Wrapping Up 2007

On today's Houston Business Show I visited with Andy Valadez of Marketing Dynamics and Jim Driscoll of the Houston Business Media Group and GoalAchieversClub.com to discuss several things, including how to bring the year to a close with a bang.

Of particular interest was our focus on goals versus resolutions, which is always an interesting topic. At some point virtually all adults have made resolutions, which I define as often vague statements about the way people wish things were. As people age they typically no longer pursue such, not because they don't want the changes, but because resolutions don't work. Enter the need for goals.

The difference between goals and many resolutions is multi-fold:

* Goals are achievable. They are something that the person who makes such is capable of accomplishing. Such isn't always the case with resolutions. This is because resolutions often come with poor planning as they will try to "solve" all of their problems in one sweeping move.

* Goals are quantifiable. This means they are specific and can even include a minimum goal and a superior goal. Resolutions are often vague and lack a specific measure.

* Goals have a specific time frame. They state when the desired changed will be accomplished. Some times the goals are short term, mid term, or long term, but they are always dated. Goals without dates are really mere dreams. This is the most important attribute of goal setting, in my opinion.

* Goals are written. This helps memory and makes one accountable.

They are more attributes to goal setting that Jim Driscoll will be writing about in his blog at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Keep track of his content and other information at the What's New Page of that web site.

The bottom line is that the change you desire is worth pursuing. The best way of pursuing such is through very specific goals.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show on CNN 650 (M-F at 11 AM) and can be heard live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Keep up with all of our media activities by subscribing to the Houston Business Review. The above video is of Jim Driscoll, Calvin Brown, and Steve Chaloupka being interviewed by Kevin Price on the Movers and Shakers Segment of the HoustonManufacturers.com TV Show. Each are Business Show Advisors at HoustonBusinessShow.com.

New Way to Buy and Sell Real Estate

Andy Valadez of Marketing Dynamics likes to say -- "For Sale By Realtor, What a Novel Idea!" He's right, Realtors have taken a beating in recent years due to the rise of the "for sale by owner" concept. It blows my mind. I can't imagine anyone taking the risk of buying or selling a home without the help of an expert. Expertise is exactly what Realtors provide. Unfortunately all they tend to convey is selling information.

It is because of this situation that I have developed, with Andy, "HoustonsNeighborhoods.com." This innovative program replaces sales rhetoric with authoritative information. Moves the Realtor from mere promoter to expert. And provides information and serious opinion where one could only find propaganda.


On today's Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM at CNN 650), Jason Higham of Veritas Mortgage, Donald Leonard of ReMax Northwest, Andy Valadez and I discussed this exciting new paradigm that will change the way Real Estate is sold. Multimedia in scope (video, photos, audios, radio, articles, and more), we believe it will become the first place Houstonians will go for information.

Expect more information on this innovative concept in the weeks and months to come.

The above video includes Andy Valadez, Donald Leonard and Cisco Dowdell (also of Marketing Dynamics) on the HoustonsNeighborhoods.com concept. Just click the photo above and then click the "Movers and Shakers" segment. Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650). To get the best in business news and information subscribe to the weekly HoustonBusinessReview.com newsletter, which is available at no charge.

Media, Advertising, and PR for Businesses in Houston

There is a reason why virtually every advertisement says "that's not all, oh no, that's not all" -- that type of message is very effective. People simply want more for their money and advertisers know it. Unfortunately, rarely do businesses get such offerings. A company I am with, the Houston Business Media Group, is actually doing something about it and is creating quite a stir.

In a recent post, I discussed a new multimedia program that offers radio, TV, web, and other media at a very small package price. Here are the major points of that post:

* 7 ads a day, M-F between 6 AM and Midnight on the hottest new channel in Comcast's interconnect -- Fox Business Network, which is in over 600,000 homes for 13 weeks

* Quarterly interview on the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650)

* Promotion of the ad campaign (and your business) on the radio show

* Campaign (and your business) featured on the home page of HoustonBusinessShow.com (under "As Seen on TV" link)

* Promoted in the Houston Business Review that goes to over 50,000 every week during the campaign

* All production costs are included

* This ad campaign is below market on the TV alone, but includes all these other excellent elements. This is an excellent opportunity to have a multimedia campaign at a very reasonable cost.

I find the single biggest challenge facing small businesses is how to reach new customers in an economically sensible fashion. That is exactly what the Houston Business Media Group offers through this innovative program. I suggest emailing Andy Valadez of Marketing Dynamics (the Media Group's ally in this program) at Andy@MarketingDynamics.org or call him at 713.560.3348. One could call out of the curiosity of how we do it.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and is Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Visit HBR to get your free subscription.

John Lucas: Legend On and Off the Court

Basketball great John Lucas was on the Houston Business Hour with Allen Robinson and myself today on CNN 650 (M-F at 7 AM). It was a fascinating interview which included a candid conversation about his struggle with drugs and an even more open look at what is going on in the business side of sports.

On today's show John discussed:

* How he found himself struggling with drug and alcohol addiction

* How high profile athletes stay in major cities and how that affects league parity

* The struggles young athletes have transitioning from high school and college to the pros

* Insight into the way salary caps work in the NBA and more

Check out the entire video at you tube by clicking here.

Film footage provided by Andy Valadez of Marketing Dynamics.

Order Kevin Price's audio program The Accumulators, which explains the impact that the Internet is having on marketing and consumer behavior. It is available online here for only $10 plus p and h. Receive the Houston Business Review e-zine free each week by clicking here.

Neil Bush on the Houston Business Hour

He's introduced as "the President's brother," or the "former President's son", or the "former First Lady's favorite son" (as he like to put it) but I will merely call him Neil. Neil Bush was a guest on the Houston Business Hour yesterday (M-F at 7 AM on CNN 650). He has this unique ability of making a person feel like they have known them for years. He's friendly, like a next door neighbor. He's intuitive and seems like he has solid business sense. He provided one of my favorite interviews in years.

Andy Valadez of Marketing Dynamics and a regular contributor to my program and website video taped the interview and you can see it in its entirety at YouTube.

Neil's company, Ignite Learning, seems to be very cutting edge and provided a great subject for today's program. Instead of being redundant by saying what the interview was about, let me encourage you to watch it instead.

Order Kevin Price's audio program The Accumulators, which explains the impact that the Internet is having on marketing and consumer behavior. It is available online here for only $10 plus p and h. Receive the Houston Business Review e-zine free each week by clicking here.

Blog Goes Multimedia

One of the things I like to boast about during the Houston Business Show (now Hour, M-F, on CNN 650 at 7 AM) is that my Houston Business Show and Hour Websites are going completely multimedia. Podcasts of the radio show, podcasts of audio that are exclusive to the website, video, (starting in October) a TV show, and of course articles and blog posts. In fact, our websites are the only local business news and information website that is completely multimedia.

Well, one thing in my life that has remained very 20th century it this blog. Until now. If you scan down you will notice that each post on this page includes a video. There may be times where I have audio instead (because of the availability of resources), but I'm committed to provide multimedia whenever it is available. I will not, however, choose a subject exclusively on this criteria, but it will play a role.

I have long believed that different people learn different ways. Furthermore, different people are attracted to different types of entertainment and information. That alone has bolstered my desire to move towards multimedia.

Some times the media will reinforce the article. Other times, it will be a mere example. Other time still, it will be a desperate attempt to make the video some how relevant to the article. Seriously though, with the sheer volume of multimedia content, it shouldn't be difficult to find such information. I hope you enjoy this addition.

Note: Order Kevin Price's audio program The Accumulators, which explains the impact that the Internet is having on marketing and consumer behavior. It is available online here for only $10 plus p and h.

Another Case for Independent Films

Houston Business Show Advisor Andy Valadez, reported the following to me: "Our client T4 Pictures just received 5 Dove Award Seals (the highest award given) for the script 'School of Redemption'. They also said it was the best script they had ever read in the family genre! You can read the strong review here: Dove Award."

"This seal recognition will open a lot of doors for the movie makers as it will increase the chances for distribution, sourcing an investor, product placement deals, and attracting name actors. This, at a time when theatre owners are looking for family movies, because of traffic turnout. The business plan identified that there was a huge opportunity to make a family movie that crosses generations."

I want to congratulate T4 and Andy Valadez, check out his whole article here. Check out my earlier discussion on the value of Independent Films as an investment here.

New Media at the Houston Business Show Website

I am delighted about the rapid expansion of experts and the quality of content they are providing at the Houston Business Show website. Now, in order to make it easier to find the information you want, I have developed a new page designed to provide up to date information on new podcasts and articles as they are added. It is he purpose of this page to make your visit as quick, informative, and profitable as possible.

Today alone saw the addition of several new podcasts and articles:

* Bruce Kaufmann of Kaufmann Capital discussed the importance of performance in developing a business plan.


* Noel Halgreen of Sona MedSpa previewed the latest trends in stopping the habit of smoking.


* Andy Valadez discussed the enormous growth of product placement in movies and weighs the value of such an approach in advertising in his innovative "Front Line" series.

The above are just a few of the latest media. For more information please check out the page here. I suggest you do so daily. If you wish to get a monthly reminder of what is going on in our media, subscribe to the Houston Business Review ezine. Finally, if you want to learn more about the experts program, drop us a line at kj_hbr@sbcglobal.net. We are continuously visiting with leading authorities in order to provide the best in business news and information.

The Rise and Opportunity of Independent Films

My pastor and several others who attend my church have been suggesting I see "Facing the Giants." During the Holiday Season, when it was still on the big screen, they told me I should take my family to it as the perfect "Christmas movie." This promotion of the movie went on for a few months and I finally broke down and rented the DVD over the weekend. I only wish I had gotten it earlier. This David and Goliath movie about over coming fear made all of us laugh and cry. I'm now planning on buying it just to have around the house for when the kids are looking for something to watch. Speaking of the kids, they talked about the movie the rest of the day and it kept all of them -- from the 8 year old on up-- glued to the TV the entire time. This is pretty impressive since the film only cost $100,000 to make.

That's right, $100,000, and here are a few other interesting facts about the movie:

* It opened up on only 441 screens nationwide (a fraction of the number that most movies enjoy)

* Only 3 other movies in the top ten had higher revenues that weekend

* The film grossed over $10,000,000 -- a huge return on the investment

This isn't the only independent film surprise out there, there is also the far better known Little Miss Sunshine. It cost only $8 million to make, but grossed over $60 million in 6 months. Furthermore, this delightful dark comedy (a strange, but true, combination) has been nominated for virtually every award under the sun and has won many of them. Just last night Alan Arkin won for best supporting actor and original screenplay.

Another sign of the growth of such films, although admittedly only from personal experience, is the number of people I know in the film production business (mainly commercials) who are in the process of making movies. I have met around 5 or 6 in the last few months and all of them are making their own, low budget, movie. I will say that as someone in business I didn't like many of their answers about distribution. A couple came very close to saying "if I build it, they will come." That makes for a great movie, but only if you can get it to audiences.

But with the huge potential return on investment, such projects are very worthy of closer examination. And in era where consumers seem to despise commercials, the product placement potential on an independent film is affordable and it is likely to be seen over and over again for many years to come.

I strongly suggest you visit with someone who knows something about these type of films. Business Show Advisor Andy Valadez is actually involved in these type of projects and is working with both film makers and those who finance such works. I suggest you visit with him about why such projects are exploding.

I only expect such films to continue to grow and movies with a strong moral message, such as Facing the Giants, are spreading like wildfire through viral marketing at churches and schools. I know this from first hand experience (see the opening sentence).

Kevin Price... A Great Face for Radio

On today's show I had Andy Valadez on as a guest and he took the liberty of creating a video and placing it on YouTube. This is the kind of innovative marketing that Andy is famous for and has created quite an archive on the Internet.

In it you hear an overview of today's program and it epitomizes the type of quality content we provide each week. For an archive of recent shows visit the Houston Business Show site and follow the links to our radio programs. While you are there, visit the Houston Home Show brought to listeners by UBuildIt.

As you can clearly see, I have a great face...for radio.

When It Comes to Marketing a Business, Stop Spinning Wheels

On this week's Houston Business Show I interviewed our new expert, Andy Valadez of Marketing Dynamics. One of the things he discussed is the on going problem facing businesses of "hit and miss" when it comes to marketing. Some people will throw several hundred dollars on newspaper ads here, a few thousand on TV there, and a few thousand more on radio, but have little or nothing to show for it. Many businesses know why they got into the business they are in and think customers will naturally follow. It doesn't work that way in the real world, that is why you need serious marketing assistance.

Consultants like Andy Valadez build a foundation of marketing that makes sense for the particular business in question. They are strategic thinkers who know that PR, advertising, and sales are all mere pieces that rest on the marketing platform. There are several quality strategic marketing firms out there and I have found Marketing Dynamics to be one of the best for meeting the needs of emerging businesses. I encourage everyone to visit with firms like Marketing Dynamics and others to find the one best suited to meet a company's objectives and not spin your wheels with costly "hit and miss" approaches. I'm delighted to have Andy as a Business Show Advisor.

Britney Spears' Buzz

I'm sure regular readers of this blog are shocked to see an entry on Britney Spears, but I felt I had to in light of the conversations I have had with many of my colleagues recently. It seems whenever I meet business associates or friends, the topic of my blog continues to pop up. Lately, most of those conversations have ended with questions about when I was going to write about the latest celebrity bad girl.

Mind you, most of my colleagues are men in the age range of mid 30s through the 50s and their interest seems to be clearly tongue in cheek. But for some reason it is always Britney -- not Rosie, not Tom Cruise, not even Donald Trump -- that comes up.

I mentioned this to one of my friends and associates, Andy Valadez of Marketing Dynamics and he suggested that it was probably due to the large number of searches that are done with her name. Makes sense, so what would a fee market, pro-business, largely conservative blogger like myself write about Britney? Well, here a few possible topics:

* "Britney Without Panties -- Good for the undergarment Industry or Bad for Wall Street?" (or the other way around). I've seen so much mention of her choice (or lack of choice) of underwear, and to hear the comments, one would almost think this is important. From how many stories I have seen on it, it appears we have had several slow news days.

* "Britney's Step by Step Guide to Winning Child Custody in a Divorce." Such a book would be only one or two pages long and with very large print, but if they changed it to "How Not To..." it would be encyclopedic in scope.

* "To Fade Away or to Crash and Burn: Britney Weighs Her Options." Britney strikes me as simply one in a long series of teeny bop stars who either disappear or crash and burn. She seemed to try the former and is now out working the latter, but I wonder if either is working for her.

In the end, I will simply write that I don't really care, though I hope she becomes a decent parent for her children and figures out how to be happy. I also hope I get picked up in more Google searches, since she remains the center of so many conversations.