Practical Advice for the New World of Business

Age of The Customer Book CoverJim Blasingame’s new book, The Age of the Customer: Prepare for the Moment of Relevance, provides a practical guide to help business leaders prepare for the shift from the age of the seller to the age of the customer. What makes this book stand out from others is the thoroughness with which Blasingame has thought through this shift and what businesses need to do to survive and thrive.

Blasingame is well positioned for this task. He is the host of the nationally syndicated “Small Business Advocate” radio program where he interviews a wide-variety of experts. (I’m a regular guest on the show as an expert on employee engagement.)

This is a book you will want to read with a pad of paper and pen handy to write down the ideas and actions you learn. The sheer breadth of topics Blasingame covers – branding, communications, globalization, marketing, organization culture, outsourcing, processes, quality, sales, social media, etc. – is impressive. He effectively connects the dots of what he’s learned from an army of experts, makes sense of it and explains it in clear, concise language.

I could not recommend this book more highly. For a business owner, it’s not one to be missed.

Recent Media Appearances

Here is a link to the article I wrote about Starbucks. The article is entitled “Have a Heart.”  It was published in Outlook Business for Decision Makers, a leading business magazine in India. In addition, below are links to three segments of a radio interview I did yesterday morning with Jim Blasingame, host of the nationally syndicated Small Business Advocate program.





Jim Blasingame Interview: Learn From Great Leaders

Today Jim Blasingame and I discussed how leaders can learn by reading about the stories of other great leaders from business, government, the social sector and sports. Our conversation was broadcast on Jim’s popular, nationally-syndicated radio program “The Small Business Advocate.” You can hear the interview by clicking on the “listen now” button below:

Jim Blasingame and I discuss employee engagement on his radio program

Last Friday I was a guest on my friend Jim Blasingame’s nationally-syndicated radio program entitled “The Small Business Advocate.” In the interview Jim and I talked about employee engagement and why leaders need to clearly communicate their vision and values to the people they are responsible for leading. This is especially important during difficult economic times. You can hear the interview by clicking on the “listen now” below.