Social Media for Franchise Bottom Line Growth is Broadcast Topic

June 13, 2009 - PRLog -- The next segment of the BlogTalkRadio show, Strategic Growth Concepts for Small Business, will feature franchising expert, Paul Segreto of FranchisEssentials discussing social media and its importance to the franchising industry in reversing downward trends in franchise sales currently being experienced industry-wide.  Areas of discussion will include:

•   The ‘new’ franchise development business model
•   The ways social media can aid in franchise development efforts
•   What are the best social networks for a franchise to utilize and why
•   The importance of integrating social media marketing with traditional marketing
•   The role of women in social media and franchising

The segment entitled 'Franchising & Social Media: Integrated to Improve the Bottom Line', will broadcast live on Tuesday, June 16th at 2:30 p.m. EDT, and can be accessed at http://blogtalkradio.com/strategicgrowthconcepts where listeners will find a call-in number to listen to the live broadcast, or a podcast that will be available for download after the live broadcast has been completed.

A recent index compiled by Discover Financial Services, and detailed in a New York Times article, indicates 38 percent of small business owners are members of an online social networking community, which is up from 22 percent in October 2007.  And at a recent International Franchise Association annual convention, Ron Adelman, an expert with the world’s leading technology franchise, WSI, gave a presentation about social media in franchising where he indicated, “Social media is one of the fastest growing segments of the Internet world with close to 250 million users networking and socializing online.  For a franchisor, there can be no better vehicle to spread the good word and encourage more inquiries from potential franchisees.  Despite its huge and steadily increasing user base, the medium is as yet, largely unexplored by the franchise world.  This is a wake-up call for franchisors that haven’t utilized the power of social media” explained Adelman.

Show host, Linda Daichendt of Strategic Growth Concepts comments, “We selected this topic for our upcoming broadcast discussion because franchising overall is one of the few industries still growing during this economy.  Though many individual franchise organizations have experienced a drop in new franchise sales, the industry itself is continuing to expand due to a large number of new franchise organizations starting out, and continued growth by some of the major players.  We at Strategic believe that if franchisors were to embrace new technologies such as social media, they can overcome the challenges currently presented by the economy.  Further, Paul Segreto with his 20+ years of experience in franchising, and his wide-ranging knowledge in social media, is just the person to help spread this positive story to the franchise industry.”

FranchisEssentials, a division of 21st Century CEO, is a franchise marketing and development company with its focus on integrating Web 2.0 technology with traditional strategies. Paul Segreto, President and Founder of franchisEssentials, brings a unique perspective, entrepreneurial spirit, and extensive industry experience to startup and emerging franchise companies. For over twenty years he has exclusively served the franchise industry as a consultant and coach, senior-level corporate executive, activist, multi-unit franchisee, and area developer.  The company website can be viewed at www.franchisEssentials.com.

# # #

About Strategic Growth Concepts: Strategic Growth Concepts is a Detroit-based consulting firm specializing in start-up, small and mid-sized businesses. The firm provides training and consulting in the areas of Start-up, Marketing, Operations, HR and Strategic Planning. The firm's website is located at www.StrategicGrowthConcepts.com. Strategic's CEO, Linda Daichendt, is a recognized business expert with 20+ years of corporate, small business and franchising experience who also hosts the firm's Internet radio broadcast, 'Strategic Growth Concepts for Small Business'.