Chris Roush, professor at the University of North Carolina, presents “Uncovering Stories in Small Businesses” during the free Reynolds Center workshop, “Uncovering the Best Local Business Stories,” in Fort Worth.
(PLEASE NOTE: This presentation has been modified from the version that was presented in Kentucky.)
The daylong workshop covered tips on how to find good stories in the business of government, how to cover economic-development agencies at the state and local levels, and how to find public information on private companies.
Presenters also discussed how to find stories in small business and publicly available databases, and how to localize national and international stories for your audience.
This free training was specifically geared toward community journalists and generalists on tight budgets and small staffs. A previous workshop by the same name was held in Lexington, Ky.
For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org.
Chris Roush, business journalism professor at University of North Carolina, presents “Uncovering Stories in Small Businesses” during the free Reynolds Center workshop, “Uncovering the Best Local Business Stories,” in Lexington, Ky. The daylong workshop covered tips on how to find good stories in the business of government, how to cover economic-development agencies at the state and local levels, and how to find public information on private companies. Presenters also discussed how to find stories in small business and publicly available databases, and how to localize national and international stories for your audience. This free training was specifically geared toward community journalists and generalists on tight budgets and small staffs. Another workshop by the same name was later held in Fort Worth. For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org.
Chris Roush presents "Uncovering Stories in Small Businesses," part of the free, daylong workshop, "Uncovering the Best Local Businesses," which is geared toward community and local journalists on a budget.
For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org.
Chris Roush, business journalism professor at University of North Carolina, presents “Uncovering Stories in Small Businesses” during the free Reynolds Center workshop, “Uncovering the Best Local Business Stories,” in Lexington, Ky. The daylong workshop covered tips on how to find good stories in the business of government, how to cover economic-development agencies at the state and local levels, and how to find public information on private companies. Presenters also discussed how to find stories in small business and publicly available databases, and how to localize national and international stories for your audience. This free training was specifically geared toward community journalists and generalists on tight budgets and small staffs. Another workshop by the same name was later held in Fort Worth. For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org.
Chris Roush presents "Uncovering Stories in Small Businesses," part of the free, daylong workshop, "Uncovering the Best Local Businesses," which is geared toward community and local journalists on a budget.
For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit businessjournalism.org.
How To Create A Loyal Tribe of Repeat CustomersJon Brome
This article teaches the average home business owner and shows them how to turn one-off customers into loyal evangelists of their product and services.
The Squeaky Clean Legacy, Chapter 6.x: Rich at the Publius Expenseprofessorbutters
Publius Scipio Goodytwoshoes, ancient Roman patrician, shares business tricks and tips for Pleasantview times. It's a long, long way from Ostia and a hard slog to Five Top Businesses.
Many thanks to Stephanie Prince, whose “Impact a Life” scholarship essay examines how raffles can not only benefit a business by showing customers and employees that they care. Stephanie is entering the University of Arizona’s Honors College and will be majoring in Engineering. Good Luck!
How to Get Publicity for Your Wholesale Brand | HandshakeHandshake
Find out how to get publicity for your wholesale brand in trade and consumer publications. Andreea Ayers, founder of Launchgrowjoy.com, shares her tips.
Mel feller looks at how real estate agents should treat their clientsMel Feller
Mel Feller Looks at How Real Estate Agents Should Treat Their Clients
Please note that this article comes from the heart. It is heartfelt because I had been a top producing real estate agent for twenty years. I know what it takes to keep buyers and sellers happy and still as a real estate investor, I handle a lot of my buying and selling myself even though I do not have a real estate license today. I am deeply involved in training several high producing real estate agents today. So my knowledge of the real estate field spans over 45 years. No matter who your customer is, in any business, they turn into repeat customers down the road or not, depending on the way you choose to treat them!
Real Estate Agents who treat buyers with disdain would do well to remember that those buyers would become sellers one day. In addition, they will remember those agents who treated them well when they were initially looking to purchase. If you happen to be the Buyer’s Agent always, treat them with the highest respect, just the way you would like to be treated. I can promise you that no real estate agent will admit to treating people badly, but I do see and hear about it all the time.
15 Smart Questions to Ask Small Businesses:
Chris Roush, award-winning professor and founding director of the Carolina Business News Initiative at the University of North Carolina, presents 15 questions to ask small businesses throughout your business coverage during the free, full-day workshop, "Finding Your Best Investigative Business Story."
This training event was hosted by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism and the the SPJ Madison Pro Chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Sept. 28, 2013.
For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit http://businessjournalism.org.
For more tips on how to develop investigative business journalism stories, please visit http://bit.ly/investigativebiz2013.
How To Create A Loyal Tribe of Repeat CustomersJon Brome
This article teaches the average home business owner and shows them how to turn one-off customers into loyal evangelists of their product and services.
The Squeaky Clean Legacy, Chapter 6.x: Rich at the Publius Expenseprofessorbutters
Publius Scipio Goodytwoshoes, ancient Roman patrician, shares business tricks and tips for Pleasantview times. It's a long, long way from Ostia and a hard slog to Five Top Businesses.
Many thanks to Stephanie Prince, whose “Impact a Life” scholarship essay examines how raffles can not only benefit a business by showing customers and employees that they care. Stephanie is entering the University of Arizona’s Honors College and will be majoring in Engineering. Good Luck!
How to Get Publicity for Your Wholesale Brand | HandshakeHandshake
Find out how to get publicity for your wholesale brand in trade and consumer publications. Andreea Ayers, founder of Launchgrowjoy.com, shares her tips.
Mel feller looks at how real estate agents should treat their clientsMel Feller
Mel Feller Looks at How Real Estate Agents Should Treat Their Clients
Please note that this article comes from the heart. It is heartfelt because I had been a top producing real estate agent for twenty years. I know what it takes to keep buyers and sellers happy and still as a real estate investor, I handle a lot of my buying and selling myself even though I do not have a real estate license today. I am deeply involved in training several high producing real estate agents today. So my knowledge of the real estate field spans over 45 years. No matter who your customer is, in any business, they turn into repeat customers down the road or not, depending on the way you choose to treat them!
Real Estate Agents who treat buyers with disdain would do well to remember that those buyers would become sellers one day. In addition, they will remember those agents who treated them well when they were initially looking to purchase. If you happen to be the Buyer’s Agent always, treat them with the highest respect, just the way you would like to be treated. I can promise you that no real estate agent will admit to treating people badly, but I do see and hear about it all the time.
15 Smart Questions to Ask Small Businesses:
Chris Roush, award-winning professor and founding director of the Carolina Business News Initiative at the University of North Carolina, presents 15 questions to ask small businesses throughout your business coverage during the free, full-day workshop, "Finding Your Best Investigative Business Story."
This training event was hosted by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism and the the SPJ Madison Pro Chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Sept. 28, 2013.
For more information about free training for business journalists, please visit http://businessjournalism.org.
For more tips on how to develop investigative business journalism stories, please visit http://bit.ly/investigativebiz2013.
Your essential guide to law firm marketingQorus Software
This guide is a collaborative effort from three experts who all work closely with legal marketing teams and share their experience on how to build relationships with reporters, get the inbound marketing engine rolling, and seal the deal with tailored, consistent, pitches and proposals.
Contributors:
Larry Bodine (@larrybodine) - Editor-in-Chief of Lawyers.com
Visit the LawMarketing Portal website: www.LawMarketing.com
James Lee (@perceptio) - CEO of Perceptio
Learn more about Perceptio: http://perceptio.com/
Ray Meiring (@hammerhead) - CEO of Qors Software
Learn more about Qorus Software: www.qorusdocs.com
Debunking Myths On Storytelling For Startups - LoudStory Startup League #2LoudStory
Unlocking the core concepts of storytelling can help entrepreneurs win the heart of their audience and stick there for a long time. This presentation was made at the LoudStory Startup League meetup in Paris.
Watch the video on Youtube.com/loudstory and join the movement on meetup.com
Connect to www.loudstory.com for more content on storytelling for startups
Startup Selling: How to sell if you really, really have to and don't know how...SalesQualia
Are you a start-up CEO? A technical founder with a great product that you need to start selling now? An engineer at a start-up that's been asked to pitch in with the company's sales? Then this book is for you.
While you’re sitting at your desk coding or productizing, the phone might ring every so often or you receive occasional "request for information" emails from your website. Perhaps you’re lucky enough to gain an introduction from your venture capital partner or friends in the industry. What do you do with that new prospect? How do you move from product development to revenue?
This book teaches your about the basic aspects of the sales process, and provides everyday sales strategies you can utilize immediately in your business. It's practical advice that you can start using right now. In the next 20 minutes. Today. This book will make a difference in your business. You will immediately see how inbound callers respond differently and how you're able to decode the decision process. Before you know it, you might actually begin to like sales...
The author is a 10-year veteran in Silicon Valley with more than 15 years of sales experience. You'll love his candid writing style - loaded with specific questions to ask on sales calls and example conversations that you can implement immediately into your customer interactions.
Small Business Banking Segment Analysis - 06.10.16Calvin Turner
Most banks believe they are committed to servicing Small Business customers. They develop products and services for this segment; they invest considerable amounts of time and money trying to improve their Small Business Bankers’ business development (i.e., sales) skills; and some may even create a line of business within the bank entitled “Business Banking” or “Small Business Banking.” But most of these efforts fail to produce the desired growth objectives because banks don’t really understand the needs of the small business customer.
11 Tips for Building a Brand Newsroom: How the Rules of Content Marketing are...The Starr Conspiracy
Technology buyers are bombarded with messages every day. Not only is it harder to rise above the noise, it’s harder to connect with your sales prospects. Want to make a connection? You can learn some important lessons from the world of journalism.
You can build a stronger brand with great content. Discover how in The Starr Conspiracy’s e-book “11 Tips for Building a Brand Newsroom.”
The magazine designed for SME's, a platform to grow, connect and equip small, medium enterprises, with issue that have to do with small businesses, while celebrating by profiling hard working entrepreneurs, trailblazers, difference makers and thought leaders in the SME sector.
"How To Create Your First Six Figure Income In The Home Base Business Arena"Charles Booth
Reveled For The First Time Ever, How You Can Finally Crack The Code And Discover What It Really Takes To Produce Income On Demand With Your Current Business...
Data journalist Steve Doig, the Knight Chair at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, demonstrates 10 data sources you may never have heard of that can lend rich context to your business and economic stories and spark meaningful investigations.
“Developing an Effective Business Journalism Syllabus - Leverage! Using Existing Resources to Create a Killer Course" from Reynolds Business Journalism Week 2016 by Keith Herndon
“Marketing Your Work and Engaging Your Audience - Engaging Audiences to Promote Your Work” from Reynolds Business Journalism Week 2016 by Rebecca Blatt
Christina Leonard, Director of Reynolds Business Reporting Bureau at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication shared 30 Agriculture stories at this year's Ag Media Summit. Take a look at these 30 examples of unique agriculture coverage to help end your writer's block!
Pulitzer Prize winner, Michael J. Berens of The Seattle Times presents "Data Journalism 101," a three-hour, hands-on workshop for the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at the Excellence in Journalism Conference in Nashville, Tenn. on Sept. 4, 2014.
Part 3 offers tips for creating your own databases.
For more business journalism training opportunities and resources, please visit http://businessjournalism.org.
More from Reynolds Center for Business Journalism (20)
Want to move your career forward? Looking to build your leadership skills while helping others learn, grow, and improve their skills? Seeking someone who can guide you in achieving these goals?
You can accomplish this through a mentoring partnership. Learn more about the PMISSC Mentoring Program, where you’ll discover the incredible benefits of becoming a mentor or mentee. This program is designed to foster professional growth, enhance skills, and build a strong network within the project management community. Whether you're looking to share your expertise or seeking guidance to advance your career, the PMI Mentoring Program offers valuable opportunities for personal and professional development.
Watch this to learn:
* Overview of the PMISSC Mentoring Program: Mission, vision, and objectives.
* Benefits for Volunteer Mentors: Professional development, networking, personal satisfaction, and recognition.
* Advantages for Mentees: Career advancement, skill development, networking, and confidence building.
* Program Structure and Expectations: Mentor-mentee matching process, program phases, and time commitment.
* Success Stories and Testimonials: Inspiring examples from past participants.
* How to Get Involved: Steps to participate and resources available for support throughout the program.
Learn how you can make a difference in the project management community and take the next step in your professional journey.
About Hector Del Castillo
Hector is VP of Professional Development at the PMI Silver Spring Chapter, and CEO of Bold PM. He's a mid-market growth product executive and changemaker. He works with mid-market product-driven software executives to solve their biggest growth problems. He scales product growth, optimizes ops and builds loyal customers. He has reduced customer churn 33%, and boosted sales 47% for clients. He makes a significant impact by building and launching world-changing AI-powered products. If you're looking for an engaging and inspiring speaker to spark creativity and innovation within your organization, set up an appointment to discuss your specific needs and identify a suitable topic to inspire your audience at your next corporate conference, symposium, executive summit, or planning retreat.
About PMI Silver Spring Chapter
We are a branch of the Project Management Institute. We offer a platform for project management professionals in Silver Spring, MD, and the DC/Baltimore metro area. Monthly meetings facilitate networking, knowledge sharing, and professional development. For event details, visit pmissc.org.
This comprehensive program covers essential aspects of performance marketing, growth strategies, and tactics, such as search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, content marketing, social media marketing, and more
Uncovering Stories in Small Businesses (Fort Worth)
1. Uncovering stories in small businesses:
15 smart questions to ask for small-
business profiles
April 26, 2012
Chris Roush
croush@email.unc.edu
2. Private companies
n Writing about small and private businesses
can be fascinating because it forces the
reporter to dig deeper into analyzing a
company’s situation.
n You can’t rely on Securities and Exchange
Commission filings to provide the facts.
n You have to interview competitors, interview
customers and clients, assess the market
and look for clues as to why a small business
is successful – or struggling to make ends
meet.
3. Private companies
n Writing about private companies is a lot
like writing about publics.
n However, the information may be harder
to find.
n But small and private companies will
open up and talk if they are approached
in the right way.
5. Private companies
n Find ways to include private companies in
broader stories.
n Private business owners and executives can
be willing interviews to talk about the local
and regional economy.
n They also might talk for stories assessing
issues such as a shortage of experienced
workers or how they’ll be affected by new
laws.
6. Private companies
n Many small business
reporters focus on issues
and trends instead of
profiling companies.
n They’re looking at how
these small companies are
struggling to make it in the
business world.
n They’re writing about the
decision to provide health
insurance and other benefits
to workers, and how the cost
of doing so can cripple a
small operation.
7. Private companies
n They’re writing about the struggle of a
small business owner to hand his
operation over to the next generation
after 40 years of running the company.
n They’re assessing the impact of the
new Home Depot in town on the local
hardware stores that have been part of
the community for a half-century.
8. Private companies
n With each story, the reporter isn’t
writing about the business, but is
gaining the trust of the small and private
business owner or executive.
n Then, when news specifically about the
company merits coverage, they’ll be
more likely to open up.
9. Private companies
n Like most businesses, the
small and private companies
need to understand the role
of the media.
n Many of them will expect to
receive glowing or positive
coverage, and when they
don’t get it, they’ll be mad.
n Some of them may even
believe that positive
coverage is a quid pro quo in
exchange for their
advertising.
10. Private companies
n Some stories are written about small and
private businesses if they’re unique to the
market.
n The Door County Advocate in Sturgeon Bay,
Wisc., covered the opening of the first car
wash in the county north of Sturgeon Bay.
n But that’s because of its uniqueness – it’s
the only car wash for miles. Make it clear that
the media outlet decides what’s news.
11. Private companies
n Writing about small and private businesses
can be done to show how they’re changing
and evolving with the community.
n The Southeast Missourian in Cape
Girardeau, Mo., wrote about the influx of
immigrant small business owners and
international workers in its area in a front-
page story.
n The story helped explain go its readers why
these businesses are opening around town.
13. Profiling the private company
n Private company stories are sometimes too
positive because they don’t include numbers.
n These stories may seen innocuous, and
they’re often written as flattering, positive
stories that tell the story of how a business is
thriving or succeeding because of its products
or its services.
n Many times, these stories can read like
advertorials, copy that the business should
have probably paid the newspaper to run.
14. Profiling the private company
n Profiles of small and private businesses,
however, don’t always have to be this way.
n Business reporters fell all over themselves in
the 1990s writing about the latest Internet
company to go public and make millionaires
of its workers.
n Many reporters who write stories about small
and private businesses aren’t being as
critical as they can be – and should be.
15. Profiling the private company
n If things aren’t going good, don’t
sugarcoat it.
n If a particular industry is suffering, don’t
buy the story that one small business in
that industry is telling you when he
remarks, “We’ve never had a better
season.”
n He’s probably lying.
16. Profiling the private company
n The Petersburg Pilot in Alaska
focused on the struggles of local
salmon fisheries in its paper.
n The story did not mince words. It
began:
n Wave after ware of bad forecasts
are rocking Alaskan’s salmon
fishery as fisherman and
processors scramble for that
miracle seasick curing patch. The
amount of fish not returning is not
enough to cause this nausea; the
price heaved at the independent
fisherman, however, leaves them
weak-kneed with sea legs.
17. Profiling the private company
n Think of reporting about small and private
businesses the same way as stories about
larger and public businesses are written.
n They’re just as important to the reader and
viewer.
n Because it’s being written about a business
that probably hasn’t had much exposure, the
piece will probably have more readers
wanting to learn about a company they
haven’t heard about before.
18. Profiling the private company
n Think of writing profiles of small and private
businesses as being companies that might be
sold, might go out of business or go public in
the future, putting them in the public’s eye.
n With stories already written about the
company, your media outlet will have the
background to cover future stories more
thoroughly about the company.
19. Profiling the private company
n Small and private businesses like
for the media to write stories
about them when they’re new
and trying to attract customers.
n But rarely do they want the
attention when they’re going out
of business.
n Still, these stories can also be
important because they might
reflect on the broader town or
county economy.
n If a store couldn’t make it in the
town, what does that say about
the future of similar stores in the
area?
20. Profiling the private company
n Reporting about small and private
businesses often requires the journalist
to focus on the founder of the business
or the owner.
n They’re often the ones that control the
company.
n Without that interview, though, where do
you turn?
21. Profiling the private company
n Ifpossible, find out where the founder
used to work.
n Maybe someone there can tell you
about his work habits or his business
ideas.
n Maybe he was fired or dismissed from
his previous job, or left his previous
employer to start a competing business.
22. Profiling the private company
n Many of them are protective of their business,
and want a reporter to recognize the long hours
and the tough times that were put in to make the
business successful, or at least survive.
n If a business owner is reluctant to give you an
interview, understand that they’re leery.
23. Profiling the private company
n One way to get past the hesitation is to let the
business owner see that you recognize the
pain that went into building the operation.
n That doesn’t mean your story has to be
positive.
n But a good point to make in most profiles of
small and private businesses is how they
were started and that they have lasted as
long as they have.
24. Questions to ask yourself
n Whom else should you talk to
besides the business owner to
keep it from being a one-
source story?
n How can you add quick context
about the industry to a story on
a small business? For
example, new coffee shop
opens in town – what are the
overarching issues, concerns
in that retail sector that you
should ask the business owner
about?
25. The 15 Questions
n 15 questions for the small or private business
owner.
n Many small business owners are wary of questions
from reporters, particularly when they’ve never
been interviewed before. These questions will show
the owner that you’re genuinely interested in telling
readers about his company.
1. Where did you get the idea to start your business?
How does your background fit into the company
idea?
26. The 15 Questions
2. How did you fund the
business? Did the money
come from savings or
relatives?
3. How soon after you first
opened your doors did your
business first make a profit?
How did you celebrate?
4. What was the hardest
obstacle to overcome in
getting the business off the
ground?
5. Who do you consider to be
your biggest competitor and
why?
27. The 15 Questions
6. How have you grown the business? Has it
been through advertising or customer
recommendations?
7. Who is your biggest customer? What would
you do if you lost that customer?
8. What is your best-selling item?
9. How would you react if a similar business
opened nearby? How could you handle the
increased competition?
28. The 15 Questions
10. How big do you foresee your company becoming
in the next five years? In the next 10 years?
11. What would make you sell your business to
another company?
12. How are your employees involved in the day-to-
day decision making for the business?
29. The 15 Questions
13. What is your end game? Do you plan
to sell the business, or hand it down to a
new generation?
14. Has your financial performance
improved or worsened in the past year?
Can you give details.
15. What is the one thing that you want
people to know about your business?