Business Jazz

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 7th December 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): Could you imagine changing your life and transporting yourself from your living room couch to a luncheon table with a princess? Does that seem like too big a leap to contemplate? For many of us, it does. We are held back by our imagination. And even if we have the imagination to imagine such ambitions, we lack the belief that we can achieve them. We decide they are beyond us. Not so, says Chris Brogan. He should know. He has made the journey from 9-5 wage slave seeking evening solace in front of the TV to having lunch with Sheika Mariam of Abu Dhabi. In his latest email, he urges you to paint the picture of your life with bolder, bigger brush strokes. He also offers some tools to help you achieve that. Paul and Roger add their views to the mix.

The Haggis episode. In this episode you hear Roger & Paul address these topics (and more): Nobody knows how many episodes of business jazz have been made. Simon Toon got in touch to say he is delighted season one (2012) is being shared. Email marketing Dog lovers have been disappointed so far. Mike Collins Your Irish Heritage blood story - haggis biggest client is the British Embassy. Black pudding made with human blood. BMW approach- curate your own stuff. Serve customers as individuals. ——- Our listeners may not know what haggis is. Roger describes ———- What are neeps? [Neeps = https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/jan/25/neeps-swede-or-turnip] “Haggis is absolutely fabulous” says Roger. Rabbie Burns the greatest poet to come out of Scotland (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) Have an annual festival- like a World Haggis Day (Burns Night) Like Xmas Day Can you buy Haggis in Cork? Bloom’s Day helps some retailers of clothing Towel Day = 25 May (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) Valentine

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 30th November 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): We're going to break a little from tradition this week and talk about someone else. Don't worry, Chris is here too. But we're going to start with a man who recently sent out an email actively encouraging people to go to cafes to steal a magazine. That's right. Theft. You have his blessing. Such a person can only be called a misfit. In fact, make that a capital "M". Misfit. Who is this man? His name is AJ Leon. He and his wife Melissa head up Misfit Incorporated, and they've just launched their magazine: Misfit Quarterly. Online, it's free. Go get an e-copy. Want a hard copy? Well, you can sign up to become an honorary misfit (though if you do, AJ and Melissa would probably capitalize you: Honorary Misfit). Or, you can trawl around after them and pick up a free copy wherever they happen to leave one. They're on a 1,080 day journey around

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 23rd November 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): "Think outside the box" "I don't like being placed in a box." "Don't get boxed in." These are common sentiments, often heard. Being in a box is bad. Restrictive. Repressive. Life is better outside the confines of boxes. Really? Chris Brogan begs to differ. He says getting into a box is good. In fact, it can liberate you rather than imprison. Embracing boxes can give you and your ambitions wings. In this week's episode of Business Jazz, we talk about using boxes to your advantage.

This is a bloody episode recorded in a hospital in Cork City, Ireland - Roger used to live in this hospital. Paul & Roger discover that "Phlebotomists are people trained to draw blood from a patient (mostly from veins) for clinical or medical testing, transfusions, donations, or research. Roger has his blood taken in the "Blood Room". But there are not jars of blood stacked up. Topic discussed on this episode include: (1)black pudding and Clonakilty(the biggest selling Irish black pudding brand". (2) Paul can’t remember the name of a pudding maker Tom Durcan from outside Kanturk. (3)Irish breakfasts (4)Do people who work in the blood room where blood coloured jackets (5)A lot of black pudding is made with powder, dried blood. Inch house Black pudding doing is made with fresh blood (6)White pudding is also relevant. Tip: If you don’t have good signage, have staff who can direct you to where you want to go. (7)Without people we would be lost (8)"Blood Room" is a good name Question for marketers: How do you

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 16th November 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): Listen... How good are you at listening? Are you an active listener? Can you listen well by speaking more? Mastering the art of listening can give you a huge competitive advantage. This week, Chris Brogan's email about listening causes Paul and Roger to not talk at the same time...

To make your business genuinely un-attractive: __________________________________________ These are the steps to take (1) Have the “Nothing is impossible” mindset - ideally Dominant in the culture of the business (2) Have a clear attractive answer to “Why do this? (3) Develop a vision of what things will be like after the upheaval (4) Spread fear of the status quo - FODN FONC fear of doing nothing Fear Of Not Changing (5) Plan action - plan the campaign (6)Assume you can’t make an omelette without cracking eggs This is also how to become genuinely attractive in business. To hear how we reached this cluster of advice, listen to the whole episode. The most valuable thing that happened during the conversation came at the end. Roger voiced it and Paul was struck silent.

This is the most dangerous episode of business jazz ever. Thunder and lightning raged around our open-air studio in Lord's Cricket Ground. We could have been electrocuted by forked lightening. Roger and Paul went to Lord's, the Home of Cricket to see what Lord's was doing to make itself the most attractive cricket business venue in the world. People love thunder and lightning, So long as they are not struck by the lightning nor deafened by the thunder. You hear Roger explain what Lord's is (he is very knowledgeable about cricket) This podcast is not about cricket statistics, nor is it about the rules of cricket. It is about communicating with customers, online and off-line, It’s about how to handle a crisis How important is it to have a crisis management plan (CMP). As a customer of English Cricket. “I feel valued” says Roger Important actions & policies: • Manage expectations, with subliminal messages. • Step by step video help • Up to date & helpful emails • Non- discriminating approach • Value dive

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 9th November 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): This week, it's all about serving your customers. Chris Brogan says that everything works better if you consider yourself to be operating in service of others. 
He suggests that you ask yourself five questions: 
1) Is it easy for my buyer to reach me if they have a question? (Define "buyer" how you wish.) 

2) Is my online presence as inviting as a store or office? Will people know what to do first when they connect with me? Do I guide them where they should go next? 

 3) Do I make my product or service clear and understandable so that people feel they understand it? 4) Am I doing what I'm selling to make my buyer the hero? 

 5) Am I ready to commit to full satisfaction from my customer? 
 Paul and Roger discuss each one in turn. They don't agree on the last one—the one that Chris highlights in particular.

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 2nd November 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): Failure. It's a scary word for many of us. For others, it's something to be embraced. They see failures as milestones on the way to success. Failure should be embraced, rather than feared. This week Paul and Roger discuss failure and how to turn it to your advantage, prompted as usual by an email from Chris Brogan. To hear the podcast, just click on the play button on the embedded player at the top of this post. We're also in iTunes. We'd love it if you subscribed. Wow! Many of you will have found us through the plug that both Chris and AJ Leon gave the podcast in their email newsletters last week. It was an incredible experience for us to receive such boosts from these two remarkable people. Chris and AJ, thank you. It means the world to us.

How not to break up in smithereens - the story of a very messy breakup - told by Roger. “I just need to be able to drink coffee and listen to you” is how this episode starts. Recorded in the Republic of Work in Cork, with Louis the dog who’s been drinking coffee this morning. Listen to Why was Louis genuinely attracted to Rogers coffee? You find out Was Paul really frazzled or focused? And that’s just the warmup chat. _________ If you run (or imagine yourself running) - this episode is for you. However, this episode is about BREAKING UP. Strava - “Run and cycling tracking on the social network for athletes” & Relive - “ turns your adventure into a personal video worth sharing”. You hear the emails sent by both companies (read by unbiased Roger). You can judge which company’s style appeals to you. You can take sides in the BREAKUP. “As a human being, I warm very much to the text that (No Spoiler here) put out ...” reveals Roger. Business Jazz Paul offers his perspective & advice - but you must listen t

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 26th October 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): The number one thing that holds us back from achieving our goals, from grasping our full potential, is ourselves. Instead of taking action, we wait. We wait for the perceived risks to abate, the circumstances to change, more time to become available to us. We wait for the support of others. We promise we'll leap into action as soon as we have more money, fewer commitments, clearer goals. Nothing happens. Even when opportunity comes knocking. "I'm not quite ready," we reply. Courage This week, Paul and Roger discuss two emails - one from Chris Brogan, the other from AJ Leon. Both highlight the need for you to be courageous. They urge you to take action over finding excuses. Chris and AJ want you to become the whole person you are capable of being. They offer advice.

This is Part Two, the second instalment, (the second coming?) of last week's episode. Paul says, small businesses can't afford big branding budgets. Instead, they should listen to Business Jazz for free. Roger says, if you choose pink socks then you'll know what other decisions to make about your colours. Excitement: there is a discussion about the benefits of making any choice over no choice and the joys of consistency. Consistency brings you business. Flakiness loses you business. But whom should you hire? A practitioner or someone who talks well, but walks much less? If the solution offered by two businesses is the same, the way the solution is communicated is important.

Tony Macken (managing director of "Daylight.ie") joins Roger & Paul at the start. He sparks the agenda for this episode. Part 1: If you know what you're trying to achieve, you have a better chance of achieving it. This leads to a discussion about socks, shirts, ties, wardrobe & shoes - including what Tony Macken is wearing. Paul says The male world is divided into - men who put their socks on first (before other clothes) - men who put on socks second last (just before putting on shoes) This opens up discussion about What is the foundation - the anchor - of your image? A company will have a "sock". What is that sock? This leads on to a discussion of the branding of Republic of Work (RoW) in Cork (where this episode was recorded). - the use of the colour blue by RoW Tip: If you want to "own" a colour (like Coca Cola do), you must use that colour throughout your business. What other colour has been chosen consistently by RoW to go with their blue? Tip: If branding is done in an absolutely perfect way, th

This is a rebroadcast of an episode from the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 19th October 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): Ideas - we all have them. Some are fantastic, some less so. Most are never acted on. In his latest email, Chris Brogan gives you seven steps to help you pick those ideas that are good for you and implement them. Paul and Roger discuss their own experiences of implementing ideas. During the podcast, you'll hear occasional interference from someone's smartphone. Our apologies. The person responsible (Paul and/or Roger) has been spoken to.

This week, Roger & Paul talk about "The secret about being genuinely attractive in business." Roger found the marketing "Holy Grail" in a video. He reveals the three secrets of food marketing - while describing "The Secret" as a "vile book". Is the secret tongue-in-cheek, or genuine? You decide. Here's the secret to successfully marketing food: (1) Say how food is produced - "farm fresh" - "grass-fed" (2) Say that food production is "cutting-edge", "scientific" - like "super food" However, these two things pale into insignificance alongside (3) Find customers who don't care - about misleading advertising & chemicals in food. You hear Paul say "Roger you've been abusing language". "You're twisting words". 'I've found a nest of deceit & lies" admits Roger. Have we uncovered a major difference between Roger & Paul? Is the future of the podcast precarious? You'll have to listen to the whole podcast to find out...

This is a rebroadcast of the second episode of the first season of BusinessJazz. It first went live on 12th October 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): Email newsletters can be great things, full of useful information that can help you achieve your goals. They can also be horrible pieces of writing aimed solely at your wallet rather than you. In his own latest email missive, Chris Brogan discusses the right way to do things.

This is a rebroadcast of the second pilot of Business Jazz. You could say, it is the first recognisable episode of Business Jazz. It first went live on 5th October 2012. The original show notes (beware of outdated information): Welcome to episode two of the BusinessJazz podcast, or as Paul would say: the second pilot. We’re making progress. This week we have an intro. We also have a producer. Our producer is Mark Cotton, and he is so much more than that. He is a sound engineer, sounding board, musician, “stunt guitarist” (we haven’t asked), composer, wrangler, adviser and all-round solid human being. We don’t know where or how to start thanking Mark, whom serendipity placed in our path. Please check him out on his About.me page. On twitter he’s @mcfontaine. We also have to say a big thank you to Sarah Langston, Mark’s partner, who has stepped in to record an intro while our voice artist recovers from an ill-fated encounter with some food. (Get well Jane). Sarah recorded our current voiceover with grace and el

Tony Macken (Daylight.ie) gives wisdom before the episode even starts. He got it from Brennan Scanlon (“super sharp”): you have to sell yourself—become a person(ality). Then talk passion. End up with your profession: person, passion, profession. The three Ps. Paul thinks of Pat O’Connell, fishmonger in the English Market. Then the episode ends. It starts again at 2:57 with Paul sitting like a naughy school boy. Paul’s buttons are pushed. How do secondary make themselves attractive to new pupils? He recounts a case study: it is a horror story. There is no fun in secondary school: homework, tests, the world’s heaviest bag. Roger tells legal joke very badly at 6:45. Paul recovers the episode in military style. There is talk of a letter to a photography magazine by someone who was looking for advice about becoming a war photographer. This appeals to certain people, Paul says. Advice: You can’t appeal everyone. Does secondary school appeal to people who want to build muscle to become a shot putter? Tony made himse

Show Notes:
 This week there’s a guest on the show. Somehow he sleeps during the complete recording. The theme for this episode is “Complaints”. Listener’s complaints about our last episode have Roger (almost) in tears. This leads us into a discussion about the value of complaints from customers. The effect negative criticism has - and how to turn criticisms into long time loyalty. The Bits Size Example: What Bite Size (cafe bakery) do when they get complaints. They embrace the critic and the criticism. Acknowledge the complaint - assure the critic that something will happen. The owner speaks to the person - Roger describes what the owner does. Paul refers to research: When people have a bad experience, they usually don’t come back. Paul advocates a radical approach to win back the affection of the disgruntled customer. enhance your reputation in the wider society Paul summarises the Nordstrom story told by Tom Peters in “A Passion for Excellence”. The “Re-film Game of Thrones (last season)” demand has made R