Business Archives - The New Orleans 100

Thanh Truong, Man of the World

WWL-TV anchor Thanh Truong has traveled the world reporting different stories. From the Democratic National Convention, where Barack Obama accepted his party’s nomination, to Kabul, Afghanistan, where he covered ongoing conflicts and military matters, this reporter has covered a lot of ground.

What many don’t know is the newsworthy story of Thanh and his family’s origins. His family escaped Vietnam in 1978, and, after living in a Thai refugee camp, eventually immigrated to New York thanks to the help of a local church. Now in NOLA, Thanh feels like he’s found his permanent home. We’re glad to have him!

— WWL-TV, Part of Tegna Local Louisiana

Business Tips

How to Join the “Video-ification” of the Internet

All consumers are captivated by video. Learn how to capitalize on this with tips from Tegna.

In 2016, video accounted for 67% of all internet traffic and will account for 80% of all internet traffic by 2021.

Roughly 70% of consumers view brands more positively after watching video content from them. Moreover, after watching an online video, 40% of consumers visited a store or website and 28% made a purchase.

Learn how to use online video to reach local consumers, including tips on how to:

– Increase your reach within targeted markets using OTT.

– Take advantage of social media algorithms that favor video.

– Experiment with Facebook Live.

– Showcase longer-form videos on your own website & YouTube Channel.

— Local Louisiana Marketing Blog, TEGNA Local Louisiana

Business Tips

The Key to Negotiating

The four stages of negotiating increase your chances of getting what you want in business and beyond.

Negotiating is not just about what you say, but how you say it. Confidence is key when you want to be acknowledged and understood by the other party. A confident speaker is a respectable speaker, and respect will increase your chances of achieving your goals.

Here are some tips for radiating confidence when negotiating:

– Speak up. Project your voice and speak clearly.

– Provide logical reasoning behind your ideas.

– Acknowledge the opposing person’s views to establish mutual respect. There is a way to show them you are receptive to their ideas without giving in or settling.

– Remember that practice makes perfect.

— Haley Pegg, The New Orleans Chamber

Business News

GNO, Inc. Continues to Work to Keep Flood Insurance Affordable

GNO, Inc. and its partners are working to keep flood insurance costs as low as possible. (Photo courtesy of NPR)

GNO, Inc. and the Coalition for Sustainable Flood Insurance are continuing to advocate Congress to reauthorize and reform the National Flood Insurance Program to keep flood insurance affordable and sustainable ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline.

We’re advocating in support of increased mitigation, improved mapping, preservation of affordability and increased program participation. The leadership of our Congressional advocates has been steadfast on this issue, and we are well-positioned for success, but will need to continue our advocacy efforts to get across the deadline.

To become engaged in our efforts, contact GNO, Inc.’s Caitlin Berni at cberni@gnoinc.org.

— Michael Hecht, GNO, Inc.

Business

Why Flexible Workplaces Matter

Making your workplace flexible, like allowing remote work, can help attract and retain top talent.

Flexibility is key in great employees, but it’s important for employers to consider, too. By creating a flexible workplace, employers can boost morale and signal to employees that the company is invested in their well-being.

Some ways to create a flexible workplace:

– Allow remote work. Cutting commute time cuts stress. Stay connected to your team with digital tools like Slack and video chats.

– Let employees set their schedules. Personalizing schedules to match workflow is a small modification that has a major impact on productivity.

– Lead by example. Leaders who prioritize flexibility and wellness encourage their employees to follow suit.

– Scott Peeples, Peerfit

Gambel Girl

Grow or Die

George Land's book reminds us to continue to evolve to remain relevant and successful.

I recently rediscovered George Land’s “Grow or Die: the Unifying Principle of Transformation.” This 1973 book has become a cornerstone in planning and organizational change.

On its most basic level, we are tasked with dealing with change rather than fighting it. In today’s velocity of information overload, news in nano seconds and staggering new technologies, it is critical for businesses to look at things a new way.

In my case, I turn to my millennial staff and to colleagues in other industries and other geographies. My challenge is to embrace change so I that can grow both personally and professionally.

– Betsie Gambel, Gambel Communications

Business News

Leslie Spoon, Sports and Snowball Aficionado

Louisiana-born sports reporter Leslie Spoon is glad to be back home in the Bayou State. As a member of WWL-TV’s sports team, Leslie serves as an anchor and sideline reporter during games. It’s exciting for her because she’s always wanted to be a sideline reporter. When she was younger, she would watch games religiously and report back every play to her dad.

Now that she’s living the dream at work, she’s making the most of her NOLA home. Specifically, she’s become a snowball lover, especially at Sal’s Sno-Balls. Be on the lookout for her on Metairie Road.

– WWL-TV, Part of Tegna Local Louisiana

Business Tips

Negotiating Tips From the NOLA Chamber

Negotiating is an art form; learn how to do it with these tips.

While we know the importance of negotiating, it can still be difficult to know where to begin. Here are a few tips to help direct your negotiation strategy:

– Prepare; do your research on your counterpart, whether it’s a potential employer, current boss or whomever it may be.

– Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want; being assertive while maintaining respect for the other party is critical in negotiations.

– Take your time, and always be willing to walk away; don’t settle or lose your ability to say “no.”

– Relax; remember, it is possible for both parties’ needs to be met.

This is part two of a three-part series on negotiating. Stay tuned to learn more.

– Sandra Lindquist, The New Orleans Chamber

Business News

30 Years of Louisiana Made, Louisiana Proud

Steamboat Natchez is just one of the many local businesses that has participated in this campaign.

For more than 30 years, local audiences have enjoyed “Louisiana Made, Louisiana Proud” campaigns. More than 450 companies and organizations have used this marketing format to tell their unique brand’s story. WWL-TV’s marketing program was started to encourage local business development when Louisiana was in the middle of the oil and gas crisis in the 1980s and immediately resonated with our audience.

Today, “Louisiana Made, Louisiana Proud” helps foster civic pride through image-oriented vignettes designed to highlight local companies, organizations, products and services. Watch them all in this vault celebrating 30 years of “Louisiana Made, Louisiana Proud” campaigns.

– WWL-TV, Part of TEGNA Local Louisiana

Nonprofit

Click, Browse and Bid for a Cause

Gulf Coast Bank invites you to help support your favorite nonprofit while also bidding on some fun auction items.

Since 2008, Auctions in August has raised more than $759,000 for hundreds of nonprofits. Auctions in August is a silent auction Gulf Coast Bank hosts and facilitates throughout the month of August.

Items are available for bidding at 19 branches and online. Gift cards to local restaurants, sports memorabilia, outings throughout New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, jewelry, home goods and so much more are up for auction.

All proceeds go directly to benefit the nonprofit selected by the donor of each item. You can see all the items available on their website. Help nonprofits and bid today!

– Guy Williams, President and CEO, Gulf Coast Bank & Trust

Summer Storms

Do You Know the Basics of Business Interruption Insurance?

Eustis Insurance and Benefits reminds New Orleanians to their check commercial business interruption coverage.

Business Interruption (also called Business Income) coverage is one of the most important and misunderstood of all property coverage.

It’s a type of insurance that covers a business’s loss after a disaster. It may be due to disaster-related closing or the rebuilding process post-disaster. This insurance helps cover the Net Income and Continuing Normal Operating Expenses, including payroll.

Business Interruption also often covers Extra Expense, which means the necessary extra expenses businesses incur until it resumes normal operations, like rent, taxes and mortgage payments. To make sure you’re properly insured, check out Eustis’ website or call 504-586-0440.

– Steven Blumhagen, Eustis Insurance

Summer Storms

Are You Financially Ready?

Planning ahead can help quell fears should our daily shower develop into anything more serious.

We hope and pray that we do not experience another hurricane, but if we do, are you prepared financially? Here are a few steps you can take:

– Sign up for online banking and receive all your financial mail electronically, so you can access your finances anywhere.
– Take inventory of your most important belongings electronically; take pictures on your phone before you leave for insurance purposes.
– Set aside evacuation funds; evacuating can be expensive, so be sure to save money now to ease that monetary stress.

It always pays to hope and pray for the best while planning for the worst.

– Guy Williams, President and CEO, Gulf Coast Bank & Trust

Summer Storms

Small Business Preparation

Use these tips from the NOLA Chamber to keep your small business going strong in the face of summer weather. (Photo courtesy of Pinterest)

According to FEMA, 40% of businesses do not reopen after a disaster. For small businesses, these statistics are even higher. 90% of NOLA Chamber’s 1,300 members are small businesses. Because of this, our goal is to communicate crucial messages and provide valuable resources to the community in the face of disaster. Internally, there are simple steps that you can take to prepare:

• Team Support – Speak to your employees about their evacuation plans

• Solid Contact List – Compile an emergency contact list to have on hand if disaster strikes

• Technology Plan – Make sure that employees can access all files and data

– Sandra Lindquist, The New Orleans Chamber

Summer Storms

Don’t Let a Good Disaster Go to Waste

Jeffrey Thomas is a partner with the New Orleans-based law firm, Cara Stone. After Hurricane Katrina, Jeffrey served as Special Assistant to the City of New Orleans’ Office of Recovery & Development.

Living where hurricanes roam, put wisdom on the offense and position your community to grow stronger after a disaster. Recovery’s frenetic first days reliably give way to longer term reimagining. Knowing the opportunities and obstacles in that process enables rebuilding towards future goals rather than just duplicating the day before the storm.

Follow this strategy:

1. Understand post-disaster funding available to communities and how each source is used.
2. Brainstorm economic, housing, and infrastructure reinvestment initiatives.
3. Create business models, enact government policies, and forge public-private partnerships beforehand to better leverage post-disaster aid.

Equity, innovation, speed, and sustainability will follow.

– Jeff Thomas, Cara Stone LLP

Summer Storms

Nongovernmental Organizations Offer a Helping Hand for Small Businesses

NGOs offer resources for small businesses that can help them weather the storm (figuratively and literally).

After Katrina, New Orleans was blessed with an influx of young entrepreneurs, hoping to make a difference. We’ve been lucky because so many of them stayed, opened small businesses and begun to put down roots.

With an above-average hurricane season in full swing, various organizations are working together to safeguard coastal communities and their small businesses. For example, REWIND Campaign is a nonprofit disaster preparedness and relief organization focused exclusively on serving small and local businesses. From our 30-minute disaster plan to tips on building business rainy day funds, we are here to protect New Orleans’ small businesses.

– Stephanie DeLorenzo, REWIND Campaign

Summer Storms

Plan Your Marketing Communications for Hurricane Season

Have you ever thought of the marketing strategy behind AAA batteries during hurricane season?

Planning your weather-related sales and marketing strategies now will ensure continuity for your business during the frenzied moments leading up to and immediately following severe weather.

• Plan messaging to post on your website during severe weather periods

• Prepare signage in advance that you can use inside and outside your store during severe weather

• Use social media and update regularly through severe weather periods; Facebook Ads allow you to immediately target additional local consumers that do not already follow your page

• Don’t forget emails. Prepare emails that you can use before and after severe weather to keep your customers informed

– Local Louisiana Marketing Blog, TEGNA Local Louisiana

Gambel Girl

Building a Championship Economy

Like the Saints, New Orleans has the potential to be a champion. The question is – how can we work together to achieve this goal? (Photo courtesy of unCommon Construction)

Quentin Messer, president/CEO of New Orleans Business Alliance, discusses a “championship economy.” Just as the Saints develop a championship team, economic success relies on a diversified and qualified workforce.

New Orleans has nine universities and two medical schools. While we draw millennials, many pursue their careers elsewhere. To be a “championship economy,” we must attract new businesses and develop our own.

One nonprofit is doing its part. unCommon Construction gives students building experience while underscoring work ethic.

Messer says, “Undeniably, the talent is here; the only question is our collective commitment to … develop the talent of every New Orleanian…”

– Betsie Gambel, Gambel Communications

Business Tips

What Is Negotiating?

New Orleans Chamber Executive Vice President Sandra Lindquist knows how to negotiate. Learn her tips in the next three articles from the chamber.

Negotiating is the “neutral ground” of discourse and ideas. It’s where we metaphorically meet to find common ground and move forward. Because of this, effective negotiating lets us achieve and maintain successful business relationships.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines negotiating as the ability to “arrange for or bring about [a resolution] through conference, discussion and compromise.” This give-and-take leaves both parties satisfied and ready to conduct future business.

Successful negotiating leads to successful business through:

• Building relationships

• Delivering lasting solutions

• Minimizing future conflicts

Using a sound strategy, mindful negotiation can propel everyone’s individual business goals for mutual benefit.

This is part one of a three-part series on negotiating. Stay tuned to learn more.

– Sandra Lindquist, The New Orleans Chamber

Business Tips

Natalie Shepherd’s Motto: “Get Out of Bed & Keep Trying”

Natalie Shepherd hails from Michigan, where she grew up and studied English Literature at Kalamazoo College before earning her master’s in broadcast journalism from Northwestern University. She always said that making the switch from English to television was easy because it allowed her to continue to write while experiencing the world.

Now that she’s here in NOLA, Natalie lives in Mid-City, where she and her husband frequent Brown Butter for its great food and friendly staff. Her favorite person in the city right now is Jarrius Robertson, who not only received a liver transplant but also an ESPY award.

–WWL-TV, Part of TEGNA Local Louisiana

marketing

Podcasts: Changing the Game

Apple's plans to make analytics available for podcasts could be a game-changer.

In today’s digital marketing age, analytics are everything.

And soon, the power of analytics to shape and rank content is coming to podcasts – already a medium with millions of listeners. Until now, podcasts have had few metrics, but when Apple launches podcast analytics later this year, marketers will gain valuable insights into how a podcast’s audience is engaging, such as:

• when and where people listen;

• if and when they stop listening;

• and whether they stay tuned for ads.

Analytics should make podcasts more appealing to marketers, in turn increasing financial support for podcasts – a win for marketers, producers and listeners.

– Kyle Parks, The Tampa Bay 100

Gambel Girl

Self-Promotion: The Art of the Not-So-Shameless Plug

Once you’ve identified your personal brand, you are ready to market yourself in an authentic, not braggadocious, way. This self-promotion showcases your expertise. It is said that luck is where preparation meets opportunity. Marketing yourself creates that luck.

How? Become an expert. Build your network. Engage in social media. Learn to communicate. Make your personal appearance congruent with your brand. Recognize opportunities to strengthen your brand. Be generous with your talents. Volunteer. Ask for help. Be remarkable. Your brand is your highest priority, your essence. It’s the foundation upon which you will build your professional career and personal existence.

This is part three of a three-part video series on personal branding. We hope you enjoyed!

– Betsie Gambel, Gambel Communications

Business News

Caresse Jackman, ‘From Atlanta to New Orleans, A Journey’

Caresse Jackman’s career path has been a journey. Raised in Atlanta, Caresse worked in Jackson after graduating from University of Georgia with degrees in broadcast journalism and international affairs. She took a two-year trip to Michigan where she covered stories like the Flint water crisis before finally landing in her new home, New Orleans.

She’s a Falcons fan, but we won’t hold it against her, probably because her energy and positive attitude make her a joy to watch on WWL-TV. She cares about the people with whom she interacts as she covers NOLA’s stories.

– WWL-TV, Part of TEGNA Local Louisianna

Business Tips

Bubble Letters & Business: The Story of A NOLA Start-up

Whether you want to take your business to the next level or simply generate a few new contacts, the Chamber is here to meet your needs. The key is to find what benefits work for you.

Josh and Keith of Comfystonefilms can easily be identified at Chamber events as the tag-teaming duo with hand-written, bubble letter nametags. They are also a great example of members maximizing their resources.

Check out this piece designed by Deep Fried Advertising on various Chamber benefits and “find what fits” for you. Interested in learning more? Call or email us through our website.

Thank you to Josh Owen and Keith Hoffman of Comfystonefilms for sharing their story and for the production of this video. Also, special thanks to Flynn Zaiger of Online Optimism LLC for your special appearance.

– Ashley Doubleday, The New Orleans Chamber

travel

Happy Birthday, Copa!

Copa Airlines has graced the Crescent City since 2015. (Photo courtesy of Copa Airlines)

This week, GNO, Inc. celebrated the second anniversary of Copa Airlines’ establishing service at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Since the launch of direct service to Panama two years ago, GNO, Inc. has worked closely with Copa Airlines to ensure the flight’s success.

This direct service has reconnected Greater New Orleans with its historical ties to Central, South America and the Caribbean – and has catalyzed a broad range of growth opportunities for the businesses, ports, universities and hospitals of our region. GNO, Inc. looks forward to continuing to celebrate this milestone with an exciting promotion to be unveiled soon.

– Michael Hecht, GNO, Inc.

Nonprofits

Auctions in August

Help local nonprofits in the area by donating throughout the month of August.

There are over 5,000 nonprofits in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. Many of these organizations often go unnoticed and are underfunded. Auctions in August provides the community an opportunity to help.

Individuals, businesses and nonprofits are encouraged to donate goods and services to be auctioned off throughout the month of August. Donors designate the nonprofit to benefit from the winning bids. It’s a win-win deal — donors receive recognition for the entire month of August, and the nonprofits receive 100% of the funds raised. Be sure to check out AuctionsInAugust.com for more information, and join in.

– Guy Williams, President and CEO, Gulf Coast Bank & Trust

Local Business News

Be Prepared for Hurricane Season With Instant Alerts

Turn on your WWL-TV app alerts to stay up to date on breaking local news and weather.

June brought us tropical storms, severe thunderstorms, flash flooding and tornado warnings. Did you know that you can get weather alerts and breaking news alerts by downloading the WWL-TV app?

The WWL-TV app is free on iTunes and Google Play stores. To get instant alerts, download the app and then select settings. Go to “push settings” and turn them on. Then go to settings on your phone. Find and select the WWL-TV app. Select notifications and then select allow or turn them on. It’s that easy to stay informed, no matter where you are. Learn more here.

– WWL-TV, Part of TEGNA Local Louisiana

Business

Don’t Let Your Website Get Stale if You Want to Engage

Continue to update your website to attract more business.

If you haven’t updated your website in years, you may be losing valuable leads for your business.

Web design trends change annually, and investing in a new site can be costly but worthwhile. There are cost-effective changes that you can make to be more current and influence your potential customers. High-quality original photography can speak volumes about your relevance and build trust. The popularity of video is still on the rise, and studies have shown video increases engagement.

Your budget may not allow a redesign annually, but you can keep your site competitive with strong copy and visuals.

– Chuck Norman, The North Carolina 100

Gambel Girl

An Exercise in Personal Branding

To hone in on your personal brand, try this simple exercise with a friend or colleague. Simply jot down five adjectives or verbs that describe you. Ask your friend to do the same. Then compare notes. Once you understand how others see you (and how you see yourself), ensure your descriptors and actions sync. Then you are ready to market yourself.

Using this information, you can then write a 30-second positioning statement, highlighting your personal brand. You will understand which unique strengths you possess, allowing you to use them to authentically position yourself in the business world and beyond.

This is part two of a three-part video series on personal branding. Stay tuned for the next episode.

– Betsie Gambel, Gambel Communications