BIZ. Magazine - February 2015

February 2015

DELIVERED TO BUSINESS LEADERS THROUGHOUT SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER

Magazine

The biggest tribe in pop culture rightnow is here, engaged & spending $$$

2 BIZ. Magazine • February 2015

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The First Word

February 2015 • BIZ. Magazine 3

Atribe is a group of people connected by a leader and an idea. Tribes, in one form or an-other, have been around since the dawn of man. The only thing that changes is who’sleading, what idea they all share, and how they connect with each other and theirleader. For the caveman, a tribe was a way to stay alive. For us, it can be talking aboutour love of sports, beer, or troubles raising kids.

The Internet has removed the barriers of geography and the costs in connecting with eachother — social media has made tribes get bigger and new ones pop up every day. We haveevolved from needing tribes to function at a basic level, to needing them to serve as an outletfor our passions, educational resources, or even buying/trading.

I always think about those yard sale groups you see on Facebook. That is a tribe — peoplebound by the idea of selling unwanted or unneeded goods with a leader who moderates thegroup. They are able to easily communicate with one another thanks to a click of a button ei-ther by personally “friending” other members, or sending a private message, in addition tocommunicating on the group. And the best yard sale groups are the ones with constant interac-tion among members and the leader(s).

Communication in a tribe is at its best when it goes from leader to member, member to leader,and member to member.

The ones that are thriving has everyone encouraging and cultivating clear, easy, constant com-munication about their mission and the love of their mission.

And business, even your business, is no different. We always say that you need to love whatyou do, not only for your sanity, but for your bottom line. The Tribes mentality is based off this.No one loves your product and your mission more than you. So be fervent about it. Find otherswho get it. Get them fired up about it. You’ll be shocked at how because you were the first oneto take a step out from the crowd, how quickly your tribe will grow and how passionate every-one will be about who you are and what you do.

If you sell cars, figure out why you sell cars, what sets you apart from the dealership 50 feetdown the road, and who your tribe is. Then go passionately tell your message to those peopleon Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email, podcasts, appropriate publications *cough*BIZ.*cough*.Make it easy for others to share your message with you and outsiders. Then, those people whohear your message and agree with you will automatically connect with others who do the same

and your tribe grows by merely talking about who you areand what you do (and if you’re a business owner, I knowyou love to talk about your business). By cultivating andleading a tribe, you have created fans and customers whoare loyal, rabid, and walking billboards for your company.

In this edition of BIZ. we’ll look at businesses that profit offthe Tribes mentality and how they have engaged theirtribe and keep them engaged. We’ll also look at businesseswho have successfully used this type of marketing andseen big benefits.

As I say all this, I know this can be scary. Taking a differentapproach to your business is change and change is uncom-fortable. Taking a risk is scary. Staying the course is diffi-cult. But read on and we’ll show you that taking theinitiative when it comes to the unknown has dividends.

What is your‘Tribe’?

How to cultivate & lead your followers

Sean GreenSean is vice president/publisher ofBIZ. You can reach him by [email protected].


Contents

Volume 6, Number 2 | ©Copyright 2015 by Specht Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved. BIZ. is published each month by Specht Newspapers, Inc.at 4250 Viking Drive, Bossier City, LA 71111. Telephone (318) 747-7900. Information in this publication is gathered from sources considered to bereliable, but the accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed.

14The Tribe of GeekThe biggest tribe in pop culture right now ishere, they’re engaged, they’re passionate,they’re motivated, and they have dollars tospend.

16Creating a brew-hahaGreat Raft Brewing and Flying Heart Brewingsee the benefits of a built-in tribe. 3 What is your ‘Tribe’?

How to cultivate and lead your followers.

5 Top Performing _______What it takes to be the best in your field.

6 Answering the callAre you setting up your team for success?

7 Relationship marketingThe key to keeping business is making connections

12 Electrifying newsAnnual Consumer Electronics Show reveals trends.

13 Pity the propositionFall out of new hotel/motel tax vote failure & how to fix it.

24 Let them eat cakeCelebrate Mardi Gras with a King Cake from the relocated

Lilah’s Bakery

Regulars

On the CoverThe February BIZ. discusses the tribes philoso-

phy of marketing by examining how one major

tribe has shaped pop culture, and another

built-in tribe of beer lovers has led to one com-

pany’s success and another’s opening.

BIZ. News OnlineThe BIZ. website at www.bizmagsb.com is Shreveport-Bossier’s homefor business news, updated as it happens. In addition, users can signup for a free BIZ. Daily Report to keep up with BIZ. news from the com-fort of their Inbox.

Contact Us: [email protected]

17Cheap gas is awesome, but...While consumers love paying lower prices for gasoline, there’s a downside.

26Stop doing your books!Online company provides the solution to bookkeeping and payroll needsfor small business owners.

4 BIZ. Magazine • February 2015 February 2015 • BIZ. Magazine 5

3 What is your ‘Tribe’?How to cultivate and lead your followers.

5 Top Performing _______What it takes to be the best in your field.

6 Answering the callAre you setting up your team for success?

7 Relationship marketingThe key to keeping business is making connections

12 Electrifying newsAnnual Consumer Electronics Show reveals trends.

13 Pity the propositionFall out of new hotel/motel tax vote failure & how to fix it.

24 Let them eat cakeCelebrate Mardi Gras with a King Cake from the relocated

Lilah’s Bakery

Win-Win Powertools

Top Performing ________

The BIZ is all about growing your skills in business…ALL BUSI-NESS. I’ve spent my career in sales. As you know, I believethat we are ALL in sales, we’re selling all of the time and our#1 product is us. Whatever your title, I hope you want to be aTOP PERFORMER. You fill in the blank above and let’s look atwhat it takes to be a TOP PERFORMER.

They set HIGH TARGETS and Goals.

They carefully PLAN their quarter, month and week, as well as theirdaily schedule.

They set OBJECTIVES for every sales call.

They ASK high-value questions that probe to the heart of the issue.

They LISTEN carefully to what their prospects and customers say.

They CLARIFY the issue when they are unclear what the prospectmeans.

They WAIT TO PRESENT their product, service, solution or idea untilthey know exactly what their prospect’s situation is.

They begin every sales presentation with a brief RECAP of their un-derstanding of the prospect’s situation.

They know how to ADAPT their sales presentation if their prospect’ssituation has changed.

They know how to properly and effectively POSITON their product,service or solution.

Their sales presentation FOCUSES on the prospect.

They are PREPARED for poten-tial objections.

They always establish theirNEXT STEPS after the presenta-tion.

They FOLLOW-UP after the ini-tial call or meeting.

They PROSPECT continually tokeep their pipeline full.

They deal with the DECISION-MAKER when possible.

They look for ways to KEEP INTOUCH with their customers.*

*”17 Best Practices of Top Per-forming Sales People” by KellyRobertson / Seen at Changing-minds.org

How about you? Want to be“Top Performing___________”?

Jerry FrentressSpeaker & Coach, Win-Win Power(ful)Tools for Sales, Service and EmployeeInterviewing. Website: www.WinWin-PowerTools.com.

Business Facebook:www.Facebook.com/WinWinPower-Tools . 453-6080 / Bossier City

What it takes to be the best inyour field


Randy BrownAdvertising/Marketing Guru

He is the Publisher of the BossierPress-Tribune, as well as AdvertisingDirector for Bossier Newspaper Pub-lishing Company, Inc., publishers ofthe BPT and BIZ. Magazine. Randy maybe reached [email protected]

Marketing B-S (Bossier-Shreveport)

As the leader of your team, you are acheerleader. In my role as a Sales TeamManager and now the Publisher of anewspaper, part of my drive to do what Ido revolves around the many opportuni-ties that I get to cheer for our team. How-

ever, in our positions as leaders, we allexperience the dynamics of team existence.Good days, bad days, team members with per-sonal difficulties, etc. Thus, we sometimes fallshort of our goals due to the roadblocks and ob-stacles that get in our way. On the other hand, weget on an extreme emotional high of all highswhen we achieve or even exceed our goals. Inshort, the good times far outweigh the bad. And,as leaders, we should always be able to findsomething deep within ourselves that makes uskeep driving and striving to do the jobs that we

all love so much. However, are we extending thatsame passion.....that same “umph” that drives usto our team members? Essentially, are we settingour team up for success?

One of the main essentials for success is a clearlydefined strategy. If you have no strategy or plan,you do not know where you are going and then,it is easy for any roadblock or obstacle to throwyou completely “off-course.” Define what you ex-pect from your team and where you expect yourteam to go moving forward. If you fail to shareyour vision with your team, your team will be-come frustrated and fractured. Then, they willstart to fall away from their purpose and the driv-ing force that gives them their initiative to suc-ceed will begin to fade away.

In view of this, one of the most important thingsthat you can do is to establish clearly definedgoals for both your overall team and your indi-vidual team members. Your goals should be tiedto your vision/strategy/plan. Furthermore, youneed to develop a plan of action based uponyour goals (with target achievement dates). Also,encourage your team to establish personal goalsas well.

Finally, hold your team accountable. Hold fre-quent brief meetings both as a team and individ-ually in order to discuss where you are and whatlies ahead. As the leader, you must be a coach.Discuss all shortfalls/obstacles and develop away to overcome these roadblocks (which aremost certain to occur).

Answering the callAre you setting up your team for success?

Uncommon Sense Marketing


As the leader of your team, you are acheerleader. In my role as a Sales TeamManager and now the Publisher of anewspaper, part of my drive to do what Ido revolves around the many opportuni-ties that I get to cheer for our team. How-

ever, in our positions as leaders, we allexperience the dynamics of team existence.Good days, bad days, team members with per-sonal difficulties, etc. Thus, we sometimes fallshort of our goals due to the roadblocks and ob-stacles that get in our way. On the other hand, weget on an extreme emotional high of all highswhen we achieve or even exceed our goals. Inshort, the good times far outweigh the bad. And,as leaders, we should always be able to findsomething deep within ourselves that makes uskeep driving and striving to do the jobs that we

all love so much. However, are we extending thatsame passion.....that same “umph” that drives usto our team members? Essentially, are we settingour team up for success?

One of the main essentials for success is a clearlydefined strategy. If you have no strategy or plan,you do not know where you are going and then,it is easy for any roadblock or obstacle to throwyou completely “off-course.” Define what you ex-pect from your team and where you expect yourteam to go moving forward. If you fail to shareyour vision with your team, your team will be-come frustrated and fractured. Then, they willstart to fall away from their purpose and the driv-ing force that gives them their initiative to suc-ceed will begin to fade away.

In view of this, one of the most important thingsthat you can do is to establish clearly definedgoals for both your overall team and your indi-vidual team members. Your goals should be tiedto your vision/strategy/plan. Furthermore, youneed to develop a plan of action based uponyour goals (with target achievement dates). Also,encourage your team to establish personal goalsas well.

Finally, hold your team accountable. Hold fre-quent brief meetings both as a team and individ-ually in order to discuss where you are and whatlies ahead. As the leader, you must be a coach.Discuss all shortfalls/obstacles and develop away to overcome these roadblocks (which aremost certain to occur).

You can't sell to everyone. You don't havethe time, money or resources to do that.Nor does everyone want to buy yourproduct. The old days of "spray and pray"marketing are gone. It's all about relation-ship marketing now. Stop wasting your re-

sources on people who will never be yourcustomers and start showing your clients who youare on a personal level.

In relationship marketing, you are building rela-tionships an inch wide and a mile deep. Thatmeans you'll have fewer people (an inch wide) inyour tribe and develop very strong relationshipswith them (a mile deep.) You are connecting withthose who love who you are and what you do, andthat will be a smaller number than the masses.Your tribe isn't everyone who buys from you, but

rather those who sing your song and buy multipletimes from you and refer you over and over again.Some people are connectors or more social in na-ture, so they are often in your tribe. Those peopleare the ones who love you and will be your "salessoldiers!"

You've probably heard the adage, "it'seasier/cheaper to keep an existing client than tofind a new one." That is how to build a tribe. Youknow you have a tribe when they share your Face-book posts, retweet you on Twitter and actuallyread and comment on your blog and newsletters.Take the time to give the love back to them. Thisis a give and take kind of thing. Survey your happyclients and find out how you can help them evenmore. What do you need to do to increase cus-tomer satisfaction?

When I ask clients what kind of marketing theyhave going on, often they say, "word of mouth."That tells me a couple of things. 1) They are doingsomething right if people are referring them and2) they need to have an established referral sys-tem in place. How are you building on the word ofmouth marketing? What are you giving back tothem to show your appreciation? Formalize a littlesystem you can use for referrals. Maybe you senda thank you card with a gift card in it for coffee orlunch somewhere. Maybe you actually treat themto lunch, or perhaps you send a gift basket.

Let your tribe get to know the real you and feellike they are part of your success. Because theyare!

Amy KinnairdMarketing StrategistTrainer and SpeakerWith over 35 years experience in mar-keting and training, Amy helps busi-ness owners put together the rightplan. If what you used to do isn’t work-ing anymore…If it’s time to come upwith a good plan…call Amy at 318-795-0520 or visit her website: www.UnCom-monSenseMarketing.com

The key to keeping business is building a personal connection

Relationship marketing

Uncommon Sense Marketing


Biz ToolsDo Something

The speed of business is ever increasing. The successful business leaderstays on top of the tools and information to help his/her company grow.

App of the Month

KikKik Messenger is a free, instant messaging app for Apple, Android, and Windows phones thatonly requires a username, not a phone number, to text. Kik also allows users to manage their con-versations and share photos, sketches, mobile webpages, and other content. It gives brands anddevelopers the opportunity to be part of the conversation. Kik is the only mobile-first viral shar-ing network and the first smartphone messenger with a built in browser. Since Kik's 185 millionusers are already sharing content as part of their conversations, it makes sense that leadingbrands, content providers and gaming companies are teaming up with Kik to engage currentusers and attract new ones by engaging in 1:1 conversations with their followers in real time.

On the BIZ. Tools Podcast

This Month:How traditional marketing has died

BIZ. Book Club

Last MonthHiring Part 2: Welcome Aboard

Live! From the BIZ. Breakfast

Listen to the BIZ. Tools Podcast at:www.thebiztools.com/thepodcast

#WorthFollowing

@bizmagsb@20X49

@TwistedRoot@CoolDowntown@bossierchamber

Book of the Month

Atribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, aleader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have been seeking out tribes, bethey religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Dead-heads). It's our nature.

Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogsand social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important,they're enabling countless new tribes to be born—groups of ten or ten thousand or tenmillion who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight globalwarming.

The Web can do amazing things, but it can't provide leadership. That still has to comefrom individuals—people just like you who have passion about something. The explosionin tribes means that anyone who wants to make a difference now has the tools at theirfingertips.

If you think leadership is for other people, think again—leaders come in surprising pack-ages.

Tribes will make you think (really think) about the opportunities in leading your fellowemployees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists, or readers. . . . It's not easy, but it'seasier than you think.

— Amazon.com


More Tools

This month: “Hiring: What toDo and What Not to Do”

Friday, Feb. 139 a.m.

CoHab in Red River DistrictJoin us for coffee, breakfast & a lesson

Hiring is one of the most crucial elements of your business. It is anopportunity that can reap huge rewards if you get the right peo-ple on your team. It’s also a minefield that can mean further dam-age and lost profits if done incorrectly. David Specht and SeanGreen will share the lessons they have learned and want to hearfrom you about what you’ve learned.


Connecting Business to Business – that’s the phrase we use to definethe Bossier Chamber and our governing approach in how we lead themany tribes under our umbrella. As a membership organization, wehave a diverse audience – or tribes, complete with different needs,goals, and challenges. We serve these tribes through tailored pro-grams that provide members with opportunity, advocacy, partnership

and education.

Here’s how we respond to the needs of our many, diverse tribes:

n Creating diverse opportunities for our members to get connected: TheBossier Chamber holds over 50 events each year. On average, that’s approxi-mately one opportunity per week throughout the year that members can getconnected and showcase their business within like-minded, targeted groups.

n Support a strong business climate through local, state and national advo-cacy efforts: The diversity within our membership base presents differentneeds, goals, and challenges that the Chamber must monitor to ensure ahealthy business climate. Advocacy is an important part of how we supportthe special interests among our members.

n Help to create lasting mutually beneficial community partnerships: Youcan’t very well facilitate connections without partnerships. Partnerships are akey to the success of our community on every level as they provide us theopportunity and give us the resources to grow and change.

n Provide diverse education opportunities that strengthen businesses: Learnand grow – these words fit together nicely. It’s like a cause an effect. It’s im-portant to the Chamber to provide education opportunities to help our mem-bers stay on top of their game.

Ginger CollierDirector of Communications,Bossier Chamber of Commerce

Connecting a diversemembership

From the Bossier Chamber


Connecting a diversemembership

COMING MARCH 2015 A PRESENTATION OF THE BOSSIER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

HONORING LEADERS IN THE BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY.

The Bossier Chamber of Commerce is currently seeking nominations for the following awards:

Healthcare Professional of the YearHealthcare Volunteer of the Year

The Dr. John Miciotto Lifetime Achievement Award

Submit nominations online at www.bossierchamber.com

FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY.

A PRESENTATION OF THE BOSSIER CHAMBER OF COMMERCECOMING MARCH 2015


A PRESENTATION OF THE BOSSIER CHAMBER OF COMMERCECOMING MARCH 2015


A PRESENTATION OF THE BOSSIER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The Dr. John Miciotto Lifetime Achievement AwardHealthcare Volunteer of the Year

Healthcare Professional of the Year

the following awards:The Bossier Chamber of Commerce is currently seeking nominations for



The Bossier Chamber of Commerce is currently seeking nominations for



The Bossier Chamber of Commerce is currently seeking nominations for


Aquaint little annual trade showwrapped up in Las Vegas in January.Have you heard of it? The Interna-tional Consumer Electronics Show?I’m being facetious. The show drew acrowd of 170,000 this year, and had

about 3,600 vendors. Judging by the reviews,here are some terms you’ll need to know inthe near future, if you haven’t heard them al-ready:

n Over-the-top (OTT)This has to do with television programming,but “over-the-top” refers to the delivery ofthe content, not the content itself. Telecomsand device manufacturers are all preparingfor the future of TV watching, which will behugely via bandwidth. OTT content providersare online streaming services that sell on-de-mand content and deliver it via the Internet.

n 3D printer

You probably already know or can guess a 3Dprinter is just like a regular printer, exceptthat it’s printing objects that take up X, Y, andZ space, instead of two-dimensional printoutson paper and other flat media. But, did youknow that the technology is advancing muchmore quickly than the laws regarding them,and that they are no longer just printing withplastic, but with many other materials includ-ing metals and even chocolate?

n The Internet of Things:Everybody is bringing chips to the party. Yourappliances, your thermostat, home security.Gads of new gadgets are created with the as-sumption that you have wireless service allaround you, and that is how you will controlthe machines in your home and office. Thechips not only enable your phone to be a re-mote control for just about everything, butmost of the time, they play a role in the effi-ciency of the machines’ operations, too.

n WearablesGadgets designed to be worn on the body.

n Connectivity:Does your car email you reports? Does yoursmart phone control everything in your smarthome? Does your exercise-tracking deviceautomatically send status updates to your so-cial media platform? You’re connected. Con-nectivity is quickly becoming a standardcategory on the specification lists of newproducts, and it refers to the products’ abili-ties to communicate with another device,platform, or computer system.

Seeing all the trends in the CES 2015 cover-age does make me want to get one kind ofwearable: a lead vest! I really hope some re-search and development teams out there arestudying the effects all of our connectivityhas on our connective tissue.

Jill MacchiavernaJill is Publicity Chair, Business Devel-opment Connection for the GreaterShreveport Chamber of Commerce.

Electrifying newsAnnual Consumer Electronics Show reveals trends

Business Development Applied Knowledge

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On Nov. 4, 2014, voters in Caddo and Bossier Parishes considered(and rejected) the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and TouristBureau Proposition (2% Hotel Occupancy Tax): “Shall theShreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau (the "Bu-reau") be authorized to levy an additional two (2) percent hoteloccupancy tax (the "Tax") upon the occupancy of hotel rooms,

motel rooms and overnight camping facilities within its jurisdiction, allas defined by law (an estimated $2,224,080 reasonably expected at thistime to be collected from the additional levy of the Tax for an entireyear), for a period of twenty-four and one half (24 1/2) years beginningDecember 1, 2014 and ending June 30, 2039, with the proceeds of theTax (after paying costs of collecting and administering the Tax) to beused in the following percentages for the following uses within the juris-diction of the Bureau: (1) 50% of one cent shall be used to support theShreveport-Bossier Sports Commission for the operation and promotionof sporting goals and sporting activities, as it relates to sports tourism;(2) 75% of one cent shall be used to support the Independence BowlFoundation for the promotion of Division I football events; and (3) 75%of one cent shall be used to support the Ark-La-Tex Regional Air ServiceAlliance to incentivize air flights, air carriers and air fare”

This tax would have been levied on visitors to our area. However, thatdidn’t seem to matter to voters — especially in Bossier Parish, wherethe tax was soundly defeated. Some folks vote “no” for any propositionthat involves the word “tax.” That being said, there were plenty of rea-sons to vote yes. Those who researched the proposition often becameadvocates for it.

So why did this proposition fail? Simply put, it was a public relations failure.

At some point in the process, this proposition was dubbed “The Independ-ence Bowl Tax.” I am sure the architects of this legislation cringed each timesomeone made such a reference. But, unfortunately for them, it stuck. Con-trary to popular belief, not everyone is fanatic about college football. Onlythree-fourths of one cent in the two-cent proposition was aimed at the Inde-pendence Bowl. Equally funded by the proposition was the Ark-La-Tex Re-gional Air Service Alliance. It is a long word that essentially identifies a groupformed to bring better/more affordable air service to Shreveport.

Left to the uninformed, this would sound like an effort to bring air carrierslike Southwest to town. That is only partially true. Like layers of an onionthere is far more to the picture than what is initially understood. For in-stance, were voters aware this proposition could go a long way to protectGlobal Strike Command at Barksdale A.F.B.? In the simplest of terms, there isa great need for direct (and affordable) flights to Washington, D.C. for per-sonnel at the base. As a Major Command, Global Strike officials must trek tothe nation’s capital on a regular basis.

Like it or not, flights are not added to regional airports simply to fill a need. Ittakes incentives to move airlines to action. It is just the way it is. Passage ofthis proposition would have helped in that regard. Were voters aware thatone-half of a cent on the proposition would have helped bring the Bassmas-ter Classic back to town? The “Superbowl of Bass Fishing” is ready to return.Again, it takes incentives and other money to bring them here and make allthe events happen.

Sadly, voters were most likely not aware of these things before heading tothe polls. This is not an effort to “assign blame.” However, here are a few

things that could be done should a similar proposition makes its way back toballots.

n Advertise if you canVoters still read newspapers, watch local TV news and listen to radio talkshows. While some entities are bound by law not to engage in political activ-ity, some foundations and political action committees can. Advertising themerits of the proposition, and explaining the method of collection would goa long way to swaying the “anti-tax” crowd. Remember the old saying, “Don’ttax you. Don’t tax me. Tax that guy behind the tree.”

n Hold many, many public meetingsThose who cannot advertise can hold meetings and public forums to “get theword out.” While many of these are poorly attended, the public relationsvalue is high. News gathering organizations will often cover these meetings(and their content). Informing the voters who will come out to the polls isparamount. Get the information out there any way you can.

n Choose the election date carefully (if you can)As sad as it is, a low turnout election date benefits those who are attemptingto pass a tax. During a lower turnout election, it is generally more informedvoters who head to the polls. In addition, it doesn’t take as many supportersto be rallied to get things passed. Public bodies have been doing this foryears. Sure, it flies in the face of what we hold dear in this Democratic Re-public, but it also works. Often, the best voters are the ones who show up atthe polls when there isn’t a “big election” on the ballot.

It is quite possible this tax will come around one more time — perhaps asseparate propositions. Hopefully, the organizers learn from previous at-tempts and do what it takes to ensure passage. This is really important legis-lation.David Specht

President,BIZ. & Specht Newspapers, Inc.

Pity the propositionFallout of new hotel/motel tax vote failure & how to fix it


Cover Story

Continued on Page 18

Story by Sean Green

Cover Story

TOP & LEFT: Shreveport’s Excalibur Comics, Cards, &Games is a local businessthat profits off the GeekTribe, or Geek Culture.

BOTTOM: The prevelancehas expanded to includedecor in stores such as

Kirkland’s.

Ithink that Hollywood and social media has fueled the mainstream popculture, but I also believe that the rise of technology has secured thegeek’s place in the world at large. It used to be that you needed strongmen and women to work in the factories, but now you need the brainworking on the next generation of the iPhone or the next big com-puter/tablet. And most of those people also love attending a good

comic-con,” said J.T. Johnson, Shreveport resident and founder of Facebookgroup Geeks, Inc.

“There's no doubt that Hollywoodhas had an impact on comics andpop culture in recent years. We'veeven seen the fruits of that at ourstore,” said Shreveport’s ExcaliburComics, Cards, & Games Communica-tions Director Chris Hunter.

Excalibur employee Randol Youngnotes that pop culture has createdmore business for their store, “Thereare still many people out there thatgo to see the movies that never setfoot inside a comic shop but that's happening less and less. The great thingabout many of these customers is that they'll come in for one thing, and lit-tle by little they come out of their shells. Customers love to let peopleknow about our store and bring people in when they are visiting from outof town. A diverse selection of merchandise, friendly attitudes, and organ-ized stock have played a big part in those that come in to the store comingback.”

Randol’s fellow coworker Chris agrees that word of mouth is important toExcalibur, “especially when you still have to deal with retail giants rightdown the road.”

“We have to be able to have something different, something special thatgets people talking and telling people about our store,” Chris said.

Admittedly, mainstream culture still portrays geeks through the distortedlens of an eyeglasses wearing, socially awkward, asthma inhaler brandish-ing fanboy. And usually, what it gets right about Geek Culture is often over-

shadowed by tone-deafness to its real intricacies. But where Geeks are tak-ing the initiative to changing that image bit by bit among the mainstreamculture is through a chink in the armor for any entity — the wallet.

To see this tribe’s economic potential, look at the positive reaction toShreveport-Bossier’s first comic convention, Louisiana Comic-Con happen-ing Feb. 21 at the Bossier Civic Center. The response to the Louisiana Comic

Con led Chris Jay, public relations andsocial media manager for the Shreve-port-Bossier Convention and TouristBureau, to describe the local tribe ofgeeks as a “bottomless well of un-tapped potential.”

“The immediate response through so-cial media and marketing was unlikeanything I’ve ever experienced be-fore. Everyone I’ve talked to is ex-cited,” he said. “Geek/Nerd Culture, orwhatever you want to call it, has be-come really mainstream and the fansare dedicated and energetic.”

Greg Hanks, with Southern Popular Culture Convention is a co-organizer ofthe Louisiana Comic-Con. He said he had an idea that Shreveport/BossierCity would be receptive to the event, but he has been overwhelmed withthe response.

“It's cool walking around the mall, passing out flyers, and having kids wantto take pictures with you and giving you high fives for bringing a comic con-vention to town.”

And he said local vendors also recognize the buying potential of the geektribe.

“Every comic shop in the area is participating, as well as any business whomay have a tie to the audience we are bringing in. I think they are wellaware of the buying power that the pop culture crowd brings.”


Cover Story

Geeks, nerds, dorks, dweebs…Themonikers go on, some more detrimen-tal in nature than others, but whateveryou call that guy in the cubicle next toyou who reads comics, spendsevenings playing PS4 and is really into

his computer, it’s important to note that he ispart of a tribe that has a big say in shaping thecurrent flow of popular culture. W

hat is known as “Geek Culture” can mean such varied things as tech startups, mathletes,hackers, or (more commonly) fans of science fiction/horror/comic books/fantasy and othergenre-specific media. But thanks to the huge success of TV shows like “The Walking Dead”and comic book movies — 2014’s highest earning film in the U.S. was Marvel Studio’s trulyodd “Guardians of the Galaxy,” based off a less than ubiquitous property featuring a giantwalking tree and foul mouthed raccoon — Geek Culture is generally associated with hard-

core fans of Batman, Iron Man, Frodo, Darth Vader and more. And thanks to the prevalence of theseicons, Geeks seems to have finally flipped the script and become…Gasp!…Cool.


Randol Young & Chris Hunter


Tribes

Creating abrew-hahaGreat Raft Brewing & Flying Heart

Brewing see benefits of built-in tribe

When it comes to cultivating a tribe, it’s not always about building one fromscratch. In fact, there are many tribes out there that merely need a leader, arallying point. Perhaps no local company is a better example of how to “tap”into an already existing one than Great Raft Brewing. The Shreveport-basedbrewery opened late 2013 and currently produces 7 beers that can be foundin local stores and restaurants. Founded by Andrew and Lindsay Nations,

Great Raft Brewing Company creates fresh craft beer by focusing on creativity, passion,and authenticity. And Andrew and Lindsay knew that a local audience would pick up onthat and get on board with their mission and product.

“We work hard to convey our passion for‘real beer’ in the most approachable andnon-pretentious way possible,” said An-drew. “There are a lot of people in NWLAwho are eager to learn and experiencesomething new. It’s pretty awesome to bea part of that.”

The success of the couple’s efforts to ed-ucate locals about craft beer and incor-porate them into the craft beercommunity resulted in Great Raft Beercapturing a segment of the communitywho then turned into walking, talking ad-vertisements and endorsements for thecompany. Their success is literally visiblethroughout northwest Louisiana — youregularly see various people aroundShreveport-Bossier wearing hats, t-shirts,holding Reasonably Corrupt cans.

Andrew said that branding would be acritical part of the company’s identityfrom the start.

“As the first brewery in our region since Prohibition, we wanted to give the communitysomething to be proud of, and make it easy for them to get behind the brand. We engagewith the community mostly via social media and it's fun to see them interacting with usin that way.”

However, Andrew said it boils down to having a quality product, “Some people may buyour cans at the grocery store because they look cool, but they buy them again and againbecause of what’s inside.”


Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’re bound to have noticed that gas has dippedwell below $2 per gallon for the first time since not long after Y2K. Number combina-tions that were relegated to the world of myths and rumors started appearing onpumps around mid-December and drivers everywhere rejoiced as the prices keptfalling like the old lady in that Life Alert commercial.

The good news is that consumers will end up saving quite a bit with this dip. In fact, theLouisiana Oil and Gas Association (LOGA) estimates that consumers are slated to save $500this year, per household, due to these mythological prices. The bad news? Well, it means a lotof pain for the oil and gas industry, you know, that old chestnut that determines much of therevenue for the state of Louisiana.

“The ripple effect is what we’re concerned about,” said Ragan Dickens, director of communica-tions and North Louisiana Shale Director for LOGA. “Companies from Lake Charles and BatonRouge are laying off employees and reducing their drilling budgets. We’ve got companies ineast Texas and south Arkansas who come back to the area and spend money and now they’renot going to have a check to spend here. So it’s going to affect the local economy.”

“The oil service companies are scrambling, too, because when an operator is not drilling, it’s adownhill effect on everyone,” he added.

There are no statistics on unemployment or layoffs caused by the drop in prices. Dickens saidofficial numbers won’t be available until the end of the year. Which, by that time (i.e. 4th quar-ter of 2015), analysts are saying oil prices will begin to rise again.

The silver lining of the whole shebang is that the Haynesville Shale could see an increase in ac-tivity due to drop in oil prices, which would mean an increase in jobs. What was once believedto be the biggest shale play in the continental United States led to an influx of exploration andproduction companies in 2008, but went quiet after only a couple of years. This play comingback into…well…play is a welcome sight.

“One rig is 180-300 jobs and we currently have around 20 rigs in operation right now, so if wegot rig count up to 30 or 40, then we’re talking about something,” said Dickens. “Operators arelooking at the Haynesville Shale because of infrastructure and production costs — you can drilla well and get your gas and take it to market. If you’re drilling in rural Texas or North Dakota,those costs rise because there’s no infrastructure in place there.”

He explained that the Liquid Natural Gas production facilities along Louisiana’s coast would bea catalyst for action in the shale.

“It’s not the answer (to making up the difference in the industry), but the next six months willbe telling,” said Dickens. “(The shale) could offset (the loss in oil jobs), but I doubt it.”

Story by SeanGreen


Oil & Gas

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’re bound to have noticed that gas has dippedwell below $2 per gallon for the first time since not long after Y2K. Number combina-tions that were relegated to the world of myths and rumors started appearing onpumps around mid-December and drivers everywhere rejoiced as the prices keptfalling like the old lady in that Life Alert commercial.

The good news is that consumers will end up saving quite a bit with this dip. In fact, theLouisiana Oil and Gas Association (LOGA) estimates that consumers are slated to save $500this year, per household, due to these mythological prices. The bad news? Well, it means a lotof pain for the oil and gas industry, you know, that old chestnut that determines much of therevenue for the state of Louisiana.

“The ripple effect is what we’re concerned about,” said Ragan Dickens, director of communica-tions and North Louisiana Shale Director for LOGA. “Companies from Lake Charles and BatonRouge are laying off employees and reducing their drilling budgets. We’ve got companies ineast Texas and south Arkansas who come back to the area and spend money and now they’renot going to have a check to spend here. So it’s going to affect the local economy.”

“The oil service companies are scrambling, too, because when an operator is not drilling, it’s adownhill effect on everyone,” he added.

There are no statistics on unemployment or layoffs caused by the drop in prices. Dickens saidofficial numbers won’t be available until the end of the year. Which, by that time (i.e. 4th quar-ter of 2015), analysts are saying oil prices will begin to rise again.

The silver lining of the whole shebang is that the Haynesville Shale could see an increase in ac-tivity due to drop in oil prices, which would mean an increase in jobs. What was once believedto be the biggest shale play in the continental United States led to an influx of exploration andproduction companies in 2008, but went quiet after only a couple of years. This play comingback into…well…play is a welcome sight.

“One rig is 180-300 jobs and we currently have around 20 rigs in operation right now, so if wegot rig count up to 30 or 40, then we’re talking about something,” said Dickens. “Operators arelooking at the Haynesville Shale because of infrastructure and production costs — you can drilla well and get your gas and take it to market. If you’re drilling in rural Texas or North Dakota,those costs rise because there’s no infrastructure in place there.”

He explained that the Liquid Natural Gas production facilities along Louisiana’s coast would bea catalyst for action in the shale.

“It’s not the answer (to making up the difference in the industry), but the next six months willbe telling,” said Dickens. “(The shale) could offset (the loss in oil jobs), but I doubt it.”

While consumers love paying lower prices forgasoline, there’s a downside

Cheap gas isawesome,but...

Story by SeanGreen

The company knows how important communication is togrowing its tribe. They spread their message through socialmedia and their onsite tasting room off Dalzell Street.

“We like for our customers to enjoy a pint at the brewery, justfeet from where the beer was made. There they are able toask our staff questions, smell and taste the raw goods that gointo their beer, and build a strong connection to our brand.We love having the opportunity to educate those looking tolearn more and share our passion for beer. You can’t fake that,and people are quick to recognize that when visiting our tast-ing room,” Andrew explained.

It’s been a whirlwind from Andrew homebrewing six years agoduring his spare time in Washington D.C. Still, the reaction totheir company amazes Andrew, as he notes, “We rely a lot onword of mouth. That alone has brought a lot of new faces tothe tasting room, but there is still a lot of opportunity to intro-duce our products to a new audience in 2015. We love havingthe opportunity to engage directly with customers in the tast-ing room and turn them onto better beer.”

But there are other local breweries that are seeing the power

of a built-in fandom waiting to be united. Jason LeBleu, coowner of Bossier City-based Flying Heart Brewing, said thelocal built-in audience for the Bossier City-based brewery hascome “unglued” since it was announced they would be locat-ing in the old Bossier City Fire station number 6.

“This whole adventure has been a blast because of the sup-port that we are receiving. There is a culture of craft beer en-thusiasm that has been expressing a desire to be satisfied,”Jason enthused. “In addition to the natural pull for craft beer,Bossier City residents are exceptionally excited to have theirown microbrewery that is respectful of and openly embracingthe historical and cultural aspect of Old Downtown Bossier.”

The microbrewery and tasting room is due to open within thefirst quarter of 2015.

“Our inspiration for the venture has been one of embracingthe creativity and art of craft beer. Every phase of our busi-ness evolution has been an evident next logical step,” saidJason.

Jason said he hasn't met anyone around that didn't think thenew brewery was an awesome idea. In order to help that au-dience stay connected, they have embraced social media andclearly communicated the the road to opening their doors to

interested parties.

“The following has been steadily increasing in an organicfashion. We are using our website, Facebook, Twitter, and In-stagram accounts, all under the flyingheartbrewing title.”

As established and growing breweries find their fans andmove forward, Andrew says Great Raft is focused on growingorganically and introducing the brands to surrounding mar-kets while still taking care of the customers in their back yard.

“Consistent quality in our flagships is paramount. We like tohave fun, and brew new and challenging styles. However, con-tinued success will depend heavily on our ability to deliverconsistent quality to our customers in all markets. We arenothing if we aren’t a clean and consistent brewery. Our audi-ence will leave as fast as they showed up if the beer qualityisn’t there.”

Jason is excited on seeing his first steps into the market withtheir tasting room and looking forward to expanding to retail-ers, “Once we are established in the local market in restau-rants, pubs, and the like, we will explore single serving retailsales avenues.”


Pop UP: Program helps startups find/attract new customers

Cover Story

Continued From Page 16

Tribes

Beer: Flying Heart to open 1st quarter 2015

The company knows how important communication is togrowing its tribe. They spread their message through socialmedia and their onsite tasting room off Dalzell Street.

“We like for our customers to enjoy a pint at the brewery, justfeet from where the beer was made. There they are able toask our staff questions, smell and taste the raw goods that gointo their beer, and build a strong connection to our brand.We love having the opportunity to educate those looking tolearn more and share our passion for beer. You can’t fake that,and people are quick to recognize that when visiting our tast-ing room,” Andrew explained.

It’s been a whirlwind from Andrew homebrewing six years agoduring his spare time in Washington D.C. Still, the reaction totheir company amazes Andrew, as he notes, “We rely a lot onword of mouth. That alone has brought a lot of new faces tothe tasting room, but there is still a lot of opportunity to intro-duce our products to a new audience in 2015. We love havingthe opportunity to engage directly with customers in the tast-ing room and turn them onto better beer.”

But there are other local breweries that are seeing the power

of a built-in fandom waiting to be united. Jason LeBleu, coowner of Bossier City-based Flying Heart Brewing, said thelocal built-in audience for the Bossier City-based brewery hascome “unglued” since it was announced they would be locat-ing in the old Bossier City Fire station number 6.

“This whole adventure has been a blast because of the sup-port that we are receiving. There is a culture of craft beer en-thusiasm that has been expressing a desire to be satisfied,”Jason enthused. “In addition to the natural pull for craft beer,Bossier City residents are exceptionally excited to have theirown microbrewery that is respectful of and openly embracingthe historical and cultural aspect of Old Downtown Bossier.”

The microbrewery and tasting room is due to open within thefirst quarter of 2015.

“Our inspiration for the venture has been one of embracingthe creativity and art of craft beer. Every phase of our busi-ness evolution has been an evident next logical step,” saidJason.

Jason said he hasn't met anyone around that didn't think thenew brewery was an awesome idea. In order to help that au-dience stay connected, they have embraced social media andclearly communicated the the road to opening their doors to

interested parties.

“The following has been steadily increasing in an organicfashion. We are using our website, Facebook, Twitter, and In-stagram accounts, all under the flyingheartbrewing title.”

As established and growing breweries find their fans andmove forward, Andrew says Great Raft is focused on growingorganically and introducing the brands to surrounding mar-kets while still taking care of the customers in their back yard.

“Consistent quality in our flagships is paramount. We like tohave fun, and brew new and challenging styles. However, con-tinued success will depend heavily on our ability to deliverconsistent quality to our customers in all markets. We arenothing if we aren’t a clean and consistent brewery. Our audi-ence will leave as fast as they showed up if the beer qualityisn’t there.”

Jason is excited on seeing his first steps into the market withtheir tasting room and looking forward to expanding to retail-ers, “Once we are established in the local market in restau-rants, pubs, and the like, we will explore single serving retailsales avenues.”


Cover Story

Geeks: Social media improves communication

An important characteristic of this, or any tribe, is communi-cation and engagement. It determines the success or failureof a business that tries to lead them.

“Social media like Facebook has really opened up our busi-ness and allowed people to contact and talk to us like neverbefore,” Randol explained. “If you are in our store oftenenough, you'll notice that there's a constant flow to the mer-chandise. Much of this is because we listen to the customersand respond to them. The main way I see us engaging is bysupplying the people who walk through our doors with mer-chandise that will feed their interest.”

Greg has helped build excitement for the convention byreaching out to the geek tribe through social media and old-fashioned face to face pounding of the pavement. He is ex-cited about interacting with this tribe, saying he gets to“speak their language.”

“It's very important not to come off as fake when dealing withcomic and pop culture fans. As someone who attends comicconventions myself, both as a vendor and fan, I hope that theaudience we are serving knows we are genuine in our love forwhat we are doing by bringing this convention to town.”

J.T. explained that the geek tribe has grown by what appearsto be overnight because the members never really had a mas-sive way to communicate on a day-to-day basis before thesocial media, noting, “Now we have somewhere to go everyday to keep up with content and like-minded people.”

He is definitely a tribe member who can see the fruits of thistechnological breakthrough with his Facebook group. Begin-ning as a circle of friends discussing movies, games, comics,and the like, that group of 15 has spread across the world andballooned to more than 600 with little to no promotion.

“Geeks, Inc. took off because it is a product of its time withgeek culture currently being the mainstream, but I also thinkthat it took off because geeks love to share with each other.What’s really been great about social media is that we’ve dis-covered ourselves through people from all walks of life likingsimilar things but never being able to talk about them easily.”

Chris and Randol also use the Internet to connect with thegeek tribe, through their YouTube show “Talking Comics.”

“We are entering our third year now. The show was originallyintended to be a way of promoting products to customersthat might not know what was coming in each week or month.Now, we have people that stop in from out of town to checkout the store because they saw us on YouTube,” said Randol.

“We have customers, new and old, that are more excited thanever to explore books they wouldn't have before. It's a differ-ent kind of word of mouth, but we have really profited fromit.”

So what is the ceiling? Can Geeks keep ruling the world? J.T.,Chris, and Randol all think the sky is the limit.

“I think it’s too exposed now to go back into the shadows ofthe school libraries where “Dungeons & Dragons” gamesused to thrive. The geek culture has proven time and timeagain that it wants to stick around for just a little bit longer,”said J.T.

Chris points out, “There's a new ‘Star Wars’ movie coming,tons more Marvel and DC comic book movies all the way upto 2020, ‘The Walking Dead’ is about to start a spinoff TV se-ries…There is no shrinkage at all, only growth and even moreto participate with and enjoy!”

Randol said that social media will play a big role in keepingthe tribe connected.

“These people are some of the most dedicated fans out there.Look at how long ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Star Trek’ fans have beenaround. It's going to be that way with fans that walk throughour doors long after you stop seeing comic movies.”

Continued From Page 15

LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED1115 Pierremont Road • Shreveport, LA 71106 • allegramarketingsb.com • 318.222.6111

The unique character of our local community is defined in large part by the businesses that reside there, and that plays a big factor in your overall satisfaction with where you live and the value of your home and property.

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Jimmy Dale Pullin has been added to the BIZ. Maga-zine team as its new marketing and advertising con-sultant. Using his more than a half-decade ofexperience with social media marketing and retailsales, Jimmy will be meeting with current and pastclients to help them promote their brand and advise

them on their advertising and marketing efforts.

“It is my goal to become a heavy hitter for my clients,” saidJimmy. “I approach this with knowledge of current markettrends, and garnishing a relationship of understanding clientneeds.”

BIZ. Publisher/Vice President Sean Green is excited to haveJimmy on his team and knows that he can meet the area’sneeds when it comes to providing specialized service that

spreads awareness of their message.

“It’s great to have someone as focused, engaged, and moti-vated as Jimmy helping BIZ. reach itsgoals,” Sean said. “Our goal is to helpNWLA be the economic engine it is des-tined to be by offering targeted, non-traditional branding and awareness. Webelieve our magazine is a complete re-source — from personal growthcolumns, local news stories, spotlightsof entrepreneurs and business leaders,and a modern day ‘Yellow Pages’ thatcan fill the needs of small to large busi-ness owners. And with Jimmy on our

team, I know we will only continue to see growth and a better

product.”

“I am greatly excited to be a part of BIZ. Magazine. To invest inthe growth of Louisiana, NWLA specifically, is a great honor.Being a part of the first local publication to offer a B2B modelprovides more opportunities to promote local businesses andtheir strengths like never before,” Jimmy added.

Jimmy attended Louisiana Tech University and the Universityof Maryland. He spends his time away from the office with hislong-term girlfriend, Kaitlyn, and his dog, Hank. He is a fan ofNew Orleans Saints football, Manchester United soccer, andLouisiana Tech Athletics.

To contact Jimmy, email [email protected].

From BIZ.

Pullin joins the BIZ. Mag teamWelcoming our new marketing & advertising consultant

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Jimmy Pullin

Jared TroutmanRegional Manager

Splash Kingdom


From BIZ.

Pullin joins the BIZ. Mag team

Business People

Anyone in the waterpark or seasonalamusement business has received thisquestion, “What do you do in the off sea-son?” Usually my day starts off with afunnel cake breakfast, a morning of ridingthe slides over and over and over, mini

melts ice cream for lunch, an afternoon of loung-ing by the pool, topped off by chicken fingerswith curly fries. My career as a waterpark man-ager is fun, but not that fun!

What does a farmer do when he or she is not intheir busy season harvesting from the land? Thefarmer meticulously plans the year, builds busi-ness partnerships for maximum growth, upgradesfacilities, performs necessary maintenance onequipment, and seeks out professional develop-ment. The waterpark guy does the same thing!The productivity of the off season directly corre-lates to the harvest.

Perhaps the term ‘off-season’ is what creates theillusion of not being busy. It sounds too muchlike ‘time-off.’ If you are not ‘on’ then you are ‘off.’Off is like sleep. In reality there is no such thingas an ‘off-season.’ There are just different seasonsof the year for performing different critical tasks.Operating without a dedicated intensity to themission at all times, for any business, spells busi-ness failure.

Summer is our time to ‘harvest.’ This season in-volves lots of customer service, doing whatever ittakes to exceed guest expectations, plenty of en-thusiasm, an eye for detail, and outstanding lead-ership for the 100 seasonal employees joiningthe team. Fall is great for analyzing the previousoperating season, getting the park ready for win-ter, and initiating major projects. Winter is for fin-ishing big projects, planning the New Year,

building business partnerships, and getting neweducation to streamline operations. Spring is forrehiring the staff, training the new staff, and get-ting the park ready to open.

A waterpark is dependent on the weather and theseason of the year. However, most businesseshave a ‘busy’ season. I believe that there is a nat-ural cycle to every business year that is probablyvery similar to that of the farmer and waterparker.And even though your business doors are open365 days out of the year some of the key con-cepts behind operating a seasonal business applyto you as well. So, what do you do in your off sea-son?

Please feel free to contact me anytime with ques-tions, ‘off’ season planning, or waterpark in-quiries!

What seasonal businesses do when their time is up for the year

The ‘Off Season’

Jared TroutmanRegional Manager

Splash Kingdom


At a networking event, I reached out to shake hands with a woman who then used myhand to pull me close for a big hug. Recently, Sandra asked me what to do abouthand-shaking at an event with both men and women of all ages. Angie complainedthat at meetings, men shook hands with each other, but not her; one actually offeredher a fist-bump! What are the business guidelines for handshaking and hugging withmen and women these days?

n Old School - The following have historically been our basic handshaking rules. Men shakehands with men, often. A man gives a weak handshake to a woman but only after she first of-fers to shake hands. Women shake hands with women, sometimes. However, these rules arechanging due to the business guidelines below.

n Business Situations - In business, the only appropriate touch is the handshake. It is thephysical gesture that accompanies the verbal hello and goodbye with people we don’t seeevery day. For business purposes, everyone shakes hands with everyone else, regardless ofgender. This is still relatively new to some people, so business women should take the initia-tive and offer to shake hands; this helps others know what you expect. A side benefit is theperson who puts their hand out first looks confident and authoritative.

n All Situations - A handshake should never cause pain or intimidation. It should be firm, lastfor about 2 shakes, and be shared with eye contact while standing. This applies to bothwomen and men. Gentlemen, please avoid giving a wimpy handshake to a woman. Instead of

coming across as genteel, is feels rather demeaning and,well, icky. Ladies, if a gentleman uses his Southern charmand treats you as a delicate lady versus a business profes-sional, please don’t be offended; smile and appreciate hispolite manners.

n Other Welcoming Gestures - Here in the South we arepassionate about our hugs. It is one of the charmingthings about us. Yet, we should consider that not every-one is comfortable hugging strangers or business associ-ates. In the office, consider the message of hugging somepeople, but not others. In a professional situation, act pro-fessional. Save the bear hug and back slapping for yourbest buddies.

By the way, a fist-bump is a casual form of greeting be-tween friends. With all due respect to Howie Mandel andother germaphobes, in formal and business situations, ithas no place.

Business Etiquette

Teri HaynesOwner of Business Interactions, LLCEmployee trainer and business eti-quette coachwww.BusinessInteractions.Net


At a networking event, I reached out to shake hands with a woman who then used myhand to pull me close for a big hug. Recently, Sandra asked me what to do abouthand-shaking at an event with both men and women of all ages. Angie complainedthat at meetings, men shook hands with each other, but not her; one actually offeredher a fist-bump! What are the business guidelines for handshaking and hugging withmen and women these days?

n Old School - The following have historically been our basic handshaking rules. Men shakehands with men, often. A man gives a weak handshake to a woman but only after she first of-fers to shake hands. Women shake hands with women, sometimes. However, these rules arechanging due to the business guidelines below.

n Business Situations - In business, the only appropriate touch is the handshake. It is thephysical gesture that accompanies the verbal hello and goodbye with people we don’t seeevery day. For business purposes, everyone shakes hands with everyone else, regardless ofgender. This is still relatively new to some people, so business women should take the initia-tive and offer to shake hands; this helps others know what you expect. A side benefit is theperson who puts their hand out first looks confident and authoritative.

n All Situations - A handshake should never cause pain or intimidation. It should be firm, lastfor about 2 shakes, and be shared with eye contact while standing. This applies to bothwomen and men. Gentlemen, please avoid giving a wimpy handshake to a woman. Instead of

coming across as genteel, is feels rather demeaning and,well, icky. Ladies, if a gentleman uses his Southern charmand treats you as a delicate lady versus a business profes-sional, please don’t be offended; smile and appreciate hispolite manners.

n Other Welcoming Gestures - Here in the South we arepassionate about our hugs. It is one of the charmingthings about us. Yet, we should consider that not every-one is comfortable hugging strangers or business associ-ates. In the office, consider the message of hugging somepeople, but not others. In a professional situation, act pro-fessional. Save the bear hug and back slapping for yourbest buddies.

By the way, a fist-bump is a casual form of greeting be-tween friends. With all due respect to Howie Mandel andother germaphobes, in formal and business situations, ithas no place.

Business Etiquette

Teri HaynesOwner of Business Interactions, LLCEmployee trainer and business eti-quette coachwww.BusinessInteractions.Net

To bump ornot tobump?

The proper greeting for business networking events


Chris JayPublic Relations and Social MediaManager, Shreveport Bossier Conven-tion and Tourist Bureau. He is amonthly contributor to Biz. Magazine.

He may be reached via email [email protected].

Lunch Break

Lilah’s Bakery, a mom-and-pop bakery andsandwich shop that has previously donebusiness at locations in Shreveport’s High-land neighborhood as well as at theLouisiana Boardwalk Outlets, has re-opened at a new Highland address. The

bakery is now located at 1718 Centenary Boule-vard and is serving lunch daily. Their current dailymenu features hot sandwiches, soups, salads andcold sandwiches as well as cupcakes and otherbaked goods. Follow the bakery on Facebook tokeep up with current menu offerings. Businesses like Lilah’s are among the most easilyidentified examples of the economic force that isCarnival season: the first year they sold kingcakes, Lilah’s Bakery sold about 300 cakes. In2014 – just a few years later – they sold some-thing like 9,000 king cakes. For the 2015 season,king cake availability at Lilah’s Bakery begins onJan. 6, but king cakes may be ordered year-roundwith 48 hours notice. Here’s more info, includinga list of flavors (note that, in 2014, they began of-fering gluten-free options).

As for me, I’m just glad to see more businesses

(and especially eateries) going into one ofShreveport-Bossier’s most diverse and interestingneighborhoods. If you share that sentiment, whynot stop by and welcome these folks back toHighland by having a sandwich or a cupcake?

How, exactly, did shrimp and grits becomea Louisiana thing? I’m not sure. Thedish has its origins in South Carolina’sLow Country region, where it was servedas a fisherman’s breakfast. Over theyears, shrimp and grits has become a sta-

ple offering at restaurants throughout the South,

including here in Shreveport-Bossier. Locally, youcan taste several very different interpretations ofshrimp and grits. One of my favorites in the city,and a current food obsession, is the versionserved by Chef Ernestine “Tootie” Morrison atAbby Singer’s Bistro. It is one of the simplest ver-sions of shrimp and grits that I’ve ever tasted.And that’s a good thing.

A distant cousin to some of the more complexversions of shrimp and grits – many of which in-clude bacon, various cheeses and choppedonions or mushrooms – the Abby Singer’s Bistroversion ($15) doesn’t muddle the taste of thedish by including too many things. Cream, dilland lemon are the primary flavors that leap out atyou, as well as the clean, bright flavor of theshrimp. Well-known food writer John T. Edgewrote this essay for Gourmet back in 2000, basi-cally decrying fancy takes on shrimp and grits. Ithink the version served at Abby Singer’s Bistro isthe kind of interpretation that Edge would ap-prove of, despite the fact that it is garnished withparsley.

Let them eatcake

Celebrate Mardi Gras with King Cake from relocated Lilah’s Bakery

Chris Jay reviews local food and previews events everyweek at www.20x49.com.

Photo by Chris JayA mural advertising king cakes decorates the side of the new location of Lilah’s Bakery in Highland.

Photo by Jim NoetzelShrimp and grits served at Abby Singer’s Bistro.

Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership

Dave RamseyDave Ramsey is America’s trustedvoice on business and money. He hasauthored five New York Times best-selling books, including EntreLeader-ship. The Dave Ramsey Show is heardby more than 8 million listeners eachweek on more than 500 radio stations.Follow Dave on the web at www.entre-leadership.com.


We’ve all heard the phrase “born leader.” Well, I’ve got news foryou. No one is born a leader. Things like that don’t just happen.They’re the result of choices and conscious decisions. I havevisited new parents at the hospital many times, and the baby isalways announced “It’s a girl,” or “It’s a boy.” Never have I heard,“Look, it’s a leader!”

I’ve studied leadership and its underlying principles ever since I foundedmy company 20 years ago. To be honest, I was terrible when I started. Imade so many dumb mistakes it’s a wonder things didn’t fall apart right outof the gate. But now, I’m a great leader, surrounded by world class leadersand world class talent. This didn’t happen by chance or coincidence.

Leaders Grow I’m convinced that one of the reasons I’ve developed as a leader is that I’vespent thousands of hours reading and studying. I’ve also had lots and lotsof experiences — both good and bad — to reach the point I’m at today. Partof this education and learning process meant I had to realize that I didn’tknow everything. It also meant I had to take the time to examine my mis-takes, learn from them and be humble enough to admit when I’d screwedup.

Do you get what I’m saying? Leadership can be learned. Being a greatleader takes much more than just talent and desire. You have to be the kindof leader people want to follow. You have to be the one who gets the bestout of those around you, and makes them passionate about their jobs.

Business and leadership great John Maxwell has a name for this concept. Hecalls it “The Law of the Lid.” As the leader, you are the lid. And your organi-zation can’t grow beyond your leadership capabilities. The good news is,through education and self-examination, you can become the kind of leaderwho isn’t a lid on his organization. The choice is yours!

Grow Your Team Intelligently Great leaders also realize they are nothing without the people around them.You can have the greatest ideas and business acumen on the planet, butwithout an awesome team to back you up you’re going nowhere. It’s vital totake your time when adding new team members, no matter how much youneed someone. It costs a lot less, both in terms of time and money, to findthe right person for the job the first time.

Communication Is Key Finally, make communication a top priority in 2015. The failure to communi-cate things in a timely, detailed manner is one of the surest ways to instillfrustration and even anger in your team. Great leaders intentionally createand encourage a culture of open communication from top to bottom withintheir companies. And the effects on morale, creativity and productivity areamazing!

Don’t feel bad if you see areas for improvement in yourself after readingthis. Stuff like this doesn’t just occur. You’re not a born leader any more thanyou’re a born football player, actor or musician. You may start with a gift, butyou have to make a choice to work your tail off if you want to develop thatgift to its fullest potential!

Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership

Dave RamseyDave Ramsey is America’s trustedvoice on business and money. He hasauthored five New York Times best-selling books, including EntreLeader-ship. The Dave Ramsey Show is heardby more than 8 million listeners eachweek on more than 500 radio stations.Follow Dave on the web at www.entre-leadership.com.

Resolve to be a better leader in 2015


Spotlight

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When it comes to running your business, it’s fun to dive in and get the word out

about your product, help people, make widgets and move units, but then there’s

the unsexy yet vital parts of business ownership that nobody likes — keeping track

of the books. Thankfully, there’s a Bookkeeper Girl for that.

Bookkeeper Girl Inc. was founded in Denton, Texas eight years ago by Kim Pollard and has

grown to include 14 states, including Shreveport-Bossier. Bookkeeper Girl Shreveport is an on-

line company that provides the solution to bookkeeping and payroll needs for small business

owners while saving them time, money, and hassle by operating remotely as an independent

contractor at a fraction of the cost of an on-site staff member.

“Bad bookkeeping will sink a business before it starts. Many times people try to save money by

doing the books themselves only to end up costing themselves more when a professional has

to go through everything a second time,” said Brooke Bryan, Shreveport partner for Bookkeeper

Girl.

Brooke said it’s paramount to know when to hire a bookkeeper — the first six to nine months

of ownership are very busy and it’s hard to focus on where the money goes. Her advice to own-

ers/entrepreneurs for those first 6-9 months that will make things transitions smoothly to a

bookkeeper are: 1.) Use accounting software such as QuickBooks online. You’ll have to take

time to learn the system but a good cup of coffee will help you get through all the basics. 2.)

Keep your personal and business accounts completely separate. 3.) Go paperless! Scan all im-

portant documents, receipts, and business cards and import them directly into QuickBooks or

use another program.

“In the world of numbers, it can be a bit dry and boring for most people. I get excited about

solving puzzles and helping someone in the process! I love helping businesses and non-profits

change the way they view their business through looking at the numbers,” Brooke exclaimed.

But when it all comes down to it, if there was one piece of advice she could offer her peers,

Brooke says it’s important to cultivate relationships and form a team.

“No one succeeds on his or her own. Create a team of experts that can support you in your en-

deavors. The rapport between you ensures maximum efficiency and accuracy, while freeing

you to concentrate on your talents. A bookkeeper is essential to that team.

“It’s also beneficial to have multiple mentors to guide you through different areas. Selecting

the right experts with the right skill sets can significantly increase your chances of success and

surrounding yourself with positively motivated entrepreneurs will allow you and your business

to grow in ways you never dreamed possible.”


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Documents

BIZ. Magazine - February 2015