From MSNBC to FOX: How Carol Roth Has Made A Name For Herself Through Media

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You might remember my evil twin Carol Roth on this episode of The Rise To The Top. Since then, Carol has continued to dominate. In fact, her book The Entrepreneur Equation (affiliate) hit the New York Times Best-Seller List and #1 overall on Amazon.

One thing (among many) Carol has done extremely well is leverage herself into the media. She pops up everywhere…all the time. In this interview, I wanted to find out for all of us how she went about it and the results. Did she put a magic spell on TV stations? Did she beg and plead? What’s the deal?

Enjoy!

About Today’s Guest, Carol Roth:

Carol Roth is a business strategist, deal maker and author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Entrepreneur Equation. Carol has worked with hundreds of companies, ranging from a single entrepreneur with an idea to Fortune 500 businesses, on all aspects of business and financial strategy. Collectively, she has helped her clients raise more than $1 billion in capital, complete $750+ million in mergers and acquisitions, secure high-profile licensing and partnership deals, brand loyalty programs and more.

Carol is known for her tough love style- she tells it like it is, but as she says, she will give you a hug afterwards. She draws upon her broad experience base to provide advice ranging from the business basics to the bold (think firing your customers) with a fresh, no-holds-barred approach. She refers to her advisory style as the “Spinach in Your Teeth®” philosophy, warning business owners to never trust anyone who won’t tell them that they have spinach stuck in their teeth.

Ms. Roth puts her vast experience with the “good, bad and ugly of business” to work on a daily basis. She has over 16 years of business advisory experience, which began at investment banking firm Montgomery Securities in San Francisco (currently Banc of America Securities), where she rapidly rose internally to become one of the youngest officers of the company by age 25. She is known for her significant knowledge base, can-do attitude, extreme efficiency, client dedication, frank opinions and “colorful” vocabulary. Her experience has encompassed a wide variety of products and services, including initial public offerings (IPOs), secondary offerings, private equity placements, private debt placements, buy-side M&A, sell-side M&A, LBOs/MBOs, recapitalizations, valuations, fairness opinions, licensing, marketing services, franchise work, start-up advisory and general strategic advisory work. She will also go out on a limb for her clients, who have asked her to do some very strange things, including filling-in as an auctioneer for a charity event auction.

Ms. Roth has truly “seen it all” from her diverse client base. Over her career she has worked with a wide variety of branded entities (her specialty is branded/consumer companies). Some of her noteworthy clients have included Integrity Toys, Applica and Pelstar/Pelouze, among many others. Ms. Roth is also a shareholder of and investor in several of her clients.

Ms. Roth holds a B.S. Degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, arguably the top business program in the world, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She has coined a number of terms and phrases ranging from “Cirque-du-So-Lame” (something that is beyond pathetic and pitiful) to “jobbie” (a hobby disguised as a job, career or business) to “business beer goggling”. She also is known for her propietary Customer Loyalty 3.0 methodology to engaging business senders and spenders. Ms. Roth is a former Director of Travelzoo (NASD:TZOO) and currently participates in a number of social, civic and other groups. She is also well versed on popular culture and consumer trends.

Carol is also a frequent radio, television and print media contributor on the topics of business and entrepreneurship, appearing on Fox News, MSNBC, Fox Business, WGN TV Chicago, among others. Additionally, Carol’s Unsolicited Business Advice blog at CarolRoth.com was recently named as one of the Top 10 small business blogs online and she is a contributing blogger to outlets like The Huffington Post and Crain’s Chicago Business/Enterprise City.

Connect With Carol (and tell her you saw her on RISE!):

On Her Website
On Twitter
If you want to find out about Carol’s new program to help you with PR, email info@CarolRoth.com with “Expert Program” in the subject.

Carol Roth

Carol Roth is a business strategist, deal maker and author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Entrepreneur Equation. Carol has worked with hundreds of companies, ranging from a single entrepreneur with an idea to Fortune 500 businesses, on all aspects of business and financial strategy. Collectively, she has helped her clients raise more than $1 billion in capital, complete $750+ million in mergers and acquisitions, secure high-profile licensing and partnership deals, brand loyalty programs and more.

Carol is known for her tough love style- she tells it like it is, but as she says, she will give you a hug afterwards. She draws upon her broad experience base to provide advice ranging from the business basics to the bold (think firing your customers) with a fresh, no-holds-barred approach. She refers to her advisory style as the “Spinach in Your Teeth®” philosophy, warning business owners to never trust anyone who won’t tell them that they have spinach stuck in their teeth.

Ms. Roth puts her vast experience with the “good, bad and ugly of business” to work on a daily basis. She has over 16 years of business advisory experience, which began at investment banking firm Montgomery Securities in San Francisco (currently Banc of America Securities), where she rapidly rose internally to become one of the youngest officers of the company by age 25. She is known for her significant knowledge base, can-do attitude, extreme efficiency, client dedication, frank opinions and “colorful” vocabulary. Her experience has encompassed a wide variety of products and services, including initial public offerings (IPOs), secondary offerings, private equity placements, private debt placements, buy-side M&A, sell-side M&A, LBOs/MBOs, recapitalizations, valuations, fairness opinions, licensing, marketing services, franchise work, start-up advisory and general strategic advisory work. She will also go out on a limb for her clients, who have asked her to do some very strange things, including filling-in as an auctioneer for a charity event auction.

Ms. Roth has truly “seen it all” from her diverse client base. Over her career she has worked with a wide variety of branded entities (her specialty is branded/consumer companies). Some of her noteworthy clients have included Integrity Toys, Applica and Pelstar/Pelouze, among many others. Ms. Roth is also a shareholder of and investor in several of her clients.

Ms. Roth holds a B.S. Degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, arguably the top business program in the world, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She has coined a number of terms and phrases ranging from “Cirque-du-So-Lame” (something that is beyond pathetic and pitiful) to “jobbie” (a hobby disguised as a job, career or business) to “business beer goggling”. She also is known for her propietary Customer Loyalty 3.0 methodology to engaging business senders and spenders. Ms. Roth is a former Director of Travelzoo (NASD:TZOO) and currently participates in a number of social, civic and other groups. She is also well versed on popular culture and consumer trends.

Carol is also a frequent radio, television and print media contributor on the topics of business and entrepreneurship, appearing on Fox News, MSNBC, Fox Business, WGN TV Chicago, among others. Additionally, Carol’s Unsolicited Business Advice blog at CarolRoth.com was recently named as one of the Top 10 small business blogs online and she is a contributing blogger to outlets like The Huffington Post and Crain’s Chicago Business/Enterprise City.

Anita Campbell

Anita Campbell has been an entrepreneur at heart her entire life. A lawyer by training, she has a wide range of interests, as reflected in her varied background in banking, information technology, human resources, marketing and eCommerce. Today she is the CEO of her own business, Small Business Trends LLC, a media and information company. In that role she closely follows trends in the small business market and trends in technology.

Before starting her entrepreneurial journey she held various executive positions in the corporate world. Most recently she was a senior executive with Bell & Howell Company, including serving as CEO of a technology subsidiary of Bell & Howell.

A respected speaker and emerging trends resource, Ms. Campbell’s expertise has been noted or her opinion quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, Inc Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, CIO Magazine, Entrepreneur Radio, BusinessTVChannel.com, Cleveland Plain Dealer, San Francisco Chronicle, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Akron Beacon Journal, Boston Globe, CRM Buyer, and countless trade publications, websites, podcasts and more.

Her popular website, Small Business Trends, is regularly noted as a rich informational resource. In 2005 and again in 2008 the site won the Forbes “Best of the Web” distinction for small business blogs. The site also has been highlighted or profiled in the Wall Street Journal (2007), on MSNBC’s “Your Business” show as Website of the Week, twice in the New York Times (2005 and 2008), and was a CODIE 2007 Finalist. The site also has won accolades including Honorable Mention from MarketingSherpa as Best Small Business Marketing blog, the #1 Most Practical Blog for Entrepreneurs from About.com, and Smart Stop on the Web by the Journal of Accountancy.

Content from the site is syndicated through Newstex and regularly is re-published in various corporate, library, university and organizational newsletters and websites. Content from the site also won distinction by being voted number one in 2 of the top 4 slots in the HP Best Business Blogs Contest, 2008.

Anita writes columns for or has contributed to numerous publications and websites around the Web on small business topics, including Inc Technology, Online Merchants Network, OPEN Forum, AccoutingWeb.com, JumpUp.com, TheAppGap.com, Elance.com, COSE Mindspring, BNET.com, Success Magazine, numerous newsletters including the U.S. Postal Service newsletter, as well as blogs for private clients.

She speaks regularly at small business events, including the Small Business Technology Summit, Small Business Leadership Summit, COSE Small Business Conference and numerous others. She also participates in online events and has twice (2006 and 2008) served in Ask the Expert stints at the QuickBooks Community forums. In November 2005 she became the host of her own radio show, “Small Business Trends Radio,” which broadcasts over the Internet each week and is podcasted. The show features interviews of small business owners and also corporate executives with important information to convey to the small business market.

She previously was the founding editor of the RFID Weblog, which quickly earned distinction as a CNET “Blog 100.” She also is a contributing author to the book “RFID Security” by Syngress Press.

Ms. Campbell has served on numerous Boards. Current Boards include the Advisory Board for NEOSA (the technology arm of COSE, a 17,000-member small business organization); and Vice Chair of the Advisory Board for the Center for Information Technology and eBusiness at the University of Akron. Past Board seats include the Board of NorTech. Ms. Campbell holds a B.A. from Duquesne University and a J.D. from the University of Akron Law School. She also completed the Leadership at the Peak Program at the Center for Creative Leadership, and the Executive Program at the University of Michigan Business School.

Maximizing Your Relationship With Your Bank

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The Rise To The Top: Entertaining, Energizing and Empowering Entrepreneurs

You remember your dear old friend the bank don’t you? Yes, as an entrepreneur we do use a bank as opposed to shoving precious pennies under the bed (you do use a bank…right?). But did you know that there is MUCH more a bank can do for you and your business besides just opening a checking account?

Especially in these tough economic times, every penny counts and at a recent The Rise To The Top event, Patrick Bowen (Senior Vice President at BancorpSouth) led a discussion along with Eric Griffith and Rebecca Edwards (also from BancorpSouth) about maximizing your relationship with your bank and here is some great insight from the bank’s mouth:

Tips on Forming a Relationship with Your Bank

Contrary to media gloom and doom, some banks are still lending money… we’re one of them!

The most important thing to tell your bank when making a pitch for a loan is how you will pay them back.  Hint: the only thing that can repay a loan is cash.

The five C’s of credit: Capacity (to generate cash), Capital (equity), Collateral, Conditions (economic, market and even the purpose of the loan) and Character.

In regards to character, research yourself.  If you haven’t done so recently, obtain a copy of your credit report, Google yourself and check public records.  A smart banker will do all of these things when you apply for a loan.

Communicate, communicate, communicate.  Good or bad, share it all, and share it now.

Save yourself time; put together a credit application file: three years of financial statements and/or tax returns for your business, three years of personal tax returns and a personal financial statement.

Accounts For Entrepreneurs: Quick and Easy

Sole Proprietor accounts are styled “Doing Business As” or “DBA”
Example:  John Smith “Doing Business As” Entrepreneurial St. Louis

What you should bring to open your account:
♣    Personal state issued identification such as a driver’s license
♣    Personal social security number
♣    Name of your business
♣    Business license if available

Adding authorized signers to your account requires:
♣    Physical presence of authorized signer
♣    Personal state issued identification of authorized signer
♣    Personal social security number of authorized signer

It’s all about Getting Paid!
Payment Processing is vital for a successful business.

How is your business currently accepting payments from clients?

In 2006, for the first time, consumers paid for more purchases with debit and credit cards combined than with checks. Debit card use is growing especially fast; debit cards have surpassed credit cards as the most popular electronic payment, according to the Federal Reserve.

MasterCard and Visa reported debit card transactions increased 17.5 percent, and 7.45 percent for credit card purchases in 2007, according to The Nilson Report, a payment card industry trade journal.

Credit and debit card usage is increasing every year.  By 2010 it is estimated that 47% of all transactions will be by credit or debit cards.  Are you prepared?

Having a comprehensive payment processing plan in place allows you to concentrate on building your business instead of worrying about how you are going to get paid.

A few of the benefits:

1. Expand distribution channels

2. Increase sales

3. Enhance security

4. Provide superior customer service

5. Speed & efficiency

When comparing merchant services, the speed of the deposit can be just as important as the costs involved.  For example, our client’s credit card deposits made to a BancorpSouth checking account are available within 24 hours.

Have you ever worried about receiving a “bad check” from a customer?  You can sleep soundly if you have a check verification program in place.  Electronic check processing is the fastest, most efficient alternative currently available.

Live Passionately! – David Siteman Garland – The Creative Opportunities Specialist and Entrepreneurial Chameleon - http://www.therisetothetop.com

PS: Make sure to take a great look at BancorpSouth if you have any questions about anything listed above and here are some other things they can do for you…the entrepreneur.

BancorpSouth FREE Small Business Checking Account

⎫    Only $50.00 initial deposit to open account
⎫    No minimum balance required
⎫    No monthly maintenance fee
⎫    First 175 transactions Free per month
⎫    Free BusinessSite Internet Banking
⎫    10 Bill Pay transactions Free per month
⎫    Free Bank Zip bag
⎫    Itemized monthly statement with check images
⎫    Free BusinessCard Debit Card
⎫    *No annual fee BusinessCard Credit Card
*Subject to approval

BancorpSouth Merchant services provides credit and debit card processing, electronic benefits transfer, check verification, check guarantee and electronic check acceptance.  Through a customized analysis, they can help you decide what services and products are best for you and your business.

If you would like more information, please give them a ring at 314-290-3100

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