. 500 and Inc. 5000 lists and has printed 1.8 billion postcards and mailed over 700 million more, all while helping 91,340 small businesses with their marketing.
19:45 – PostcardMania took a hit early in the pandemic, but rebounded successfully. How did they pivot during covid and what other decisions did they make?
22:00 – Why did you decide to not cut your marketing or your staff early on?
23:30 – PostcardMania had their best summer ever in 2020. How did they do it?
25:15 – Tell us about your pivot during covid from a direct mail company to a tech company and the hiring spree you’ve been on recently.
26:45 – How does PostcardMania help small business owners?
28:15 – How do you convince a small business owner that marketing isn’t a one-time thing?
30:00 – How much do small businesses need to spend on marketing?
31:15 – What has been your favorite postcard marketing campaign?
Segment 3: Devin Miller is an attorney who founded his first startup while earning his Law & MBA degrees. Since then, he has founded several 7/8 figure startups.
37:00 – Why don’t entrepreneurs protect their intellectual property?
38:30 – What could happen if you don’t protect your intellectual property?
41:00 – What’s the difference between a patent/trademark/copyright?
43:30 – How startups and small businesses can leverage patent/trademark/copyright to build an asset for their company.
44:45 – What are some of the myths regarding patent/trademark/copyright?
46:15 – Can a startup or small business compete and/or enforce a patent/trademark/copyright against a big business?
48:00 – What should small business owners expect to pay for patents/trademarks/copyrights?
Sponsored by The Hanover Insurance Group and efile4Biz
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