Franchise Development via Social Media – Podcast Now Available

Recently, I introduced to the franchise community, an extensive 11-page article, “Franchise Development via Social Media.”

On Thursday, October 15th on Franchise Today Show on BlogTalkRadio, I discussed the article in detail, along with my thoughts and ideas about utilizing social media within a franchise organization for the purpose of:

- Creating brand awareness with franchise candidates and consumers alike?
- Generating qualified franchise leads and subsequent franchise sales?
- Establishing an interactive environment of communications and information sharing at all levels of a franchise organization?

Some franchise organizations are beginning to take advantage of this information and are utilizing it to take a major step in building the foundation for a successful 2010 without wasting the first quarter on things their organization could be doing right now.

LISTEN TO PODCAST HERE.

Donald Cranford at the Franchise Direct blog has been kind of enough to submit a link to an interesting complementary article that may be accessed HERE.

Contact me at segreto.paul@gmail for more information.

The future of promoting franchise opportunities – out with the old and in with the new, or revisit what worked years ago?

I strongly feel the days of promoting franchise opportunities through expensive trade shows and cost-prohibitive print advertising are rapidly becoming things of the past. Sure, franchising has experienced a great run and will most likely remain the backbone of small business. However, the current state of the economy has created a necessity to explore more cost-effective methods and processes in marketing franchise concepts as franchise growth objectives continue to be on the forefront of franchisors’ minds in the United States and abroad.

Besides being cost-effective, today’s franchise sales and development efforts must be technologically advanced to attract a more sophisticated, educated (and cautious) franchise candidate than the franchise industry has ever seen before. A trend that is sure to evolve as an increasing number of transitioning, highly-skilled and educated business professionals and corporate executives explore franchising as a career alternative while already successful street-smart entrepreneurs investigate franchising, perhaps for the first time, as part of their diversification and expansion strategies. All have embraced new technologies as a way of networking, sharing information, communicating ideas and exploring opportunities…including today and tomorrow’s franchise opportunities!

What are your thoughts about the future of trade shows? print advertising including brochures? new technologies that can be utilized in franchise development efforts? franchise brokers? in-house sales and marketing teams?

New Feature for Franchise Professionals Exploring Career Options

franchisEssentials is dedicated to keeping outstanding talent within franchising. As the purpose of this site is to present pertinent and beneficial information solely to the franchise community, and primarily to franchisors, the “Classifieds” page on this site has been developed to introduce and present select franchise professionals in a compelling, yet confidential manner (if so desired).

Options include submitting a message with contact information (see Note below), or, submitting a message with instructions detailing desired steps of sharing information. franchisEssentials provides complimentary intermediary services to facilitate confidential communications and information sharing.

For more information and / or to submit a your message, please contact Paul Segreto by email at segreto.paul@gmail.com.

Note: Posts are limited to 200 words or less. Contact info may only include your name, one or two phone numbers, one email address and your LinkedIn profile link. Contact info will not be considered as part of the word count. Please, do not include your physical address. No recruiters allowed.

For a listing of current career opportunities please visit “Job Board” at FranchiseExecutives.com.

Growing Your Franchise in Today’s Climate – Now Available On-Demand

According to research, 70-75% of new franchisors fail over a 10 year period. Do you know the key factors that lead to a franchise succeeding or failing? Do you know the impact of strong communications and accountability on franchisee buy-in and therefore on franchise growth?

VIEW WEBINAR HERE

THIS WEBINAR HELPED ATTENDEES:

*Learn the most important factors in franchise success or failure
*Explore key societal trends that will affect franchising in the next 12 months
*Get concrete solutions to improve communications and accountability with your franchisees
*Discuss best practices around effective communications in the franchise marketplace and how these can be implemented in the areas of social media, franchisee communications, and operations management.

Attendees left with concrete tips they can implement as well as an understanding of how they can strengthen their franchise operations and a renewed understanding of the critical importance of good communication in franchise development.

VIEW WEBINAR HERE

THIS WEBINAR WAS ATTENDED BY:

Franchise company owners

* Presidents and CEOs
* Vice Presidents, Directors of Business Development, Strategy, Marketing, and Operations

This webinar was considered ideal for Franchisors who are in rapid growth, considering rapid growth or experiencing growth challenges, and who want to increase franchisee satisfaction and improve accountability within their franchises.

VIEW WEBINAR HERE

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Katryn Harris, President, CEO & Founder, Open Box Integration Inc.

Since 2005, Katryn has been working with franchisors to implement best practices and help them grow their franchises faster and better. Clients appreciate her pragmatic approach and how often they hear the question: ‘What are you trying to accomplish here?’ She sees a huge opportunity for many growing franchises to take better advantage of tools that improve communications, automate accountability and measure and improve brand consistency.

Katryn has spoken at international conferences and written articles for online sites, blogs and magazines. She enjoys the challenges and rewards of working with small and growing franchises as they develop their growth plans and set themselves up on the path to franchise success.

Katryn Harris has been involved in management and organizational development since 1996. She has experience creating and realizing strategic plans, controlling finances, managing and training staff, and ensuring organizational accountability. Katryn founded Open Box in 2004 with the vision of setting people free to do what they do best.

Blog http://growfromhere.com
Twitter http://twitter.com/katrynharris
LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/in/katrynharris

Paul Segreto, President, CEO & Founder, franchisEssentials

Paul Segreto, President, CEO and Founder of franchisEssentials, a Division of 21st Century CEO, brings unique perspective, entrepreneurial spirit and extensive industry experience to franchise marketing and development. For over twenty years he has exclusively served the franchise industry as consultant and coach, senior-level corporate executive, activist, multi-unit franchisee and area developer.

Understanding the franchise sales process from lead generation through franchise award, and the importance of forming an interdependent relationship between franchisee and franchisor, Paul has successfully developed and executed marketing and development strategies for franchisors across a variety of franchise segments. As franchise candidates and consumers have become more sophisticated and technologically advanced, Paul has embraced Web 2.0 technology and social media marketing, and has identified both as essential to future franchise growth at all levels.

A recognized franchise and small business expert,, Paul frequently serves as a guest speaker / topic leader for focus groups, strategy and sales planning meetings, training sessions and industry panels. He is frequently called upon to utilize his expertise in the development of articles for industry newsletters and blogs, and training programs for companies and organizations within the industry.

LinkedIn http://linkedin.com/in/segreto
Facebook http://facebook.com/paulsegreto
Twitter http://twitter.com/paulsegreto

Judy Brooks, Co-Founder, President & CEO, Blo Blow Dry Bar Inc., and Managing Director, Head Company Inc.

It was 2006, and Judy Brooks was in her 4th year of building out ProActive ReSolutions a company that works with organizations to build respectful workplaces. ProActive had opened offices in Vancouver, Sydney (Australia) and Edmonton and was at the height of developing the team, when a shiraz-fueled conversation between Judy and her daughter, Devon, posed a very vital question: “Why the heck can’t women get a great, affordable blow out in this city!?”.

The first Blo Blow Dry Bar location was born June 6th, 2007. The concept was simple: no cuts, no color — just wash-blow-go. Blo opened three locations in under a year, including one in the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver. Since opening, Blo has received over 100 franchise requests from around the world and had over 85 editorial features. Being first to market in the category of Blow Dry Bar has had its advantages. Blo’s cheeky brand has been aggressively built. Blo has a big vision and Judy is working with the young team to capitalize on the success with a well-developed growth strategy.

Blo recently merger with Melonhead, Canada’s biggest kids cutting stores, to form Head Company Inc, a company Building Brands with Brains.

In the last 6 years Judy has sold a company she founded 15 years ago, launched two new ones, and has had the pleasure of working with a number of small businesses as an advisor.

Website: http://www.blomedry.com/
Email: judy@blomedry.com

VIEW WEBINAR HERE

Need a question or two answered?

This past year has been quite interesting and challenging to say the least. Some may have experienced things they have never experienced before. Some may be facing issues they never thought imaginable. But, we have enough resources as a community, the franchise community, to provide guidance and maybe even some wisdom. Then, maybe, just maybe, some light may be shed where it may be a glimmer of hope for some and a beacon for others.

So, please take this opportunity to ask questions about career opportunities, franchise development, franchise sales, franchise marketing, training, customer service, operations, technology, social media, legal, etc…

If I don’t have the answer you need, I’ll get it for you.