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

TikTok is the seventh most popular social-media app worldwide, with 100 million users in the U.S. alone.

TikTok celebrities, such as Chef Vivian Aronson – with 20 million-plus likes on TikTok – have used the short-video platform to become highly successful internet entrepreneurs.

But Chinese-owned TikTok is facing political headwinds, with India already banning the service and the United States threatening to do likewise.

The future of TikTok is unclear. It might be acquired. It might be shut down. Or it might find another resolution to the crisis it is facing.

In June, host and award-winning reporter Dean Rotbart hosted an invitation-only briefing — “Understanding TikTok and How It Can Turbocharge Your Sales” — featuring Vivian and other TikTok cognoscenti. 

On this week’s podcast, Dean shares a replay of that invitation-only panel and provides an up-to-the-minute postscript with Evan Morgenstein, a social media rainmaker and CEO, of multiple companies, including The Digital Renegades, The Food Renegades and CelebExperts.

Whether or not you “TikTok,” this week’s podcast will prove invaluable when it comes to understanding what it takes to be a successful social media influencer and how companies can turn to TikTok and similar platforms to, indeed, turbocharge their sales.

Don't miss our June 15th podcast, The Emerging Cold War Between the United States and China Explained, with guests Lingling Wei and Bob Davis, reporters for The Wall Street Journal.

Photos: VIvian Aronson and Evan Morgenstein
Posted: August 10, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

INTRODUCTION A: On this week’s podcast, host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart interviews the co-founders of surefoot, a boutique agency offering an experienced, nimble team of strategists, designers, developers, and data analysts obsessed with growing companies like yours.

INTRODUCTION B: On this week’s podcast, host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart and his guests, the co-founders of surefoot, a boutique agency that has run more than 4,200 strategic A/B tests resulting in dramatic improvements turning online visitors into paying customers.

Whichever introduction you prefer, you’ll hear Wizard Academy alumnus Brian Schmitt and his partner, Laura Stude, explain their uncanny ability to boost online sales of clothing, gadgets and dozens of other product categories and services.

Brian, Laura, and their team at surefoot are conversion optimization gurus. They use A/B testing and other sophisticated analytical tools to determine how improvements to their clients’ websites – colors, content, graphics, placement, and functionality – can boost sales.

In their experience, they report, clients get back nearly ten times as much as they spend with surefire. That’s a staggering ROI.

Photos: Brian Schmitt and Laura Stude, surefoot.me
Posted: August 3, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 50:18

“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

When the COVID-19 shutdowns hit, entrepreneur Edwin Dearborn, an author and veteran advisor to small businesses, faced a double whammy: His Las Vegas-based consulting group helped clients grow their brands and sales by relying heavily on live, face-to-face conferences, exhibitions, and speaking engagements, the kind that Vegas is famous for hosting.

But since the social distancing quarantines began in March, the in-person conference and workshop industry has imploded, and with it, the opportunities for in-person branding.

Rather than call it quits, Edwin and his partner launched a new consultancy — Green Dragon Communications — that uses Zoom, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other digital platforms not only to promote his clients but also to attract new clients to Green Dragon.

In these unprecedented times, Edwin tells host and award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart, entrepreneurs must be willing to discover and exploit the opportunities created by the new business environment or fade into oblivion.

Photo: Edwin Dearborn, Green Dragon Communications
Posted: July 13, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 41:50

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

U.S.-China trade relations has been bumped off the front pages of American newspapers lately, as the toll of COVID-19 and race-related protests take center stage.

But over the long-term, the U.S.-China trade conflict will have consequences for all American businesses – spreading from the political arena to every nook and cranny of our economy.

Two of the most astute observers of this global financial story are Bob Davis and Lingling Wei, distinguished reporters for The Wall Street Journal. Bob is a Pulitzer Prize-winning senior editor who covers economic issues from the paper’s D.C. bureau.

Lingling, who until earlier this year reported for the Journal from China, is now based in New York, where she continues to focus on the intersection of Chinese politics and the economy.

Together, Bob and Lingling have written a terrific book looking at the roots and the consequences of the U.S.-Chinese trade conflict, titled: “Superpower Showdown: How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War.”  

Published just last week, Superpower Showdown draws on Bob and Lingling’s vast experience covering the topic – having conducted 100s of interviews with government and business officials in both the U.S. and China -- to trace how relations between the two superpowers went sour – and how the prospects for global peace and prosperity are threatened by the current stand-off.

Bob and Lingling have worked together covering U.S./China relations for more than seven years. Having the perspective of both the Americans and the Chinese make their book, Superpower Showdown, especially compelling reading.

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 available 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.

Photos: Bob Davis and Lingling Wei, Superpower Showdown
Posted: June 15, 2020
Monday Morning Run Time: 59 minutes 25 seconds