If Aloha Airlines and ATA bankrupties, a possible economic recession, and closing down vacation rentals means fewer visitors coming to Maui  - maybe it is time to do more marketing over the web.   (Remember entrepreneurs are the masters at flexibility and coping with turbulence).   

For starters free or low cost help is available this coming Tuesday, April 16h and at the links below 24/7:

 
 If you are reading this after Tuesday, April 16, 2008 - you might want to go to http://haikuwebservices.com to reach Lia Barrad.

 AND…..

 The link for the Top 10….workshop is http://mauiworkshop.weebly.com/

 Also for all of us planning events on Maui a good resource is http://CalendarMaui.com

Successful sales usually includes getting people to like you.  Maui’s Bob Sommers is getting ready to launch a venture talking about "likeability".  

But it is not what you think.   Did you know that one of the most important ways to get people to like you and your product or service, is to get them to help you? Learn more about this while meeting Maui’s Bob Sommers, a master public speaker, marketer, and guerilla user of the Internet along with his son Josh.   Bob is very likeable, but more than that he is a goldmine of focused knowledge that he shares–mostly for free– over the Internet via succinct audio and video.

Starting twenty-five years ago working out of Atlanta,  Bob developed a successful speakers bureau focusing on the topic of "customer service".   Twelve years ago Bob sold his business and early retired to Maui.   Of course, like many of our Mauians, moving to Maui was more about recharging batteries and creativity than resting on laurels.   Besides working with Toastmasters, Bob has been studying the Internet and media technology with his son Josh, and educating himself by interviewing "recognized experts" from all over the world.      See http://recognizedexpert.com

Also, be sure to check out his site on creating websites and Internet marketing at http://takeonthenet.com

Now Bob is getting ready to launch a new venture: speaking on likeability.   Listen to my interview with Bob and find out more about "likeability", developing a speaking business, and marketing using the Internet.   Click on the shell

 Maui Entrepreneur Bev Gannon is the State of Hawaii Small Business Person of the Year.    Gannon is the celebrity chef and owner of Haile Maile General Store, Joe’s Bar and Celebrations Catering.  See http://bevgannonrestaurants.com.

Other Maui winners this year include:

Pam Tumpap of the Maui Chamber of Commerce - Business Journalist of the Year for the State of Hawaii and the SBA’s Region IX - meaning that she beat out the champions from California, Arizona, and Nevada.

Richard Kehoe - CPA and Maui SCORE volunteer - Financial Services Champion for Maui County

Richard S. Ouye - Service Rentals and Supplies, Inc. - Entrepreneurial Success Award for Maui County

Neal Hasegawa - Hasegawa General Store in Hana - Family Business of the Year for Maui County

Sky Barnhart Schual - Skywriting Journalism, Copywriting and Editing - Business Journalist for Maui County

Brennan Purtzer -  Hawaii Pacific Media LLC, in Kaunakakai on Molokai - Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Maui County

Carole Kooy - Kila Kila Employer Services -  Women in Business Champion for Maui County (see podcast interview)

I am also pleased to announce that my nominee, Bill Spencer of the Hawaii Venture Capital Association was selected as the State of Hawaii and Region IX Financial Services Champion for 2008 and my colleague Diana Shaw, Kauai Center Director for the Hawaii SBDC Network is the Kauai Financial Services Champion.

Over the next weeks I hope to be able to do interviews with the winners.  

The SBA Press Release is here

Maui now has several Internet delivered video news programs.

My favorite is Maui TV News produced by Island News Technologies LLC led by Jeff King, an experienced television news producer and anchor who was involved in Maui Community College’s short-lived regular news show about six years ago.    I have historically not been a local tv news watcher given the typical focus on traffic, accidents, and crime elsewhere.  

Jeff’s show is really different.   First of all it is about Maui and, if you are from Maui,  you will know many of the people, places and issues that he covers (you will also be introduced to many new ones).   Secondly, I am impressed with Jeff’s balance and sensitivity.   He has a unique ability to find and bring out the best in people which is also refreshing from typical local (and national) tv news shows.    

Unlike Akaku–which I will introduce next–Maui TV News is also commercially supported.  You can become a sponsor.   There is a lot of untapped potential here for engaging an audience if you develop a web campaign in conjunction with a MauiTVNews sponsorship.   Of course, Jeff also has to get the word and viewership up.  Please support this quality program and let your friends know about this show.  Go to http://MauiTVNews.com.

In the spirit of full disclosure, Island News Technologies LLC has been a Hawaii SBDC client.    

Other new Maui Internet streamed video news is available at http://akaku.org and http://mauitoday.tv - I will focus more on these in separate posts. 

David Fisher, Charlene Sagapolute, and Pat Diaz outside of SBDC Offices at the Maui Research and Tech Center

Digital Arts and Licensing

At Maui Research and Technology Center - Kihei, October 20, 2006

Musicians, writers, website and game designers, photographers, video and other visual artists and their managers will benefit from a four-hour seminar from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., followed by free private consultations, on Friday, October 20^th at the Maui Research and Technology Center.  The seminar is sponsored by the Hawaii Small Business Development Center Network (Maui).  The fee is $25.

 This half-day seminar is a follow-up to the spring 2006 IP workshop and will again feature Honolulu intellectual property attorney, George Darby.

08:30 - 09:00 a.m.               Registration

09:00 – 9:45 a.m.                Overview/Review of Intellectual Property

10:00 - 10:45 a.m.               Licensing Copyrights and Patents:  Visual Arts, Music, and Software (e.g. video games)

11:00 – 11:45 a.m.              Digital Rights Management with a focus on Video Artists, Musicians, and Website Designers

12:00 - 01:00 p.m.               Lunch break (lunch not provided)

01:00 - 03:00 p.m.               Six, 15-minute, one-on-one consultations with George Darby

For more information contact Charlene Sagapolutele at 808-875-2402.  Register online at http://hawaii-sbdc.org.  Deadline to register is October 17.

Attracting and keeping great employees, strategic partners, and of course customers means having a well thought out, compelling business strategy that both helps people make a difference and provides economic value.  A great opportunity to “work on” your business strategy and the systems to support its implementation is the upcoming NxLevel Entrepreneurial Planning program starting on Monday, October 2^nd, at the Maui Research and Technology Center in Kihei.   The program continues over twelve weeks on Monday evenings from 6 to 9 pm .   The goal is to have a completed business plan by the New Year.

David Fisher, from the Maui SBDC, leads the NxLevel program, along with guest business professionals from both Maui and visiting. The best part, however, is interacting with your fellow participants.  Past participants have included Pacific Biodiesel and Latitudes Lighting, who have both won the SBA’s Small Business of the Year Award.   Other top Maui companies who have taken the NxLevel program include the recent Pacific Business News Top 50 Growth Companies:  Kila Kila Employer Services, TMC General Contracting, along with their spin-off company Island Concrete Manufacturing Systems.   Professional friendships developed at NxLevel go on past the twelve weeks of the class.

The cost of the program is $499 

Call the SBDC at 808-875-2402 to register for NxLevel and get the support and focus to help your business be worthy of attracting the best partners, customers, and employees.  
 

NxLevel™ Series Outline

(Maui Research and Technology Center, Kihei)

10/2 - Introduction, Overview & Entrepreneurship

10/9 - Planning & Research: Entrepreneurial Essentials

10/16 - Organizational Matters: Management & Legal Structure

10/23 - Marketing-"Behind the Scenes": Analysis & Understanding

10/30 - Marketing-"On Stage": Strategies, Tactics & Implementation

11/6 - Financial Overview: Books, Records & Controls

11/13 - Managing Your Money: Financial Planning, Budgets & Assumptions

11/20 - Managing Your Money: Developing & Using Cash Flow Projections

11/27 - Understanding & Using Your Financial Statements

12/4 - Financing Your Business: Alternative Sources of Money

12/11 - The Deal Making Process: Negotiating in the Real World

12/18 - Your Business Future: Managing Growth & Plan Completion

For more information about NxLevel™, call the

Hawai’i Small Business Development Center at 808-875-2402.

Or to register online go to http://hsbdc.ecenterdirect.com

Overview of Intellectual Property Issues and Hawaii’s Tax Incentives - Featuring Honolulu Attorney George Darby

At the Maui Small Business Development Center in Kihei, Friday, May 26 (moved from May 12th).
 

Investors, musicians, writers, game designers, directors, and producers of performing arts products will benefit from a four-hour seminar from 8:30 a.m to 12:30 p.m. followed up by free private consultations with George Darby and David Fisher.   This is Friday, May 12th at the Maui Research and Technology Center in Kihei.   This is co-sponsored by the Hawaii SBDC Network and Paradise Patent Services, Inc., 

A large part of the business of making music CD’s, videos, digital games, etc. is properly using copyright, and trade mark law.    In Hawaii understanding this is also key to taking advantage of Hawaii’s tax incentives for the producers of digital performing arts products.  This half-day seminar will feature Honolulu intellectual property attorney George Darby and Maui SBDC Director David Fisher.

08:30 - 09:00 a.m      Registration

09:00 - 09:45 a.m.      Overview of Intellectual Property and Hawaii’s Tax Incentives for Digital Performing Arts Products

 10:00 - 10:45  a.m.      Legal and IP Aspects of Presenting to Investors, esp. Family, Friends, Angels, and Strategic Partners.

11:00 - 11:45  a.m.      Using Copyright and Trademarks to Protect Visual, Audio, and Literary Works, such as Game Software, Video, and Music (45 min.) 

12:00 - 01:00  p.m.      Lunch break (lunch not provided)

01:00 - 03:00  p.m.      15-minute  one-on-one consultations with George Darby (legal issues) and David Fisher (on Hawaii’s tax incentives). 
 

To register or for more information contact David Fisher at 808-875-2402 or go online at http://hsbdcn.ecenterdirect.com

I have been busy getting my NxLevel class started.  We have 20 people embarking on a 12 week adventure evaluating their businesses and getting ready to go to the NxLevel. 

I have recorded some more interviews that will come up over the weekend. Stay tuned
 

Business owners and managers frequently find themselves totally absorbed in the day-to-day details of providing the product or service of the business rather than stepping back taking a critical look and working "on" the business.  A great opportunity to “work on” your business is the upcoming NxLevel Entrepreneurial Planning program starting on Wednesday , March 1st  at the Maui Research and Technology Center in Kihei.   The program continues over twelve weeks on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m.   The goal is to have a completed business plan by June.

David Fisher from the Maui SBDC leads the NxLevel program along with guest business professionals both from Maui and visiting.  The best part however, is interacting with your fellow participants.  Past participants have included Pacific Biodiesel and Lattitudes Lighting who both have won the SBA’s Small Business of the Year Award.   Other top Maui companies who have taken the NxLevel program include Kila Kila Employers Services, and TMC General Contracting along with their spin off company Island Concrete Manufacturing Systems.    Professional friendships developed at NxLevel go on past the twelve weeks of the class.

The cost of the program is $499, what many programs charge for a one-day seminar.   The real cost is your time comittment.   Between the weekly three-hour class and about three hours of weekly homework, we are talking about you spending the equivalent of one-hour a day over the next three months.

Call the SBDC at 875-2402 to for more information or to register for NxLevel and get the support and focus to "drain the swamp", or "work on your business"  rather than "fighting alligators" or "working in your business".   You can also register on line by clicking HERE.

With sponsorship by Central Pacific Bank and the Bank of Hawaii

NxLevel™ Series Outline

(Maui Research and Technology Park, Kihei)

3/1 - Introduction, Overview & Entrepreneurship

3/8 - Planning & Research: Entrepreneurial Essentials

3/15 - Organizational Matters: Management & Legal Structure

3/22 - Marketing-"Behind the Scenes": Analysis & Understanding

3/29 - Marketing-"On Stage": Strategies, Tactics & Implementation

4/5 - Financial Overview: Books, Records & Controls

4/12 - Managing Your Money: Financial Planning, Budgets & Assumptions

4/19 - Managing Your Money: Developing & Using Cash Flow Projections

4/26 - Understanding & Using Your Financial Statements

5/3 -  Financing Your Business: Alternative Sources of Money

5/10 - The Deal Making Process: Negotiating in the Real World

5/17 - Your Business Future: Managing Growth & Plan Completion

For more information about NxLevel™, call the

Hawaii Small Business Development Center at 808-875-2402.

Or to register online go to http://hsbdc.ecenterdirect.com