by Robert Bobroff - Jan 29, 2010
I am going to talk to you today about the Business Journal. And I'm going to walk you through the paper and show you how to read it a little bit differently. My goal is, that when you leave here today, I want you to read everything differently. Whether you read our paper or not.We are not affiliated with the Orlando Sentinel. We're our own paper. If you read the Sentinel, I want you to read that differently. I want you to be thinking about job opportunities. There's a lot of hidden job opportunities out there.
Some Personal History
I was in your position about a year ago, until about a year ago, when I started with the Journal. I was looking for a job, and I became depressed because all I did was sit in my little cave at the home office, and send out resumes. All I got were pyramid marketing people calling me, insurance people calling me... That's all I got. And that's not honestly what I wanted to do. I wanted to be in the marketing department somewhere.
So I became depressed, but luckily I found this job at the Business Journal. I got this job through networking. This job that I'm in right now, this position was never posted on the Orlando Business Journal website, never on jobs.com, CareerBuilder.com. It was never in our newspaper. Whenever my Publishing or my Circulation Director sat in a meeting, when they were done, they asked the person they were meeting with for a referral, "If you know of a good salesperson, let us know, we're looking." I was referred to my Marketing Director, from a friend of a friend in the Real Estate industry. I still had to go through six interviews. They flew somebody down from our corporate office in Charlotte. I had a phone interview where they gave me rapid fire questions to find out if I was a nice guy. But that's when the offered me the job, and it was never posted. All through networking.
Networking
I'm very proud, when I see somebody at one of our events. Because I know it's uncomfortable being in the room with 550 top executives, and that's who was there last night. They're were mayors and presidents of all kinds of companies. So I want to see you all get out to some events as well. Come grab me and find me, and we'll work the room together.
Reach out. Get out of your comfort zone. It was not my comfort zone when I started with the Business Journal. I never went to any network events. The only network events I went to when I was in residential real estate, were other realtor events. Which was stupid! So I hung out with people who were my competitors. And now that I'm with the Business Journal I realize how silly that was.
Now, I'm going to go into a little bit on networking. Most of our events are morning, or lunch events. And when you meet somebody at a business lunch or a business breakfast, there's a certain conversation you have about business. We only do a few evening events throughout the year. Maybe two or three. We're trying to change that, but it's a hard struggle. Last night, I saw those same people I would have breakfast and lunch with, but we had a glass of wine in our hand instead. And we talked about kids, and vacations, and you saw them at a different level.
It's great that you're here networking with each other. Something that I didn't do when I was sitting in my cave sending out resumes, getting depressed. So I want you to do that. But it doesn't make sense to only network with people that are in transition. So I want you all to get out to some events where you can shake hands with people that have jobs, that might know the inside scoop. You all should all, go to every chamber's website, and sign up for their free newsletter. Every chamber. There's at least 25 in this area. Sign up for their newsletter.
I get probably 25 emails every Monday, with what's going in the chamber this week. Winter Park has "What's up Wednesday". You'll find out what's going on. And get out to some of these events. Do you know that you don't have to be a member of the chamber to go to their events? You have to pay $5 more, because you're not a member. But get out to some of those events. Those are people that like to network.
So I want to see you all get out to some evening events. And get out to some lunch events as well.
About the Business Journal
For those that you don't know, the Business Journal is owned by American City Business Journal based in Charlotte, NC. And we run 40 Business Journal's across the United States. In Florida we've got Jacksonville, South Florida, which is in Fort Lauderdale. We have Tampa, right down the street. And then we've got Orlando. We are a weekly business newspaper.
I was at an event two days ago where somebody came up... I got my wares on the table, just like this. And someone came up and said "Oh, is this this month's paper?"
And I said, "Oh, we're a weekly paper."
"Oh, I get the paper."
"Oh no you don't. Or you don't read it if you get it because you asked if this is this month's paper. We are a weekly business publication." And people argue with me.
"Oh I get it at the office. This is this month's, right?"
Can you tell that's a hot button for Robert? I mean, I don't care you subscribe to it or don't. I want you to subscribe to it, but at least be knowledgeable about when it comes out.
Every Friday it's mailed to you through the US Postal Service. We only do business news. Central Florida business news. Orange, Lake, Seminole and Osceola counties. You will find stories about Brevard county, Volusia county, if it's a story that makes sense to our readers here.
If you're a subscriber to the paper, you can read the paper online. A lot of people say "I'm not going to subscribe to the paper because I can go to the website and read the stories." Those are not the stories that are in the paper. Those are different stories. We update the website with news stories throughout the week. But we save the big stories about companies who are coming here, or expanding, or new things that are going on. We save those for the Friday paper that you actually have to pay for.
Now as a subscriber you can go online and you can read the paper. You can download each individual page as a PDF and email it. It's very powerful. And those of you that are networking, in transition, if you find an article that you think you should share, you can download it and email it to somebody that you know. Maybe you're not looking for a marketing position, but you know somebody that is. You can email that article out to them. You can also share the articles with everyone in the group. There's been a lot of comments on that. I get the emails.
Events are very important. And I'm amazed of how people we had to hurt feelings all week because we sold out of our Book of Lists party. It's in the paper. It's in the paper every week, but you all overlook it because you think it's advertising. That's one of my lessons that you've all heard before. Do not overlook what you think is an advertisement in my paper. A lot of times it's going to be an event that you should get out to, whether it's ours or somebody elses.
It's in the paper. You'll see this week there's a full page add for our next event, which is the business of sports. It's the first time we've ever done it. It's a great panel that we have. It's February 19th. But read the paper.
The 2nd to last page of the paper will have a section called Save the Dates. And that will have the next one or two Orlando Business Journal sponsored events. Also, OrlandoBusinessJournal.com, click on Events, and you can see when our events are. The majority of our events will sell out. Now the Book of Lists sold out two weeks in advance, that doesn't normally happen. But normally, the week of the event, they will sell out. That business of sports already has 200 people registered and we still have 3 weeks of registration. And most people wait until the end to register. Also, call me and ask me when the next event is.
What's it Cost?
Those of you who that are wondering. There is a digital version, where if you don't care about getting the actual paper physically, we have a new digital version, which is just $59. But you still get to read the Book of Lists, and everything else. It's just like reading the paper. The only thing is, you need to make sure. I can't tell you how many times people pay for the digital version then call me a month later and say "I don't remember to read the paper online. I want something in my hands." And you can upgrade it later. We have to charge you the difference, which is like $11. But just know what you're getting into. You have to be disciplined enough to actually read the paper online, which I'm not. I do have a paper in my hand.
With a subscription you get 52 weeks of the paper. You get the 2010 Book of Lists that was just released. You get the 2011 Book of Lists, because it's mailed out to all of our subscribers. As long as you're a subscriber, you get the Book of Lists. So you get the 2011 one when it comes out in December. You can also read the 2009 Book of Lists online. So, when you buy that print subscription, you also get the digital version. With the digital version you save a little bit of money. And you also get 60 weeks, instead of the 52 weeks.
Editorial get together every Thursday, and they discuss what they think that they should put in the paper for special sections. During the week, there's four reporters that work at the Journal, and their job is to find stories. And those of you, once you land. Once you get into your new position. They are always looking for story ideas. I am very proud to say that I've had at least three dozen people sit through my seminars and then get quoted in the paper. And I had at least 10 people have full stories written about them or their companies, because they read out to editorial the way that I tell them to. But they're the ones that make that decision. I'm not allowed to put this person in the paper, but I can introduce you to the editorial staff.
Top Stories
Look at page 1. Top stories are always on page 1. Our reporters are trained to ask questions that make it easy for our readers to act on the stories. And here's what I mean by that. Do you all know that there was a new Weston that opened around the corner here, like last week, Weston Lake Mary? There was a grand opening last week. We did not write a story last week in the paper about the Weston opening. We wrote a story two years ago about the Weston coming to town. Because we know that a lot of our readers are general contractors, architects and engineers, and they want to put bids in on projects. We also know a lot of our readers can sell their products, services or sub-contracting services to those general contractors.
Because of the job market being the way it is, our reports are trained to ask companies, when they're sitting down with them, "Are you going to be hiring any time soon?" and "What kind of jobs are you going to be looking at?" And here's a case in point, it says "High Tech Jobapolusa". This is a story where there are four local companies looking for some tax breaks, and they're going to create 222 jobs in Orange Country with an average salary of $67,000. We give you the name of those four companies. Those might be companies you might want to reach out to. If you turn to where the story continues, it will talk about the different types of jobs that they're hiring for. It will give you average salaries that they're providing for those jobs. Those are companies you might want to reach out to.
Now, you've heard me say it before, I'll say it again. Grown men and women love to hear the phrase "I've heard about you in the paper." It's the way I use it when I'm making sales calls. You do the same thing.
We write these stories. These are companies that haven't posted these jobs yet. If all you're doing is what I did, sending out resume after resume, you are competing off of CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com. You're competing against a 1,000, maybe more other people, that are well qualified people. Maybe recent college grads that are going to work for less money than what I want to work for. We write stories before the jobs are probably posted.
If you're a business owner, and you wanted to hire somebody. Who do you want to hire? Do you want to post a job on Monster.com and read through a 1,000 resumes? Or, what if you got a call from Mike, "Hey I read a story about you, and I think my qualifications might be inline for what you're looking for." Isn't that the type of person you would want on your team?
Now, is that out of your comfort zone? It's out of mine. I mean I'm in sales and I don't necessarily want to do that. I don't wake up in the morning and want to make calls. But we all know the definition of insanity, right? Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. So you might want to get out of your comfort zone.
You have to set yourself apart from the people you're competing against. If you can get in there before the jobs are being posted, maybe you're not really competing against anybody. And if you can impress them enough, maybe they never post that job. If the 16 people, or however many they interviewed for my position all were terrible, they would have eventually posted it, right? They would have posted the job. But they didn't need to, because they found 16 qualified candidates to interview before.
People and Companies
Turn to page 2. People and Companies section. Each week we talk to people and companies that are listed in our paper on page 2, with a page number that they're referenced on right next to it. This is a wonderful opportunity to make a warm call instead of a cold call. "I read about you in the paper this week." "I read about your company this week." They love hearing that.
Also, you have to think about timing. If you think we're a monthly newspaper, we're not. Our paper comes out on Friday. If you wait until Tuesday, and use that line, the thrill is gone. They already called me and asked for extra copies to send to their mom and dad. So if you're going to make some calls, make some calls on Friday, or on Monday at the latest.
I'm also a big proponent of hand-written notes. We don't throw away hand-written notes, right? We always read them. Yet we go through our mail with the trash can, and throw out all the junk. But when you come to a handwritten, note you're going to see it. Now most of you I'm sure write hand-written notes when you're done with an interview, right? How many of you write something pro-actively to try and get an interview? If you see a company that you really want to work for, or a person you think is dynamic, and you'd want to work for, send them a personal note. Cut the article, or print it out online. "I saw this in the Business Journal, and I thought you'd like an extra copy. I'm in transition right now, and I'd love an opportunity to talk to you about your company." And then follow up with a phone call. Tell them in the note that you're going to follow up with a phone call, and then do it. They'll remember you in the morning. You're the person who wrote a note.
I sit and do these seminars at least two and three times a week, at least. And I tell people in every seminar, write hand-written notes, write hand-written notes. And I maybe I get, two hand-written notes from people from seminars a week. But I speak of well over 100 people a week. So people aren't listening to me. And that's fine. Take my advice or not. But what I'm trying to say, from a competitive standpoint I'm telling people in this room, and maybe one person's going to do it. Why don't you be that one person? And be different than everyone else when looking for a job.
Advertising
Let's go to page 5. Don't over look the advertising. It's the business of sports. Here's where we have a heart to heart chat. Our events are not cheap. They're not. You guys are going to look at it, "that's breakfast for $40?" It's not cheap. But if you do what I tell you to do, it's worth a $100. What time does this business event start? Registration starts at 7:30. I guarantee you that business will start showing up at 7:00 in the morning. And those are the extroverts that want to talk to you. Does that make sense?
How many of you have ever gone to a networking event that says it starts at 7:30 and you show up at 7:30 thinking that you've scored, because you're on time? But there's already clicks of people talking, and it feels a little uncomfortable getting into the conversation. Here's a solution. Get there a half an hour early. Talk to the people putting the event on, because they know the people coming to the event. And they will start introducing you to the people, as they show up. It works.
I was so proud last night. Our event started at 6:00. Our event last night said 6:00 to 8:00. At 5:45 I looked at the line of people waiting for registration, and more than half of them had sat through my seminar. That must be how a teacher feels, when their students do well. Because half of those people were people who listened to me to get there early. And they were there networking, waiting for the registration to start. Ok, so do that.
Also, our event ends at 10:00 in the morning. This event ends at 10:00. People will start leaving, as soon as our publisher gets up and starts to thank our sponsors. And you know it's wrapping up, and those people will leave. And they leave to do what? They beat the traffic, right? Wahoo, score! They beat the traffic onto the Beeline from this hotel. At 10:45 is when we will probably start really asking people to leave. There will be people there networking for another 45 minutes. Now the people that get there at 8:00, because they see the program starts at 8:00, and leave at 9:55. Those are the ones that won't come to another one of our events, because it's $40 for breakfast! But the ones that showed up at 7:00, and got a handful of business cards and stayed till 10:45, and doubled those business cards, those are the ones that keep coming to my events. Because they take my advice.
I understand that $40 is a lot of money when you're in transition. I understand. But they are top business people, leaders in the business community, that come to our events. So I ask you to try it out.
Executive Profile
Let's turn to page 7. Page 7 is Executive Profile. It's a one-on-one interview with a top local executive. We want you to reach out to Executive Profile. You get an idea of what makes them tick. Best business decisions they've ever made. Worse business decisions they've ever made. Where they like to go for lunch. Take them out for lunch. Ask them for informational interviews, that type of thing.
The List
Alright, turn to page 10. Page 10 is The List. We are very famous for our Lists in the paper. Each week we had at least one Top 25 List. Sometimes we have two or three. But most of the time, it's just one. This week it's Central Florida Largest Minority Owned Businesses, rated by 2009 revenue. You got the name of the company, the address of the company, the website. We're upgrading our Lists this year. Now we're including websites. We're trying to include email addresses. If you read this weeks paper, not every top local executive wants to give their email address. So a lot of them will say, refer to website. Buy you got the top local executive's name, phone number... These are companies that are doing pretty well. They might be people you want to reach out to.
Book of Lists
What we do at the end of the year. We talk all those Top 25 Lists and we put together into what we call our Book of Lists. Contact information for over 1,500 companies in the 2010 Book of Lists. This one doesn't have all the websites and emails. That's something we started this year. But it does have the top local executive and phone number. Like I said before, this is included with the subscription to the paper. Don't have to pay any extra for it. It's $45. I have people walk into my office all day long and say "Oh, I want that Book of Lists my boss tells me about."
If you're a subscriber, you log onto your account at OrlandoBusinessJournal.com. We've got a search button. If you're getting ready to go on an interview, you can type in the name of the company, or the person you're interviewing with, and see if we've ever written a story about them, going back to 1996. Information is power. When I went on interviews, I always wanted to make it look like I was kind of interviewing them to. I didn't want to be like a log, sitting there listening. Don't go to their website. You're going to read all the fancy press releases that they want you to see. Go to my website, and you can see if we've ever written a story about them. It should tell you if that person was on a certain list, that certain month, or what not. You can't search the Book of Lists.
Special Reports
What we've got on our Special Reports section of the week on page 11, is 2010 Outstanding Minority Owned Business Awards. These are awards that we've given out to minority business owners. You've got profiles of these business owners. These are people you might want to reach out and network with. You know what's very important? You guys are in transition right now, but you all are going to land eventually. And if you get a head start, reading the paper and reaching out to people...
I understand, priority one is finding a job, but you are also building a sphere of influence that can really help you once you land. I didn't get out of the office when I was a realtor. Does anybody know that Orlando Magazine publishes in their magazine their 50 most powerful people in Orlando? And I started in January, in the Business Journal. That magazine came out, maybe in August. They're were over 25 people that I had met already in August, just from our events, and reading the paper. You're building a network to help you when you land as well.
Entrepreneur
Let's turn to page 15. Page 15 is our Entrepreneur section. This is kind of our small business how to guide. We focus on a small business that's doing well. We'll also sometimes have articles about companies. I think it's called Turning Point, where we will have articles about a small business that was just about to shut it's doors. But they made it back from the brink. And they give advice about what they did to cut costs. And it's not always, let people go. It's about re-negotiating leases, re-negotiating small business loans. So you can learn a lot from that. There's also sales articles in here as well.
Turn to page 16 for me. Page 16, bottom left hand corner. Once again, do not overlook advertising. The 2010 Outlook for Central Florida Association of Realtors. I was there at that event this week. Great speakers, great networking. Probably 350 people in attendance. Commercial real estate is not necessary for everybody in the room. My point is, don't overlook those ads.
Sales, Service and Management
Dave Rothfeld, anybody met Dave Rothfeld, know Dave Rothfeld? Dave writes this article every week in the paper. He does a great job. Those of you who like his article, go to his website, which is part of his email address at the bottom, and sign up. He does a weekly newsletter that he sends out every Sunday.
Biz Leads
Turn to page 18, Biz Leads section. Right at the bottom and the middle, where it says Building Permits, we pull Public Records for Orange, Lake, Seminole and Osceola counties. Any time a building permit is pulled, it's going to go into our paper. You got the name of the company that pulled the permit. You got the type of job that it's going to be, and the price tag on it. Now, some of these are smaller, but you'll see plenty of them throughout year will be well over a $1 million. If a general contractor was awarded a job and pulled a permit for $10 million, what might they be doing? Hiring. And what might they not have done yet? Posted it, if they just pulled the permit. So take a look at the building permits. I understand that that's thinking way outside of the box. But let's go ahead and be proactive. All they can say is no.
Business Taxes
On page 19, Business Taxes. This is an indication that someone is starting a new business, from Orange, Lake, Seminole, and Osceola counties. You got the name of the company. You got the address. And we alphabetise it by type of business that it is. Now you might see Sonny's Real Pit Barbecue on there from time to time, but that's an indication that the franchise changed hands, or they started a new franchise. We can't differentiate it. We've asked. And there's no way. We just pull public records. You're going to have to a little bit of work. But you know, sometimes when people start a brand new business, they think they can do it all themselves in the beginning. And then the realize after a couple of months that they need some help. So these could be good leads.
www.sunbiz.org
Does everybody know about the website, sunbiz.org? Go to sunbiz.org and you can lookup companies in Florida, and it will have contact information on there.
Reader's Guide
Alright, turn with me to page 26. This is the last page of the paper that I'm going to go over. This is the reader's guide. At a quick glance you can see what the next few issues of the Journal are going to be about.
Editorial Calendar
Right now, you all have an Editorial Calendar. It's a front and back page. You can see at a glance what the Journals are going to be about in 2010. The Special Report on the left hand side. That's what the Minority Owned Business Rewards was this week, in this paper. You can see what that Special Report is going to be for the entire year. You can see what the Top 25 Lists are going to be. You can see that some weeks have more than one. Special publications are other magazines that we put out, that are included with your subscription. And then our Events on the right hand side. Don't look at this for events as the event dates change all the time.
This is the 5th Editorial Calendar that we've had. And the only thing that is ever going to change, are the dates of the events. We haven't firmed everything up. But the Special Focus section, and the Top 25 Lists, those are set in stone. So you can see if there's an industry that you're looking to get into, and when we might be covering that.
Save the Dates
Go back to the paper, page 26. That's kind of where that next week and beyond is. You can always see what the next few papers are going to be about. Save the Dates. We talked about that earlier today. If you want to find out when our next events are going to be, that's under Save the Dates. If it's something you want to go to, register for it as soon as you know you're going to go to it, ok. And then on the right hand side, everyone that works at the Business Journal with our direct lines and our email addresses. No home phone numbers.
That's it for the paper.
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