The speaker at today’s Chamber luncheon was Roy Reid of Consensus Communications, an Orlando-based PR and Public Affairs firm. Consensus Communications is one of the tops firm in those fields and we were fortunate to have Roy as our keynote speaker today.

Roy is an expert in buidling relationships that lead to success. His presentation Outrageous Trust shows in specific details how building better business relationships positively enhances a businesses’s bottom line.

One of the things that Roy said today that really resonated with me was that if you build up trust with your customers, you reduce the risk to your business. With the rise of social media and instant communication your customers can vent their feelings to a huge audience any time they want. If you have some trust built up with those customers, than when something does happen (and it is usually more a matter of when something will happen and not if something will happen) your customers will be more likely to remain loyal and give you a chance to solve the problem before they vent their feelings to their friends and followers on social media.

If you missed the luncheon today or if you want to hear more about building this kind of Outrageous Trust, you can watch Roy on YouTube by clicking this link

Thank you for your continued support of the Chamber.

I hope you were able to attend the first Apopka Food Truck Round-Up. I heard from a lot of people who attended that it was a great time and they can’t wait to come back in September.

For those that haven’t heard of the food truck craze sweeping the country (maybe there are some people who don’t watch the Food Network as much as I do), these are not the roach coaches of yesteryear. They are operated by foodies who invent new and cutting edge cuisine (Korean-Mexican fusion at the Korean Taco Box), bold flavors (deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich with nutella and banana at the Tree House Truck) and quality products (s’more cupcake at the Yum Yum Cupcake Truck).

There was something for every taste and prices were reasonable. I know I am already thinking about what to have in September (I know I will be starting with the s’more cupcake though).

See you at the park in September!

The Social Styles Matrix

Thanks to Robert Spencer of The Institute for Human Development for leading a fun and informative Brown Bag Seminar here at the Chamber yesterday afternoon.

Bob discussed the social styles model of human behavior, and how understanding this model and being able to determine where your co-workers, bosses, customers or family members fall on this scale can help you improve communication with these people which can lead to better understanding and better results in the workplace and in the home.

There are four main criteria in determining where someone falls in this model. The first is the speed in which the person makes a decision - fast or deliberate. The second is the way in which the person expresses emotions - open or self-contained. This matrix creates four quadrants and those four quadrants are labeled Driver, Expressive, Amiable and Analytical.

As Bob quickly pointed out to the group, these descriptions focus on behavior not just personality and that it is not appropriate to simply label someone as one of these categories and assume they are like this all the time - each of us moves through these quadrants at different times in our daily lives.

Bob also discussed how people in each of these categories make decisions, their energy patterns, how they like to communicate and their level of risk taking.

I discovered (well I kind of knew this already) that I am an Expressive. I tend to make quick decisions, prefer short and bulleted communication and take risks. I learned that as I deal with people in other categories I need to communicate with them in the style they prefer, not just the one I prefer. This way, they receive the information and process it in more efficiently and are not distracted by the form of the communication.

If you would like to learn more about the social styles model, please contact Bob Spencer at The Institute for Human Development at 407-889-8160 or visit the website at www.instituteforhumandevelopment.net.

By Paul Seago, President - Apopka Area Chamber of Commerce

Wow! Today we hosted a fantastic social media seminar put on by Nick Nanton and Wendy Kurtz, who are Chamber members and are experts in helping businesses use social media.

Some quick social media stats:

• 96% of Gen. Y uses social media
• Social media is the #1 activity on the web
• If Facebook were a country, it would be the 4th largest in the world (behind China, India and the U.S.)
• The fastes growing segment on facebook is women age 55 - 65

Imagine what that means for bad customer experiences!

Nick and Wendy pointed out that social media is changing the way we all communicate. That has huge implications for virtually every business. A positive testimonial about your business on facebook or twitter can increase your business in ways not imagined before. On the flip side, a bad review can be potentially devastating.

Nick and Wendy also pointed out that the most important thing for a business using social media is to focus on giving your customers value and establishing trust online instead of just promoting a product or service. Your social media presence must be compelling to your “followers” and “friends”. 

Here at the Chamber we use social media - specifically Twitter to add value to our networking events. All businesses that attend our networking events get their business information and website sent to our 1,700 followers.

Check out our calendar for our next seminar

by Paul Seago, President Apopka Area Chamber of Commerce

Wow! It is amazing how exposed we all are to potential identity theft.

I want to thank Cindi Cioci, a certified risk management and identity theft specialists, for giving a very educational and eye-opening presentation about identity theft at the Chamber this afternoon.

To start, Cindi handed everyone who attended a piece of paper asking for some information about us. Most of it was rather innocuous, but she also asked for our SSN# and date of birth. It was only a test, but it was amazing how many people put all the information she asked for (myself included) simply because she asked. As Cindi told the group - there are very few reasons why you need to give that information (going to the hospital, buying a house or car, or applying for a job) but other than that you should ask why someone needs that information.

Cindi pointed out that identity theft is not just about your credit (although that is a big deal), it is about your life. You may remember a recent story here in Apopka in which a woman who was the vicitim of identity theft was wrongly arrested for prostitution. She was held in the Orange County jail for several hours before the matter was cleared up.

Individuals are not the only ones who need to be vigilant - small businesses must be on the lookout as well for potential identity theft at their business. There is a federal law that mandates how employee and customer information must be stored in order to comply with the law. If one of your employees or customers is a victim of identity theft, and they can show that it could have happened at your business - you as the owner of the business will be held liable and will have to prove your innocence. That law now only applies to financial institutions but will very soon apply to all businesses.

Cindi gave detailed information and tips on how to protect yourself against identity theft (I will list a few of the highlights here):

1. DO NOT carry your Social Security card in your wallet. Your SSN# is the key to your credit report and bank account and is the prime target of criminals.

2. ONLY use black “gel” pens when writing checks (if you still do that). The gel ink cannot be “washed” off the checks by criminals.

3. DO use a cross-cut shredder to destroy anything with sensitive information on it. Also use this kind of shredder to destroy “junk mail” credit card offers - many of those offers can have your information on the application. Those items should not be in your regular trash.

4. MONITOR your credit report. You need to know what is happening with your credit.

If you didn’t make it to today’s seminar and would like more information on protecting yourself from identity theft, you can call Cindi at 407-889-0859

by Paul Seago, President Apopka Area Chamber of Commerce

I have to tell you about today’s monthly Membership Luncheon, and especially about our speaker, Mark A. Johnson. I met Mark for the first time a few weeks ago at a meeting of the Apopka Foliage Toastmasters (I recently became a member of Toastmasters as I am looking to improve my public speaking). Mark gave a speech which lasted about 7 minutes, but those were 7 very impactful minutes. For those of you who know Mark, he has won numerous local and regional Toastmasters speaking competitions.

As I was thinking about a speaker for this month’s luncheon, I remembered Mark’s speech and knew he would be perfect for the Chamber luncheon, but I did not have his contact information. Being a fairly resourceful person, I looked through the Toastmasters roster - but there was no contact information there either. I googled him and found several Mark Johnsons, but not the correct one. After a few more attempts I found Mark and contacted him to speak and thankfully he agreed.

Mark talked today about the importance of being impactful in, as he puts it, the space you occupy. That has deep meaning for me and I hope it does for you as well. We are all busy with our day-to-day lives, and with running or working in our businesses. However, we need to understand that we are all given gifts and we are charged by our Creator with the responsibility of having a positive impact on those around us.

I know that I will make it a priority to make an impact in the space that I occupy and I hope you will do the same.

by Paul Seago, President Apopka Area Chamber of Commerce

Apopka City Commissioner Kathy Till presented an outstanding brown bag business seminar this week on a topic that is frightening to many business people - public speaking.  In fact, the fear of public speaking is listed as the #1 fear among most people - higher than the fear of dying.

Kathy gave some really helpful tips on overcoming this fear and delivering a confident and well developed speech that will help any person in business reach success.

They first and most imporant step is to Be Prepared (yes, just like the Boy Scout Motto). You have to take the time to organize your thoughts so your speech is well constructed, makes sense and is easy to follow. The second part of being prepared is giving yourself enough time to edit and revise your remarks. The night before you are to make a presentation is not the time to get started writing your speech - your audience will be able to tell.

The three most important things in delivering a great speech are practice, practice, practice. Kathy advised that you should practice your speech until you can give it the same way two times in a row. This means getting any voice inflections, gestures or comments the same way two times in a row. When you can do this, you will be able to get up and give a great speech!

One of the most important things to remember is: DO NOT READ YOUR SPEECH. Kathy said if you are going to get up in front of a group and read your speech, you may as well print out copies, distribute them to the audience and then leave because that is as much impact as your public reading will have on the audience.

If your presentation includes a Q & A period, it would benefit you to anticipate questions you may be asked so you will be ready with the answer. If you don’t know the answer, say so. Do not try and bluff your way through an answer - you will get caught and then you will lose all credibility with the audience.

In your speech, Kathy advised to avoid transition words like “umm” or “ahh”. If you are trying to think of the next thing to say, just be quiet and let the words come to you. Too many “umms” and “ahhs” can distract from your message. Kathy gave an example of a speaker she saw in a panel several years ago. While she can no longer remember the subject of that person’s speech, she still remembers that the speaker said “umm” so many times she began to count - and counted over 100 in a 10 minute speech.

If you will follow these tips presented by Commissioner Kathy Till, you will be on your way to being a successful public speaker.

by Paul Seago, Apopka Area Chamber of Commerce President

If you own or operate a business, you should always be thinking about ways to improve customer service. It has been said that a satisfied customer tells three people, but an unhappy customer tells 300. Well, in the age of Twitter and YouTube, the number of people who can be told about bad customer service has gone up exponentially.

If you think customer service isn’t important, you need to watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

Here is a little backstory on this situation. A musician named Dave Carroll, from the band Sons of Maxwell, travled on United Airlines last year, and watched as baggage handlers threw passengers’ bags around, including the band’s musical instruments. When they retreived their luggage, Dave realized his $3,500 guitar had been damaged.  After nine months of getting the run-around from United Airlines, Dave decided to air his frustrations through a music video posted on YouTube criticising the airline. That video, titled “United Breaks Guitars” has been viewed nearly 3 million times. Because of the popularity of the YouTube posting, Dave has been interviewed on CNN and the Oprah Winfrey Show causing great embarrasment for United. Due to this pressure, United has finally apologized and donated $3,000 in Dave’s name to a charity supporting music education.

Use this story as a lesson - customers who experience bad service from your business will not only no longer patronize your business, but can now take to the internet and other outlets to tell potenitally millions of people about their experience and cause you great embarrassment and harm.

by Paul Seago, Apopka Chamber of Commerce President

We all know that the economy is tough right now, and that businesses are feeling the pinch - especially small businesses.  Many are wondering how they will continue to stay in business, and need some help to grow.

That is why your Chamber is working so hard to give you the tools you need to achieve success. We have added many new events to help your business grow. In fact, we now have five (5) free networking events every month to help you make new business connections and strengthen existing connections that lead to more business for your company.

Twice a month, on Monday mornings, we have a group called Chamber Networks Groupthat meets at 8:00 am at the Chamber office. You will have a chance to introduce yourself to other business professionals and talk about your compnay/product/service. These meetings have resulted in people generating new clients, customers and in a few cases some long-term business pairings that are going to lead to great success.

We also have a new event called Networking @ Noonthat takes place on the first Tuesday in between the other networking events (I know that sounds confusing so please look at our calendar on the site and it will all make sense). The format is essentially the same as our Monday group, but at lunchtime for those that have Monday morning meetings (or just can’t seem to get out of bed on a Monday. haha)

Another new networking event we have started is called First Friday. This event takes place on the first Friday of the month. It will take place at a local Chamber member restaurant and is a happy hour event that will allow members to make and strengthen business connections in a relaxed, social atmosphere.

Our premiere social networking event is our monthly Business After Hours. This event is hosted by a Chamber members business, which allows that business to showcase their company and allows our members to make those important connections that lead to business.

We put on these events to help you grow your business and achieve the success you desire. Networking is a proven way to grow to your business. People like to do business with those they know and trust. Those connections happen through networking. The most important thing is that you participate. You get out of the Chamber what you put in.

I look forward to seeing you at a Chamber networking event soon!

by Paul Seago, Apopka Chamber of Commerce President

Wow! We had our biggest group ever for today’s Brown Bag Seminar at the Chamber office. We had to bring in extra chairs (which is always a good problem to have).

Chamber member Wendy Kurtz of Elizabeth Charles & Associates  presented a mini-version of her PR Crash Course (she offers a two-day version on her website, but today we only had an hour).  I know that everyone who attended came away with some things they can do today to help their business grow.

Wendy had so many great tips and ideas for businesses, but one of the biggest for me was what she calls the DREAM Principle(tm):

Define your business - What is your core competency and what is your target audience
Recognize your strengths - What gives you a competitive advantage
Evaluate your opportunities - What openings are there in the marketplace
Assess your feedback - Take an honest look at what you and see how you can improve
Manage your reputation - Reputation is the most important things you have so guard it closely

Wendy also showed the group how to develop a core message for their business. Some call the core message an “elevator speech” - a quick summation of what makes your company stand out in a crowded field.  When given an opening to talk about their business, many people ramble on and on and lose the attention and interest of the person they are speaking with. To be more successful, you should have your core message down to a few sentences that give a clear, concise and compelling message about your business so that people want to hear more.

Using Wendy’s formula, I was able to better develop the Chamber’s core message: We help our member businesses grow through networking events, sponsorship and promotional opportunities and member education events.

Wendy also showed how social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn are great tools to be used along with other traditional PR tools to get your business valuable earned media and third party validation that comes with it. 

I know that those who attended really enjoyed the presentation and will start using some of the tips Wendy mentioned right away.

Thanks for a great presentation Wendy!