March 2012
1 post
March 2011
2 posts
6 tags
Podcamp Nashville 2011 Review
The crowded first floor of Cadillac Ranch during Podcamp Nashville 2011
Podcamp Nashville, a free and interactive ‘un-conference’ - a forum for bloggers, marketers, content creators, social media experts, educators, podcasters and the like to gather, network and learn about the latest trends, tricks and technologies in the interactive world - marked its fourth year in the music...
2 tags
Computer Explorers Annual Conference Takes a Twist
From last year’s Computer Explorers ConferenceLast year’s Computer Explorers Franchisee Conference
Franchisees will lead sessions, hands-on participation expected The Computer Explorers corporate team and our franchisees meet at our headquarters outside of Houston, Texas, once a year to celebrate our successes, work on our challenges and plan for our future. This year will be...
February 2011
14 posts
4 tags
Showhomes Home Staging Potomac featured in Potomac...
New Business Helps Occupy Local Luxury Homes
Showhomes works with “home managers” who fill vacant luxury homes in Potomac, Bethesda and Chevy Chase to help sell them on the market
By Sarah Beth Hensley | Email the author | February 23, 2011
You could have a new (temporary) neighbor in Potomac, thanks to a newly launched luxury home staging company in the area.
Showhomes, which opened an...
3 tags
Five Star Painting Franchise A Bright Option
Dismal housing news shines light on importance of a expert paint job.
It’s sobering news for homeowners, but good news for Five Star Painting franchisees.
Industry analysts say the housing market will remain lukewarm – at best – for the next two years. The Mortgage Bankers Association, a national trade group that represents more than 80 percent of the nation’s mortgage business, predicts that...
5 tags
CoLab Nashville: Interview with Jennifer Way of...
Jennifer Way had been working out of her house for the past 15 years. Moving into CoLab was a big change, but a change that has been worth it.
Jennifer Way
She moved Way Solutions, founded March 1, 2004, into CoLab in June 2010 after hearing about the new downtown coworking space at The Social Media Club of Nashville. Way Solutions provides HR consulting, including executive search services,...
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INC. Magazine Lists Planet Beach Contempo Spas as...
2011 is the year of the automated Day Spa!
Entrepreneur Magazine said franchised day spas were a hot sector of franchising this year and listed Planet Beach Contempo Spas as a best bet. This week, INC Magazine followed suit and listed Planet Beach Contempo Spas as one the top 10 franchises for 2011.
Here’s what INC had to say about Planet Beach:
Planet Beach Contempo Spas Franchise
Ten...
2 tags
Verlo Mattress Warns that Hand-me Down Mattresses...
Kids who sleep poorly on old mattresses face greater obesity risk
Parents often hand down worn out mattresses to children and older mattresses rarely sleep well. A new medical study says children who sleep poorly are four times more likely to be obese.The study, published in the February issue of Pediatrics, a medical journal, concluded that kids who had the shortest sleep and a...
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Top 10 Marketing Take Aways from the 2011 IFA...
This was a busy year at the 2011 International Franchise Association conference in Las Vegas. Much like the last two years, almost every session I attended drifted to social media; it didn’t matter if we were in a room full of operations staffers, franchise attorneys or salespeople; social media is still dominating the conversation in franchising.
Here are my Top 10 marketing and social...
3 tags
Five Star Painting Franchisee Cruise
At Five Star Painting, we believe in fun. The company, including Five Star franchisees, takes a cruise every winter; this year our five-day excursion started in San Diego and visited Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada, Mexico. We could talk more about it, but the pictures do a better job. We work hard all year and then get together to celebrate our successes.
Jordan Gross (Provo, UT) and wife Katie...
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Computer Explorers Scores High on Franchisee...
Deb Evans, CEO of Computer Explorers with Michelle Rowan, COO of Franchise Business Review as she is awarded the Top 50 Franchise Award.
Of all the kudos Computer Explorers received in winning a coveted Franchisee Satisfaction Award from the Franchise Business Review, one stands out — nearly 80 percent of our local owners who took part in the annual survey rated their life-work...
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Planet Beach Franchisee Interview with Mike...
Schwartz expands Contempo Spas into northern California Like many larger franchise systems, Planet Beach uses Area Representatives to build out sections of the country. Area Representatives, called ARs, work as mini-franchisors providing franchisee support and training in a local area as well as working to recruit additional owners to open new Contempo Spas.This gives new franchise owners two...
3 tags
Deb Evans CEO of Computer Explorers
Deb Evans, CEO of Computer Explorers, isn’t a buttoned-up executive speaking from an ivory tower. She comes off more like a straight-shooting friend with a lot of knowledge and wisdom than a remote executive. That’s probably because Evans started on the ground floor at Computer Explorers as a part time teacher. She fell in love with the brand and ended up buying a franchise. She still has the...
2 tags
Baby Boomers Increase Demand for Five Star...
Largest, richest U.S. generation more likely to hire out painting
Sociologists have compared the Baby Boomer generation to a pig moving through a python. They represent a humongous population born between 1945-1964. Why should a painting franchise care?
Because this 76 million-plus demographic will help grow a painting business. Baby Boomers are the wealthiest generation in the U.S, with an...
3 tags
Banks Turn To Showhomes Home Staging Franchises to...
Showhomes live-in home staging services popular with increasing number of banks
Foreclosed homes may be an opportunity for buyers and investors, but for banks they are a mess with no end in sight. Foreclosures cost money to maintain, create insurance problems, invite vandalism and devalue neighboring homes.
Showhomes home staging, a nationally franchised network of home stagers, provides an...
4 tags
CoLab Teams with Firefly Logic for GiveCamp
CoLab’s mission is not only to create a vibrant, creative community but also open its doors to the larger Nashville community.
So when CoLab’s Nashville Director Kailey Hussey was approached by Firefly Logic to team up to give GiveCamp a home here, she knew it was just the kind of way she wanted to show support in the community.
Microsoft’s Chris Koenig came up with the idea in 2007 to host a...
2 tags
Franchise Review: Interview with Five Star...
Adam and Meredith Gilpatrick own two Five Star franchises in North Carolina’s fast-growing Research Triangle area. They are self-described “do-it-yourselfers.” Before buying their franchises in 2006, the couple renovated housing properties on the side. Adam says one key to their success is their opposite – but compatible – work styles. Meredith is the detail person. Adam is the big thinker. The...
January 2011
12 posts
5 tags
CoLab Nashville: Interview with New Tenant...
Daniel Heacock, owner of Supplybuy.com
Daniel Heacock is a pioneer.
He is CoLab’s first tenant on the 3rd floor of the Wells Fargo building in downtown Nashville and the first tenant on the floor in more than five years.
Heacock, whose has a background in computer programming, owns and operates Supplybuy.com, a one-stop online office supply company he started in December 2009. Supplybuy.com...
3 tags
Computer Explorers Franchisee Collette Howell
After enjoying retirement for eight years, Collette Howell felt an urge to find a new career. More than three decades in stressful executive positions at At&T and its spinoffs made Howell certain of one thing — she wanted to be her own boss. When she found Computer Explorers, everything fell into place. Howell now owns Computer Explorers of Greater Sacramento, a franchise that...
2 tags
Planet Beach Contempo Spas to Select International...
Growing day spa franchise will select winner from hundreds of contestants
For the eighth year, Planet Beach Contempo Spas, the world’s largest day spa franchise, will select an international spokesmodel to represent its brand. New Orleans-based Planet Beach hosted competitions worldwide with hundreds of competitors to select finalists for its international competition. The winner not only...
5 tags
CoLab Hosts Wordpress Nashville Meetup
CoLab, Nashville’s first and largest coworking space, hosted a successful Wordpress Nashville meetup this week.
Wordpress has fast become the industry standard software platform for building all types of websites and blogs. Several CoLab members either work with Wordpress or help clients get better results with the popular platform including SearchViz, MetaMarketers, Brand Journalists, Collins...
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Fed Says Recession Over; For Showhomes Home...
Home staging franchise company up 25% for 2010; sixth record-breaking year since 2004
Showhomes home staging continues to be one of the success stories in the slumping real estate market.
Despite a sluggish economy, the Nashville-based home staging franchise company posted a 25 percent gain in individual franchise revenue for 2010. Showhomes has posted record revenue growth in six of the past...
2 tags
How do I Get Customers When I Open My Computer...
Computer Explorers’ internal call center serves makes cold calls so you don’t have to Does anyone actually enjoy making cold calls?
To get customers, especially new customers, you have to make cold calls. Lots of them. This means you have to explain what you do over and over. This means you have to trudge through hours of tedious and repetitive calling and you have to handle some amount...
5 tags
Engage 121 on Social Geek Radio
At Brand Journalists, we’re fans of the Engage 121 (one-to-one) social media platform and we use it with all of our clients to help manage the flow of conversation over social networks. It’s the Cadillac of social media tools.
There is a good reason Mashable listed Engage 121 as one of the top 5 social media management tools and had this to say:
‘Franchise companies looking to...
3 tags
Showhomes Home Staging in East Valley Sells first...
The spectacular $855,000 home in Las Sendas with breathtaking views, travertine floors and a pebbletec pool complete with a a waterfall was priced right and had every amenity possible. The home had a lot going for it; it was far less expensive than the one and two million dollar homes in the neighborhood and was brand new. Despite this, the home had over forty showings in three months...
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Showhomes Home Staging Makes Entrepreneur...
Home staging franchise ranked highly in all categories
With six years of double digit growth, Showhomes home staging ranked 214th in Entrepreneur Magazine’s popular list of the top 500 franchise companies for 2011. The magazine ranked the home staging franchise in the top 50 low-investment businesses, in the top 100 fastest growing franchise systems and in the top 100 home-based...
5 tags
Banks Loans Require Extra NYC Co-op Insurance
Tighter Rules for NYC Co-op Insurance Follow Banking, Mortgage Crisis
The financial meltdown of two years ago caused banks to tighten their requirements for Manhattan co-op insurance — and they want new to buy more coverage to insure any improvements they may make to their homes.
In recent months, banks have begun requiring condo and co-op buyers to purchase insurance coverage for...
What is Coworking?
CoLab, Nashville’s first coworking space, reaches out to mobile workforce, creative professionals
Ever struggled to work from home or at a coffee shop? You are not alone!
The mobile workforce is now the norm and America is quickly becoming a freelance nation.
Research firm IDC recently predicted that more than 75 percent of American workers will be mobile by 2011. Thanks to technology that ...
2 tags
What, exactly, is a Computer Explorers “home...
One attractive aspect of Computer Explorers franchise is that it is a home-based business. This does not mean it has to be run out of your home; it means a franchise owner is not required to lease commercial space. With CE, you simply don’t assume the risk of signing a long-term commercial lease for professional retail or office space. This can save you thousands in your first year of...
December 2010
13 posts
2 tags
Recession? What Recession? Five Star Painting...
Painting franchisor up 45% for 2010; 4th record-breaking year in a row
Five Star Painting Inc. continues to be a big success story in the slumping home services market.
Despite a sluggish economy, the painting franchisor posted a 45% percent gain in individual franchise revenue for 2010 and expanded its franchise system nationally and internationally. It is Five Star Painting’s fourth...
3 tags
Showhomes Home Staging Franchise in Toledo makes...
December is one of the slowest months for house real estate, but many people strive to sell their house before the New Year. Showhomes Toledo owner, Matt Pokorny, has another staging success story from a real estate market that has seen some of the toughest market conditions in the country:
This $400k house had been on the market for several months when the home owner hired Showhomes...
3 tags
Five Star Painting Franchise Makes Entrepreneur...
Five Star Painting Franchise only one to gain ground in national survey
SPRINGVILLE, Utah, Dec. 16, 2010 – After six years of explosive growth, Five Star Painting made Entrepreneur magazine’s “Franchise 500″ list, an annual ranking for top-producing national franchises.
Entrepreneur magazine has been ranking the top 500 franchise companies for 31 years and examines important criteria such as...
2 tags
Computer Explorers featured on TMCnet
Computer Explorers Believes Electronic Gifts Can Reinforce Learning
By Mini Swamy, TMCnet Contributor
In stark contrast to the prevailing opinion that electronic gifts will turn kids into couch potatoes, Cyndee Perkins, director of curriculum and program development at Computer Explorers, a Houston-based education technology franchise system, strongly believes that popular technology can...
3 tags
Computer Explorers Featured on WCIU TV - Creating...
Computer Explorers, a national child technology franchise was featured on WCIU in Chicago this morning. Deerfield Franchise Owner Lori Gross talks about how her company uses legos to teach engineering basics:
<iframe title=”YouTube video player” width=”480” height=”390” src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/hurExe6uB2c” frameborder=”0”...
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CoLab energizes stagnant downtown Nashville office...
CoLab - Coworking space in downtown Nashville
Coworking’ business model rapidly expanding in Nashville
Like many cities, Nashville’s downtown was hit hard by the recession, leaving floor after floor of office space vacant.
John Hussey and his daughter Kailey started a revolution in downtown Nashville by taking long-dormant office space and making it thrive again.
Kailey Hussey, General...
4 tags
Home Staging May Thwart ‘Mansion Squatting’ in...
DSNews, a mortgage industry news organization that serves out real estate news to a large audience, ran an article today on Showhomes from a Brand Journalists national release on mansion squatting. Take a look:
According to Showhomes, a nationally franchised network of home stagers based in Tennessee, staging a vacant home can keep squatters from moving in, a rising
problem in the struggling...
3 tags
Computer Explorers: Holiday Tech Gifts Can Expand...
Local technology education company turns holiday gifts into learning opportunities
Think giving electronics for gifts will turn kids into couch potatoes?
Laptops, iPads and video game consoles are among the most popular holiday presents and they often get a bad rap for dumbing down kids. Yet popular technology gifts can engage children in activities that reinforce learning across core subjects...
5 tags
Entrepreneur Magazine: Franchised Day Spas are ont... →
Franchising experts say franchised day spas well positioned for growth
An Automated day spa service from Planet Beach Contempo Spa
Entrepreneur Magazine this month wrote about how franchised day spas are well positioned for growth this decade and talked to Stephen Smith, the CEO and founder of Planet Beach Contempo Spas, the largest franchised day spa.
Here’s an excerpt:
Duck into any downtown...
4 tags
Holiday Insurance Tip to Help You and Your...
NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2010 /Brand Journalists/ — Christmas tree fires, which can tear through an apartment; burglaries, which spike when gifts are under the tree; and improper fireplace use can turn the most wonderful time of the year into a nightmare.
In New York City, where most residents live in apartments, condos and co-ops, 60 to 80 percent may not have renters insurance to cover fire...
3 tags
Mansion Squatting Takes Root in Vacant Homes For...
Showhomes Home Staging helps solve squatter problem for vacant homes
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 8, 2010 /Brand Journalists/ — As the number of vacant homes for sale in the U.S. spirals higher, so-called “mansion squatting” is on the rise, too, especially in large metro areas such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle.
Consider these recent incidents: A woman was arrested in Seattle...
3 tags
Why Flu Season is Peak Season for Industrial First... →
HART Health’s arsenal against cold and flu for workers
Cold and flu season is a drain on companies.
Its not just employees with flu, its everyone who catches a cold during flu season.
An alcohol-based hand sanitizer comes in handy during cold and flu season, but HART Health carries multiple products that can help keep a company’s workforce healthy during the winter months and boost the revenue...
4 tags
No Jerks Allowed - new franchise website for Five... →
Scott Abbott, Five Star Painting CEO in front of the Wall of Fame - Five Star Franchisees
According the bestselling book “The Carrot Principle,” which draws on an extensive study of more than 200,000 employees, most people leave jobs because of their boss was a jerk and the culture was negative.
Ever work with or for a jerk?
Jerks suck the energy out of a room. They make life miserable and...
November 2010
3 posts
4 tags
Co-working can offer savings, professional...
Brand Journalists’ Senior Reporter Linda Bryant wrote this article for the Nashville Business Journal about Co-working in Nashville and it mentions CoLab, where Brand Journalists is officed:
Angie Gore’s public relations firm, Kaleidoscope Media, weathered the recession, but not without some major changes to the business plan. Many of the non-essentials are gone, including a...
3 tags
Showhomes Home Staging - Live-In Home Stagers are... →
By Nancy Mueller • FOR WILLIAMSON A.M. • October 15, 2010
If you are neat, looking for a house to rent and have good furniture, a local home staging company might have a deal for you.
Showhomes Nashville offers discounted monthly fees to those who qualify, provided they are willing to act as live-in “home managers” who furnish the rooms, keep the place perpetually clean for showings and are...
2 tags
Computer Explorers Adapts Franchise Offering for... →
Lower initial investment, interest-free financing addresses shortage of small business loans Computer Explorers, a Houston-based technology education franchise that is growing in international markets, has launched a lower initial investment model for potential franchisees who may not have much liquid capital or access to traditional bank loans in today’s tight market. The revised franchise...
August 2010
2 posts
HART Health Launches Franchise System and Expands... →
Planet Beach Contempo Spas Pioneer New Markets in... →
July 2010
1 post
1 tag
What Recession? UGN Auto Expands despite Recession →
June 2010
12 posts
Planet Beach Contempo Spas Featured on FOX →
1 in 4 Americans Visit Day Spas
How many U.S. adults have been to a spa? One in 50? One in 10?
More.
A staggering 1 in 4 Americans has visited a day spa, according to the International Spa Association.
The top reason people visit a spa: get a massage to relieve stress. These days, stress is rampant and affects everyone. It makes teachers and parents less patient with kids. It creates road rage in truck drivers, causes...
