Making Cents of It All

Social media marketing is the practice of using social media platforms and tools to promote a business and connect with existing and potential customers. It encompasses a wide range of activities, from content planning and creation to social media analytics.Social media marketing is about building relationships with your audience in the places they already spend their time online. Unlike traditional advertising, it allows for two-way communication between individuals and brands, fostering a sense of community and brand loyalty.Delaina Baker is the founder of The Social Media Study Hall.  She joins the show to share what led her to launch The Social Media Study Hall and how we can all utilize the social media tools that we have at our fingertips as business owners and professionals.  The waitlist is open now!  You can sign up at delainabaker.com.  Check it out today!Delaina Baker is recognized as Orlando’s leading social media expert.  She brings over a decade of experience in social media marketing for companies and nonprofits. She offers realistic and applicable social media strategies for business professionals.

My guest this week is Greg Den Boef.  Greg has worked for Paychex for over 21 years.  They are one of the nation's leaders in providing human resources, payroll, and employee benefits outsourcing services for small- to medium-sized businesses. A Professional Employer Organization (PEO), sometimes referred to as an employee leasing company, is a human resources company that small businesses contract to handle certain administrative functions. Here are the key points about PEOs:Co-Employment: A PEO acts as a co-employer alongside your business. It provides services for both your company and its employees. By partnering with a PEO, you can outsource important HR functions, such as payroll, benefits administration, and training.Compliance and Efficiency: PEOs ensure compliance with federal and state employment laws. They handle tasks like tax reporting, employee benefits, and risk management. This allows you to focus on your core business activities while the PEO manages HR-related complexities.Services Offered by PEOs:Payroll: PEOs handle payroll processing, tax withholding, and direct deposits.Benefits Administration: They manage employee benefits, including health insurance, retirement plans, and other perks.Training and Development: PEOs may provide training programs and resources for employees.Risk Management: They assist with workplace safety, workers’ compensation, and compliance.Employee Onboarding: Some PEOs offer onboarding services to streamline the hiring process.

What Is Business Marketing? Business marketing involves using every available resource to share, promote, and build awareness around your brand. The goal is to increase your customer base and drive sales. Whether you’re just starting out or have an established business, marketing is not optional—it’s essential. Gone are the days of relying solely on word of mouth or occasional magazine ads. Today, business marketing spans various platforms and utilizes multiple avenues simultaneously to stay in front of customers.My guest this week is Yeliza Centeio.  She is the founder and CEO of Integral Marketing and Advertising.  She and her team at Integral help business owners each and every day by providing a tailored approach to making sure their client's businesses are presented properly and to the right people that they are seeking to do business with. 

This week I am talking to Sidney Graybill - Founder and CEO of Dual Drinks in Orlando Florida.  I love talking to creative people that create something that they believe will provide others with a better way of doing something or a better product that they never knew they needed - but now they can't live without it.  Makes sense, doesn't it?  That's exactly what she is looking to do with Dual Drinks. 

Welcome to Making Cents of It All with Jesse Stakes.  HR services play a crucial role in managing employees and ensuring a smooth workplace experience. Here are some key aspects of HR services:Recruitment and Onboarding:HR assists in recruiting and hiring new employees. They create job descriptions, conduct interviews, and onboard new hires, ensuring a seamless transition into the organization.Employee Benefits:HR manages employee benefits, including health insurance, retirement plans, and other perks. They help employees understand their benefits and address any related queries.Training and Development:HR coordinates training programs to enhance employees’ skills and knowledge. This includes workshops, seminars, and online courses.Performance Management:HR oversees performance evaluations, feedback, and goal-setting. They work with managers to ensure employees meet their objectives.Employee Relations:HR mediates conflicts, addresses grievances, and fosters positive relationships among employees.Compliance and Legal Matters:HR ensures the organization complies with labor laws, regulations, and industry standards. They handle legal documentation, such as contracts and policies.Offboarding and Exit Processes:When employees leave the company, HR manages the exit process, including paperwork, final paychecks, and exit interviews.My guest this week is Stephen Murray.  He is the founder and lead Human Resources Consultant for Grow Fast HR Solutions.  When people talk about small business, large business...or anywhere in between, it is always relative to what someone believes that means.  Stephen handles what the business community calls Middle Market businesses and above.  He will define what that means for us.

This episode is fun for me.  I have Steve Strum, Financial Advisor from Northwestern Mutual, joining me today to talk about all the things that keep business owners up at night.  In Steve's world, each day is filled with the tough and uncomfortable conversations that deal with all the WHAT IF's they could potentially face.  I can tell you that this is definitely not one of those tough conversations.  In fact, it is probably one of the easiest interviews I have ever done.  Enjoy my conversation with Steve as he helps me make sense of how business owners protect their families and creations as they make cents.  

Treasury Service products are used by businesses of all sizes to manage the cash flow cycle and protect against the all-too-common fraudsters in today's world.  In ages past, we built castles, walls, and moats to protect our treasures and our financial wellbeing from vandals and those that would look to take it.  Today's tools are not all that dissimilar, but instead of physical barriers, many of them are now digital.  

Swinging With Purpose® is a 501c3 organization that provides support to grassroots organizations serving the needs of women, girls and children in communities across the country.  Through various golf venues, we invite golfing communities to “swing with purpose” for their respective communities.Their vision is to invite non-profit organizations and Golf Clubs to “swing with purpose” with use of the Swinging With Purpose® trademark license.  They have developed a template for golf-related fundraising success and we’re ready to share those proven techniques, resources, and relationships to make a difference in communities throughout the Country.   

We all want to make more money, right?  Business owners and CEOs all want their sales teams to bring in more business.  That usually means hiring a very skilled sales professional that you hope will lead your team to success.  In today's world, there is another way.  It is possible to lead through partnership rather than leading through employment.  Kelly Hill, CEO of Sales Advisors joins the show to talk about what a Fractional Vice President of Sales does for the organizations that she serves.  She will even provide some tools that I believe will help everyone get a little better!

Yield Coach Realty & Capital is providing the education, tools, and opportunity for folks just like you and me to get into the investment real estate market.  Ever have that feeling that you would like to invest in real estate, but you are afraid to fail, or you don't feel that you know enough to pull the trigger?  This podcast is for you then!  Ian shares his story along with the opportunity that Yield Coach represents in the North Florida marketplace.  He also is looking to pull folks up as he is moving down the road!  Through the use of multiple media outlets: podcast, YouTube, and other social media, Ian is also educating those who want to learn how to become more savvy investment professionals themselves.  Enjoy!

According to a recent study by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute, the manufacturing skills gap in the United States could result in 2.1 million unfilled jobs by 2030.  Chris Pepin and he is founder and Managing Partner of PRORELI.  He is working on filling the huge talent demand in the Maintenance and Reliability disciplines that exists in manufacturing and the industrial space.   

New years come with new beginnings, and I can't think of a better way to kick of this year than to bring on Ben Hippeli, Founder of Benchmark Training, to talk about what it looks like in modern sales and sales management to work virtually vs. the traditional in-person approach.  We are diving into the benefits and some drawbacks of working as a virtual sales force vs. the traditional model of how things have been done in the past.  We will even touch on how some organizations are utilizing a hybrid approach.  

Did you know that over 80% of legal disputes could avoid a courtroom all together and be settled through a process called mediation?  I think most folks know the definition of the term, but how many people truly understand what the process of Meidation looks like?  I didn't.My guest this week is James Murphy, Circuit Court Mediator in Duval County Florida. Prior to becoming a full-time mediator, he was a senior-level banking officer and special assets manager.  He has a unique perspective to handle cases that involve business partner disagreements, debt collection, debt restructures, construction defects, foreclosures, bankruptcies, contract disputes, insurance settlements, and lender liability.

I am pleased to welcome back the President and Founder of GoFigure Accounting, Rachel Siegel.  For those of you that didn't have the opportunity, check out episode 38 where we talked all about Rachel, her career, and how she started and grew gofigure account.  This time, we are talking all about Profit First.  What is Profit First you ask?  I'll let Rachel tell you because she is a Mastery Certified CPA that executes the Profit First strategies with her clients, and I would rather you here it straight from a Master.

The Florida housing market has been on a tear in recent years, with home prices skyrocketing.  This has also increased the demand for affordable housing across the state as wages for the folks who were already here are not grown at the same rate as the rapidly increasing home prices.  Betsy Pepine's company is not only thriving in the North Central Florida area, but they are working on creating additional affordable housing in the area to be part of the solution to this problem!  Through their charitable foundation, Pepine Gives, they are literally building houses!

Small businesses are generally defined by the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) as independent businesses having fewer than 500 employees. Based on SBA's definition, there are 33.2 million small businesses in America, which account for 99.9% of all U.S. firms.  Small businesses are credited with just under two-thirds (63%) of the new jobs created from 1995 to 2021 or 17.3 million new jobs. Small businesses represent 97.3% of all exporters and 32.6% of known export value ($413.3 billion). They also employ almost half (46%) of America's private sector workforce and represent 43.5% of gross domestic product. By almost any measure, small businesses are a vital part of the American economy and workforce. In the City of Jacksonville, FL they understand the value that small business represents to the community and the city government is looking to support these entrepreneurs in as many ways as they can.  My guest this week is the Administrator of the Office of Equal Opportunity and the Small & Emerging Business department for the City of Jacksonville - Gregory Grant.  Gregory is applying his own entrepreneurial experience and that as a professional educator at the collegiate level now in support of those very business owners that call Jacksonville home.  

My guest this week is Cheryl Stakes.  She is the Program Direction at Vision is Priceless in Jacksonville, FL where they work each and every day to improve the visual health of children and adults in Northeast Florida.  The impact of the work they do in the community truly is priceless, and the value to the people they help is immeasurable. What if you were a child that never had an eye exam, and you didn't even know that the blur you see in front of you isn't the same as what the other kids in your class see.  Think about being an adult that has difficulty seeing the road to drive to work or seeing a computer screen.  They are all real problems that Vision is Priceless is working to solve each and every day for people in need of their services.  

I wanted to piggyback off our SBA show we just did.  When you step back and look at what the banking system in the country represents to the community, they are essentially stewards and gatekeepers of the country's monetary system.  There is so much more to it and much to understand.  This is a continuation of a discussion that started with SBA last week, but I think we will touch so many more things that banks are responsible for in our economy.  

The Small Business Administration (SBA) was established in 1953 by the Small Business Act, signed into law by President Eisenhower. The SBA was created to promote the interests of small businesses and enhance competition in the private marketplace. Prior to the establishment of the SBA, small businesses had limited access to credit resources. Scott McBride, SBA Lender for One Florida Bank, joins me this week to talk about what the SBA actually is for clients, how they function in providing capital to small businesses, and how they partner with banking and lending institutions to support the growth of the U.S. Economy.

Kim Arrigo consults in the banking and finance industry for one of the largest tech companies in the United States.  She and her team ensure that the systems those companies choose to have in place best assist them in interacting with their clients and potential customers.  Enjoy Kim and I's conversation as we discuss what brought her to technology sales and why she is so passionate about it.