Carrie Melissa Jones is a master-builder of so-called “Brand Communities,” which go way beyond common social networking and online forums to cement a life-long sense of belonging among core customers, employees, and even vendors.

Done right, brand communities can dramatically enrich the success of both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. The devil, of course, is in the details.

Carrie is co-author of “Building Brand Communities: How Organizations Succeed by Creating Belonging.” As important as who successful brand communities seek to attract, she tells host Dean Rotbart, are who they consciously choose to alienate. 

Pick up your own copy of Carrie’s book here.

Photo: Carrie Melissa Jones, Gather Community Consulting
Posted: August 24, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 49:22

You're sitting at an outdoor café and an important client of yours spots you. He comes over and extends his hand in greeting. Do you shake it or do you risk offending him by saying that you’re adhering to social distancing rules?

Likewise, you’ve scheduled a video conference with a prospective customer. You’re both working from home. What do you wear? Business casual? Business dress? Shorts and a t-shirt?

The rules of business etiquette in the coronavirus era have had to be rewritten, which is just fine with etiquette expert Maryanne Parker, who observes that since the days of Louis XIV of France, what is and isn’t appropriate has been an ever-evolving standard.

Maryanne, an author and owner of Manor of Manners, joins host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart to address a variety of common, modern etiquette dilemmas that business owners face.

Be sure to pick up a copy of Maryanne’s latest book, Posh Overnight: The 10 Pillars of Social Etiquette.

Photo: Maryanne Parker, Manor of Manners
Posted: August 17, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: One-hour, one-minute, and 37-seconds

“I believe that capitalism is the most significant man-made invention ever.”

So declares this week’s guest Dan Bruder, a respected author, business strategist, and educator.

Dan is fully aware that his viewpoint isn’t politically correct. Indeed, it conflicts

with millions of dissatisfied Americans and protestors who blame the economic and political system that vests our country’s trade and industry in private hands society’s many ills.

But rather than turn to socialism, or even Marxism, as some people advocate, Dan says capitalism can be refocused to best address its failures and the inequalities that have arisen over the past 50 years.

Dan’s book, “The Blendification System: Activating Potential by Connecting Culture, Strategy, and Execution,” teaches capitalism as a means of not only generating profits for owners and shareholders, but also for enriching the lives of employees and customers. And, importantly, of building better communities as a result.

More than a philosophical treatise on private ownership and the good it can do, Blendification is also a “roll-up-your-sleeves and take these steps” playbook that shows readers how to transform theory into reality.

Listen in as Dan and host Dean Rotbart, an award-winning financial journalist, discuss the merits of making better applications of capitalism to ensure it works well for everyone.

To order your copy of “The Blendification System,” click here.

Photo: Daniel M. Bruder, The Blendification System
Posted: July 27, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 51:02

Why be an ordinary entrepreneur when you can become a “Celebrity Entrepreneur” and watch your bottom line grow along with your reputation?

Clint Arthur, a Wizard Academy alumnus, trains business owners on his “scientific formula” to land TV interviews, paid speaking engagements, VIP invitations, and book contracts. As their visibility grows, so do their bank balances.

Join Clint and host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart as they pull back the curtain on how reputations are manufactured, and reveal why merit alone has very little to do with modern celebrity status.

Register here for Clint Arthur’s “Medical Marketing Miracle Conference” in Atlanta, featuring Dr. Oz, Dr. Drew, Jocelyn Elders, former U.S. Surgeon General, and astronaut Mike Massimino.

Purchase a copy of Clint’s “Celebrity Entrepreneurship” book here.

Photo: Clint Arthur, Celebrity Entrepreneurship
Posted: July 20, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 1 hour 3 minutes

Former British Prime Minister and global diplomat Tony Blair credits Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, founder of CSE Consulting, with developing “the science of decision-making” and helping him resolve tough choices.

Einhorn, a master problem-solver, business consultant, author, and public speaker, is the developer behind the AREA Method, an increasingly popular framework that allows executives, politicians, and even investors to make better choices, especially when the stakes are high.

When you’re trying to answer significant business or personal questions, those with large and long-term repercussions, Cheryl tells host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart that her proprietary method will lead to better outcomes and a more efficient, less-stressful, decision-making process.

One high-impact decision that is actually easy to make, is not to miss this week’s valuable edition of Monday Morning Radio.

To order your copy of Cheryl Strauss Einhorn’s Problem Solved: A Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence and Conviction, click here.

To order your copy of Investing in Financial Research: A Decision-Making System for Better Results, click here.

Photo: Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, CSE Consulting
Posted: July 6, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 54:25

After scrutinizing Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon daily for more than five years, Alex Kantrowitz decoded the single secret they all share: No matter how large these and other successful tech giants grow or how established they become, they still run their companies with the mentality and risk-taking attitudes of a startup.

Alex, who earlier this month launched his own independent newsletter and podcast called "Big Technology," recently published “Always Day One: How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay on Top Forever.”

To successfully compete with the Amazons and Googles of the world, Alex tells host and award-winning reporter Dean Rotbart, today’s companies of all sizes not only have to adopt an “Always Day One” approach, they have to execute it better than the tech titans themselves.

The alternative, he warns, is “Day Two,” or stasis, where most once-profitable companies operate, leading inevitably to irrelevance, followed by a gradual decline culminating in total failure.

Did you miss Monday Morning Radio’s live panel, “Understanding TikTok and How It Can Turbocharge Your Sales”? Download the replay at https://tinyurl.com/Replay-TikTok.

Discover how you can put TikTok to work for your brand, and why it’s better than other social media platforms.

Photo: Alex Kantrowitz, Always Day One
Posted: June 29, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 49:13

Working from home? Stealing from your employers at home?

In the new COVID-19 era, ripping off employers is easier and more common than you might imagine.

The coronavirus outbreak has been a boon to employees who are willing to steal from their companies, as fraud and embezzlement are harder to prevent and detect when a company’s workforce is able to cheat remotely.

In addition, when employees must rely on video teleconferences and personal email accounts and cell phones, it increases the vulnerability of their employers to cyber-crime and theft of sensitive intellectual property.

Doug E. Cash and Trent L. Leavitt are white-collar crime specialists with Eide Bailly, one of the country’s most respected and most trusted CPA firms.

Doug is one part crime fighter and one part prevention expert. Trent is a cyber-detective, providing computer forensics, cell phone forensics, and eDiscover.

This week, Doug and Trent join host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart to inform business owners how to prevent their companies from falling victim to coronavirus-inspired criminals, and how to detect small problems before they grow into financial nightmares.

Download a free Eide Bailly special report, “How to Deal with Fraud Risk in a COVID-19 World,” prepared by guest Doug E. Cash, here.

Hear our January 2020 episode, Who’s in Your Wallet? How to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Dishonest Workers, featuring Doug Cash and two other distinguished panel members, here.

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This episode marks the beginning of our 9th year producing this podcast, which launched in June 2012. 

Since our first episode, more than 750,000 listeners — most of them owners of small businesses and professional practices — have tuned in to gather actionable insights from their peers and from a who’s who of small business coaches and consultants.

A complete archive of this podcast, featuring nearly 400 full episodes, is available for free here. Subscribe to Monday Morning Radio on Apple Music here.

Photo: Doug E. Cash (l) and Trent L. Leavitt, Eide Bailly
Posted: June 22, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 61 Minutes

Todd Sattersten is an author, literary agent, editor, blogger, and since January 2019, deputy publisher at Bard Press, the boutique house responsible for the success of The Little Red Book of Selling, The Gift of Struggle, The One Thing, and, of course, the incomparable Wizard of Ads Trilogy by Roy H. Williams.

Todd makes his living, in part, by trying to forecast where consumer taste in reading — specifically in business books — will be a year or two down the road. He is an acute observer of the industry; what’s hot, what’s not, and what’s likely to be the next in-demand topic.

Whether you’re already an author, a would-be author, or an avid reader, as host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart explains on this week’s edition of Monday Morning Radio, Todd’s analysis of current trends in the book industry and what’s driving them is intelligence that every owner and professional can profit from. 

Click here to hear a preview of Monday Morning Radio’s free, live, panel “Understanding TikTok and How It Can Turbocharge Your Sales.” Co-Hosted by Dean Rotbart and Evan Morgenstein, founder of The Digital Renegades, the panel takes place on June 18th at 11:30 am EDT. Registration is now open at http://tinyurl.com/MMRTikTok.

Preview our new Monday Morning Radio community, Small Business Paramedics, featuring expert advice on how to buttress your business and reach your goals. Coming Summer 2020.

Photo: Todd Sattersten
Posted: June 8, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 1 hour, 7 minutes

When Kevin Vallely isn’t working his “day job” as an architect, he can be found on one of many adventures, such as breaking the world record for the fastest unsupported trek to the geographic South Pole.

When Amy Posey, a management consultant and former leadership expert with Deloitte, isn’t at her desk, she’s might be found paragliding, or joining Kevin in crossing Baffin Island in the Canadian High Arctic in winter, on foot.

Both Kevin and Amy describe themselves as extreme adventures, and in their new book Wild Success, both offer seven key lessons business leaders can learn from their experiences pushing themselves to do the seemingly impossible.

Although host Dean Rotbart has never raced to the South Pole or soared hundreds of feet off the ground in a harness below a fabric wing, this week he quizzes both Kevin and Amy on the extreme adventure of entrepreneurship.

Photo: Kevin Vallely and Amy Posey, Wild Success
Posted: May 25, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 51:21

When you think of today’s entrepreneurs, who comes to mind: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Mark Cuban, or Jeff Bezos?

Wrong.

Today’s entrepreneurs are the owners of hair salons, restaurants, car washes, jewelry stories, and tens of thousands of other small businesses and professional practices that comprise the modern economy.

In his new book, “The Soul of an Entrepreneur,” author David Sax debunks just about every stereotype people have about founders, including their backgrounds, motivations, and measures of success.

“David has his finger on the pulse of today’s entrepreneur, much as author Studs Terkel did in his seminal 1974 book, ‘Working,’ says host Dean Rotbart. “Genuine entrepreneurs who hear this podcast will take comfort in knowing their dreams and struggles are shared by so many others, while nine-to-five workers will discover the truth behind the entrepreneurial myth.”

To order your own copy of "The Soul of an Entrepreneur," click here.

Photo: David Sax, The Soul of an Entrepreneur
Posted: May 4, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 47:31