Highlight Reel: How to Make Your Business

SurviveWebinar Event: December 7, 2010

Meet the Staff Today’s Moderator

Leslie Shiner Owner of The ShinerGroup SoTF Project Manager

Today’s Panelist Jason Knott

Editor in Chief, CE Pro Magazine

Agenda Checking in• Highlight Reel: How to Make Your

Business Survive• Q&A – throughout the webinar Upcoming SoTF features & events

Checking In Interview process

You can ask questions as well All attendees are in “mute” mode

Archive of this PowerPoint will be available on CrossPoint

Engage & interact Respond to polls when they are posted Submit your questions using the online Q&A

feature

Submitting Questions

• Questions will be taken during the presentation

• Submit questions on the Control Panel

Type Your Question Here

Click Send to Submit Question

Slide the panel out of the way by clicking on the arrows

Let’s Test Polling Process Sample Polling Question: please take a

moment to answer the following question… Do you use a watch?

Yes, I use my watch to tell timeYes, but I use my cell phone more than my watch

to tell time No, I don’t use a watch No, what is a watch?

Today’s Panelist

Jason Knott, Editor-in-chief, CE Pro Jason has been covering low-voltage electronics for more than 20 years, the past 10 years as the editor of CE Pro. He was editor/publisher of a national electronic security publication from 1990-2000.

2010 Webinar Schedule1. Recurring Revenue (Mike Bradley)2. Sustainable Technologies (Jeff Mitchell, Shawn Lemay,

Ashley Daigneault)3. CEDIA Benchmarking Survey (Randy Stearns, Mark

Komanecky, Erica Shonkwiler)4. Using Audio as a Jumping Point to Build a Powerhouse

(Richard Millson)5. The Age-in-Place Market (Jason Ray)6. CEDIA Education (Michael Creeden, Doc Greene, Casey

Keller)7. Customizing Your Internet Marketing Strategy (Jamie Sasser)8. Home Automation on a Budget (Jeff Singer, Michael

Maniscalco, Chuck Parrelli)9. You and Your Books (John and Lynda Polk)

Cast Your Vote… Please take a moment to answer the

following question… How do you think 2011 will compare to 2010?

Profits will be reduced Profits will increase Profits will be about the same I may not be in business in 2011

Recurring Revenue Where do you see the biggest opportunity

for recurring revenue for the ESC of tomorrow?

Everyone seems to want it, but have some ESC’s figured out how to include this in their business offerings?

Is security the only way to have recurring revenue?

Recurring Revenue Ideas Security, fire alarm, smoke detection Residential fire sprinkling monitoring

Being mandated by international code council Temperature sensing, latchkey kid sensing Extended service contracts & maintenance programs Digital home health care Personal concierge service IT services, 24/7 services, remote diagnostic systems Digital media management Remote energy monitoring Digital signage

Sustainable Technologies What sustainable technologies offer growth

for today’s ESC’s? Do you see success stories in Solar? Are there other opportunities besides solar

in today’s market?

Sustainable Technologies Lots of opportunities out there Integrators need to take this on a case by

case basis depending on geographic location

Energy contractors Rebates, reduced utilities, finding partners

Smart meters user interface

CEDIA Benchmarking Survey Have you seen the CEDIA Benchmarking

Survey results? What did you find surprising?

I know CE Pro does surveys as well. What can we learn from these surveys?

What is one takeaway for success that you’ve learned from these surveys?

Cast Your Vote… Please take a moment to answer the

following question… What do you see as the greatest opportunity

for 2011* IT services/ networking Remote managed services High end and entry level control systems Streaming media Commercial

*Select as many as apply

Using Audio as a Jumping Pointto Build a Powerhouse

I hear Audio is dead – do you agree? We heard from Richard Millson that he’s

successfully grown his business by creating standards. Do you see other ESC’s doing that?

Looking to the future Audio is not dead

High performance audio is a growth opportunity Pent up demand

Standardization It’s what is needed in today’s ESC Create structure, defined team, selling defined

packages It’s the process that makes a company valuable

The Age-in-Place Market Everyone seems to be talking about the

many opportunities in the Age-in-Place market, but don’t seem to know where to start. What examples are you seeing in this market?

Age in Place Great market opportunity But business model for ESC’s still needs

work Concern about liability issues

Great opportunity for partnering

CEDIA Education I understand you are on the Content Action

Team. Are there new educational opportunities coming out of CEDIA?

What other educational venues do you see?

Do you think certification is really worth it?

Education EXPO is not the only place for education Consider other on-line offerings, white

papers, etc. Certification provides long-term benefits

Cross training, licensing Need more awareness of importance of

certification at consumer level

Internet Marketing Strategy With all the social networking options, do

you think an ESC should spend his or her energies on this?

Do you think other marketing strategies such as banner ads, Google adwords, etc. are valuable? Necessary?

What other internet marketing strategies have you seen?

Internet Marketing 80% of people start searches online If you’re not there, you’re missing first point

of contact Social media

Start simple with posts to improve leads Two steps – create and manage

Home Automation The $64,000 question – has the iPad

changed the face of the way we do business?

Are touch panels a thing of the past? Are there still opportunities to make money

in home automation?

Home Automation Future More opportunities, not less

More consumer awareness Creating entry level automation based on iPad Upgrade path It’s no about markup, it’s about volume

Cast Your Vote… Please take a moment to answer the

following question… Have any of your clients called asking you to

integrate iPads into their existing system? Yes, quite a few Yes, but only one or two No, but we are reaching out to existing clients No, that’s not really part of our offerings

You and Your Books Do you see a trend for ESC’s to have a

better understanding of their books? Or has this downturn economy made business owners focus on sales and production, and lose focus on the financials?

Checklist If you were to put together a checklist of

ways to make your business survive, what would the top four focal points be? Explore recurring revenue Look at existing customers to explore more

high end audio, high end video Foster growth with internet strategy Streaming media

Keyword:

Optimism

Summary

Review the 2010 takeaways and always consider CEDIA as a resource center

A Challenge for You Use Outlook or some calendar program Create a list of at three things you will do Put each one in your calendar

One week, one month, two months from now Be sure to turn on the reminder

Q&A Any more questions….

CEU’s Available

Use the link in your student transcript to launch the final assessment. Successful completion of the assessment grants the .5 CEUs

Archived Survival of the Fittest webinars available: http://www.cedia.net/survival/archive.php

A Special Thank You!

As Project Manager of the Survival of the Fittest program for two years, I want to thank all the volunteer panelists, the CEDIA Staff and the CEDIA membership for giving me the opportunity to serve you and to learn so much!

Leslie Shiner