There are approximately 23 million small businesses in America, which
represents 99.7% of all employers in the country (U.S. SBA). The Small
Business Advocate Show
speaks to these entrepreneurs, the drivers of the American economy,
every day in his fast-paced and content driven program.
The audience is encouraged to email questions which Jim answers,
including sometimes on-air with the person who asked the question.
On the air since 1997, Jim conducts over 1,000 live interviews annually
with business experts, policy makers, and entrepreneurs. He has gathered
the world's largest community of small business experts, over 400 strong
and growing, called The Brain Trust.
Jim's show covers every topic related to starting and operating
a small business, including:
º Becoming a better decision-maker
º Customer loyalty: How to create and maintain it
º Networking strategies and skills
º Advertising, marketing, and branding
º Credit and collections
º How to create a competitive advantage
º Public policy issues affecting small business
And this is just the beginning!
IBM, Office Depot and Palo Alto Software sponsor the
Small Business Advocate nationally.
"Jim has a unique way of taking his listeners to the heart and spirit
of entrepreneurialism. He lifts up entrepreneurs and speaks to them on
a level that can only be achieved by one who knows the world of small
business."
- Steve Forbes,
President and CEO
Forbes
In addition to being a professional speaker and trainer, Jim is a nationally
syndicated newspaper columnist. His articles are published in various
magazines, as well as his own weekly electronic magazine, The Small
Business Advocate NEWSLETTER, which he offers free to his audience.
The SBA recognized Jim as the 2002 Small Business Journalist of the Year,
and selected Jim as a member of the SBA's National Advisory Council.
FORTUNE Small Business magazine named Jim one of the 30 most influential
people in America representing small business. FSB also named Jim one of the
top small business resources in America. In 2003, Jim was named by TALKERS
Magazine as a member of the HEAVY HUNDRED, the 100 most important radio talk
show hosts in America.
Jim's first book, Small Business Is Like A Bunch Of Bananas is now in its third
printing. His second book, $10,000 of Small Business Consulting - For The Price
Of This Book, will be published this year. Jim's third book, Entrepreneurial
Convergence - The New Covenant, will be published in 2005.
Jim is a licensed pilot with instrument and multi-engine ratings. He owns a set of
golf clubs, plays the guitar for his own amazement, and aspires to be a gourmet chef.
Interview with Jim
October 24, 2008
Issue 72
Advocating For Small Business
Go talk to your customers.
Spend more time listening to them and less time listening to the
financial talking heads on TV.
Talk to every customer and remind
them just how important they are to you. Ask them how you can
help them today. Right now, somebody is buying something
from someone somewhere. It might as well be from you.
I know you don’t do a politically-driven talk show, but give us
your take on the impact on small businesses of the tax plan
proposals presented by both presidential candidates.
In my opinion, Senator Obama’s plan is completely illogical
for small businesses because even those that make less than
$250,000 a year aspire to that. He says he’s going to eliminate
or reduce capital gains for small businesses, but guess what?
Small businesses typically don’t have much in the way of capital
gains. I don’t think Obama really understands the fundamentals
of small businesses. As for John McCain, he actually gets it. He
understands that lower taxes will grow small businesses.
How about the impact to small business of both candidates’
health care proposals?
Look, I’m no huge fan of John McCain, but his plan is actually
built on the idea of health care coverage that is portable and
deductible. In the 21st Century world, most people will have
six to eight different jobs in their career. If you have your own
policy, that your employer contributes to, but you went into
the marketplace and bought for yourself, you can keep your
insurance and take it with you to the next job. Obama’s plan
is stuck in the 20th Century model that’s basically beholding to
the concept of universal, single payer health care. I believe that
American’s must change their thinking and become health care
consumers, not health care patients. In almost anything else we
buy in life, we know how much it costs and if we are getting
ripped off. That’s not true with health care in America and
that’s where all the waste is. So in short, when it comes to taxes
and health care the small business candidate -- meaning which
candidate will probably be better for small businesses’ bottom
line -- is probably McCain.
What do you think small business owners, including local radio
owners, can do to help get America through these tough and
challenging economic times?
It’s very simple. We have to continue to believe in ourselves.
Main Street believes in the marketplace. Wall Street doesn’t
believe in anything. If there were any belief -- any trust, or
sanity -- on Wall Street, why would the Dow go up 400 points
in the morning and down 300 points that afternoon? We’ve
watched 700+ point swings in a single day on Wall Street in the
past couple of weeks. If you believed in the real, intrinsic value
of anything in your world, how could that happen? Although he
was widely criticized for saying it, McCain was correct when
he said that fundamentally the economy is strong. Our biggest
problem is a deficiency of trust in the marketplace and that’s
what glues everything together. Demanding transparency and
trust from business leaders is what will get the marketplace and
our economy back on track.
(You can learn more about Jim Blasingame at www.
smallbusinessadvocate.com)
At the risk of understatement, times are tough. Times
that demand you make tough decisions and have a tough
constitution. Riding the daily Wall Street roller coaster on your
desktop or iPhone is only slightly more stomach churning
than opening that latest 401K statement
that came in the mail. Yet, most agree that
in times of turmoil there are those who see
defeat and those who see opportunity. No
less than the Oracle of Omaha, Warren
Buffett advised this week, “Be fearful when
others are greedy, and be greedy when
others are fearful.”
There’s an old adage that says, “When
elephants dance it’s the ants that get trampled.” It’s not only
big business being impacted by the economic turmoil of these
days, it’s also small businesses -- Main Street businesses.
And while much of our industry’s daily news focuses on big
broadcast groups like Clear Channel, CBS, or Citadel, there
are still stations across the country that remain comparatively
small businesses, owned and operated by regional and local
owners. OK, so maybe you won’t find many of those stations in
New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, but you will still find them
in towns like Tyler, TX, Kalispell, MT and Clovis, NM.
To get some advice on how small media businesses can survive
and ultimately thrive in the tumultuous weeks and months ahead,
I decided to check in with Jim Blasingame, founder and host
of the Small Business Advocate Show. Syndicated nationally
through Skip Joeckel’s Talk Shows USA, Blasingame is also
the bestselling author of Small Business Is Like A Bunch
Of Bananas and Three Minutes To Success, as well as a
syndicated columnist who has been recognized by Fortune
Small Business magazine as, “one of the 30 most influential
people representing small business interests.”
Are things as scary economically as the media and politicians
say they are?
There are scary things going on, but they’re not as bad as the
media is making it out to be. Sure, it’s bad for the guys at AIG,
but if you’re a small business owner and you have a track
record, a business model that is working, and a relationship
with your local bank, you can get credit. It might be tough to
get a loan from Bank of America or Wells Fargo, but there
are literally thousands of local community banks and credit
unions that are making loans to small business owners right
now. I have always advised small business owners to have two
banking relationships with at least one of those being with an
independent community bank. That advice has turned out to be
downright prophetic in light of what’s happening right now.
Any advice for small business owners on planning for the
weeks and months ahead?
Turn off the television. Don’t watch the Dow averages, or listen to
the talking heads. It will make you nuts and put you in the wrong
frame of mind with the wrong attitude.
