Welcome to the LTB 2013 Live Blog!
We are in for an exciting day! It is Ptex Group’s very first LTB Summit, bringing in over 500 businesspeople from the Jewish community to discuss a innovative business concepts and strategies with America’s top entrepreneurs and corporate speakers. Make sure to stay tuned on this browser for continuous updates throughout the day as I Live Blog from the conference at the beautiful Dyker Golf Course. Okay– Let’s Talk Business!
Be sure to follow us on Twitter #LTB2013 and Facebook as well.
I have just arrived at LTB 2013 and I can feel the excitement already! The sponsors are setting up their tables and the Daily News has just showed up. The dew is still drying as the golfers play right outside. What a beautiful day to learn, grow, and succeed!
Can’t wait for this room to fill up in mere minutes! As the sponsors make their way inside I hear them murmuring “What a beautiful place. How well done.” Agreed!
Sponsors, such as Infusionsoft, are now setting up on The Patio Marquee. Outside the air is fresh and the environment is exhilarating as the line continues to form at registration and the microphones are being tested.
As the esteemed guests enter, they receive a name-tag and a tote bag with the day’s agenda, a commemorative handbook, and a thick notepad to write new ideas and information that will undoubtedly be produced at The Nation’s Premier Jewish Business Conference!
Keynote speaker Gary Vaynerchuk mingles with the guests!
The crowd grows from the entrance to the sponsor tables. Coffee, networking, and sharing fill the sunny patio. Check One Two. Check One Two. Almost ready to begin!
Starting in 5 minutes! The guests fill up the West Wing Auditorium, and I get to meet Charlie Harary the emcee of LTB 2013!
Charlie Harary starts his introductions with a story from the bible mixed with Jewish jokes, concluding with the thought: RESPONSIBILITY is key. He teaches business and is a great businessman himself. He knows that saying “I am responsible” is what makes a businessman great. That is why we have this conference. Meny Hoffman and Ptex Group felt responsible.
This is not a time to relax and Harary introduces the esteemed….
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Gary Vaynerchuk.
Vaynerchuk starts off by stating that he loves social media simply because it “sells stuff”.
He continues to discuss how he grew from a little boy with a soviet father into the leading entrepreneur he is today.
It is historical how jammed packed this space is! It is filled with an exclusive group of high energy, serious businesspeople, entrepreneurs, salespeople, and corporate executives, who paid to be here. Many people stand in the back nodding their heads, and volunteers start unfolding more chairs in the back.
“I am very similar to you”. When he was 19 he did not own a computer and never thought about it. The moment that changed his career–coocooochaaaakeeee– hearing his first dial up connection!
He realizes he can sell stuff on the computer. We are living lives that are so futuristic. We are grossly underestimating what is happening.
Who has a cellphone in this room? Hands raise.
Who does not have a cellphone? No one.
One thing connects us all is that our agenda is to tell our story. Story telling how things get started. Period.
25% of the room is on Facebook. 75% is not on Facebook. This fascinates and excited Gary. More than 50% are on Twitter
It has never been less valuable to be smart. Any information you need you can get on the internet. Information is now a commodity. Money is no longer a differentiation to your success because internet has leveled the playing field.
How will you be successful on the internet? Not talking, but listening.
Twitter is the only platform where can listen and talk. You are part of a community. Twitter is the internet’s cocktail party. Engage. We now have content for each other.
380 billion people were taken this past year. We are living in special times! We must break through and tell our stories.
With all the new technology he feels bad for those who are English majors (oh no! I was one!) Everything is smart technology now.
What a great opportunity! Gary is now doing an informative Q & A with the exclusive audience!
A marketing executive from Cash for Miles stated that she though Gary’s speech was so interesting, “it was amazing how he changed his life…he thought of innovative ways to make the money. Incredible.”
Break out speaker Eric Loflohm is ready to share his expertise!
and I spotted Keynote speaker Scott Ginsberg!
It is now time for the Breakaway Sessions with Bob Prosen and Eric Lofholm. The crowd transitions smoothly into the two breakaway rooms. Some people drink coffee and mingle by the sponsor booths.
BREAKAWAY SESSION: Bob Prosen
The first thing he requests is that the audience write notes down and he will be happy to share his powerpoint after the event!
He lists 5 things that we want to have a sustainable business:
- accountability and leadership
- results
- trust and dedication
- collaboration
- individuality
The audience of business leaders jots down notes on his powerpoints and informative explanations as he delves deeper into these 5 topics.
Bob is interactive and listens to the audience. We are now unfolding the key to perpetual profit. Sounds good to me!
The coolest thing you can get from your employers is engagement. He gives specific instructions and shares essentials of the pinnacle leadership.
He states that a leaders role is to remove roadblocks that stand in your team’s way and then watch and enable them to perform. Delegating is a key to leadership.
BREAKAWAY SESSION: Eric Lofholm
What a different feel this session has. It is incredible how many different angles can be surfaced at just one event!
The room feels just as crowded as the Breakaway Session with Bob. The information keeps flowing!
Eric states that his #1 closing tip is the have the client wanting what you have to offer before they even arrive.
Human beings respond in predictable ways, he says. He then asks…did you write that down? We did. He has proven himself correct.
He continues flipping through his slides clearly teaching us how to develop our service skills to increase our sales.
It seems that similarly to how a Doctor’s bedside manner is extremely imperative in his treatment of patients, so too is a businessman’s human connections and networking is imperative to having successful sales.
Build success stories through building business connections.
Eric says he only was successful after he received professional sales training. It is a skill set.
Thank you for teaching us some of these skills at LTB 2013!
A large crowd follows Eric out of the room and gathers around him to sign up for his services. What immediate positive feedback!
Charlie Harary thanks our sponsors and reminds us to:
“Keep what we need, sift through the rest, and become more successful!”
GUEST SPEAKER: Ramon Ray
Ramon greets me before he gets on stage 🙂
He jumps right into his speech energetically and dramatically. What a powerful speaker! A very welcomed guest.
Ramon starts by introducing the concept of “Survival Marketing” that he follows at Infusionsoft, which teaches us how to overcome the struggle of growing your business. He states that social media is only half the battle. The second half is “Lifecycle Marketing”. He will send all the information to us today!
You can’t just have the tools, you need to know how to use them.
- capture attention
- attract interest
- touch and nurture relationship
- convert sales– this is #4 for a reason! build relationship first then sell
- deliver and satisfy
- upsell customers
- get referrals
Don’t forget to go LTBInfusionsoft.com to get the “Lifecycle Marketing” Booklet!
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Scott Ginsberg
Scott is waiting in the back next to me while Charlie Harary gives Scott a warm welcome. Scott jumps on stage and waves to the audience…right after he gives me a sincere wink. He must be good at networking 🙂
He wears his nametag everyday!
But, why?
He is not trying to convince us to do it. He wants us to think — what is OUR name tag? How do we identify ourselves and how do we broadcast ourselves. He started wearing a nametag before social media and he believes that face-to-face is making a comeback.
“ONline is to get OFFline.”
Make a name for yourself before someone makes a name for you.
“Man wears nametag for a friendlier environment” is one of the 10 headline in 2003.
Friendly costs nothing, but changes everything!
Do you know what you are selling? What is your product? Consistency is far more important than rare moments of greatness.
Are you willing to go offline to make a difference online?
Every guest at the conference has a tough decision to make by the end of Scott’s speech: Which of his 7 books will you choose to take home for free??
He started wearing a nametag because he did not belong anywhere. Now he belongs everywhere. Scott thanks us for making him belong here.
Thank YOU Scott for sharing with us!
Watching the pile of free books get lower and lower!
And of course Scott signs his books for his business executive fans…
LUNCH AND EXHIBITS
I am now sitting in a side room while the participants eat lunch– a great time for networking!– and I hear surrounding business executives making business calls filled with new ideas and decisions. I bet these calls are connected to all the powerful business juices overflowing at this energizing conference!
Grace, a woman serving drinks at the event, is so impressed. She has been writing notes on whatever speaker she has been able to hear. This exclusive event is definitely being appreciated by everyone in the building!
EXECUTIVE ROUNDTABLE
Six leading executives of the Jewish business world are sitting in plush white chairs, welcoming us into a living room style conversation filled with Jewish slang. But– it is not any conversation; It is a conversation filled with insightful advice from experts in the field or service and business.
Hararay moderates, asking important questions, leading a Q & A session, and even bringing questions from online members of the community.
The executives highlight the importance of making sure the owner, customers, and business people happy. If you are in the service business you should focus on the consumer-client relationship and make sure they are happy and know what you are selling.
It is important to remember that people are more important than numbers. Don’t forget the important clients that you already have. Grow along with your clients. Take advantage of what you already have.
Follow trends over time and take a step back and see the whole picture of your business flow. One of the executives adds, there is importance of the culture within the office, the reputation and passion for people to have in the office.
For those of us looking for jobs: These executives say that eagerness to please is more desirable in an employee than a degree…anytime.
Recommended Book: The Go Giver
TIP: Free food always works
3 more TIPS:
- Understand the psychology of the customer.
- Don’t take advantage of anything.
- Communication
QUESTION: Do you believe that higher education is essential for business success?
::everyone is murmuring, chattering, and commenting::
Very few people in the room now have a higher education.
ANSWER: What am I good at and what do I want to do? The main thing is not education, but hard work. Don’t get distracted. Higher education does help you market yourself. It helps to create connections and to promote yourself.
Harary adds to the answer by bringing in the Jewish word Ratzon as the #1 road to success. Ratzon can be defined as strong internal will. Running through walls to do what we got to do.
One of the executive panelists continues answering by stating that it is the personality that wants to persevere is equally as valuable as a higher education.
Another panelists believes strongly that a Mentor is necessary.
Risking taking, willing to face the inevitable, leads to achieving big things.
Two people are better than one. Have partners who compliment you. Different strengths brought together. Doesn’t have to necessarily be 50/50 partnership. There are many different types of partnerships.
Harary just introduced the Fire Round!
Why do people fail at business?
- Being dishonest, don’t have proper plan, not persistent insecurity
What was one thing that inspired you to continue against a challenge?
- belief in Hashem (God) and belief in myself, signs of Hashgacha (divine intervention), a good partner, remember your goals and perseverance, remember the right reasons for your actions, tefillah bekavana (praying with deep, internal meaning)
How do you keep your education in your industry?
- know what is going on in the business world- world is evolving- must keep up- earn how to deal with changes in the business world
Everyone is in a good mood and the energy in the room feels great! I feel the passion in the room. So much of the motivation of these esteemed businesspeople comes from their faith and their religion. A true kiddush hashem — a positive way of portraying their God and their religion.
Thank you Abraham Roth, Seth Farbman, Elly Kleinman, Shaul C. Greenwald, Chesky Kauftheil, and Menachem Lubinsky for sharing your view from the top!
BREAKAWAY SESSION: David Steel
David Steel talks prospects and customers. He tells us that people are buying from you because they like you and what you do.
Social media– a tool that you have to know how to use. We all know how to do something but we are going to look deeper into different ways of doing it so you…dominate!
How to dominate social media from an expert in social media…I am all ears.
He says he will give us all the information after the session.
Push- engine marketing
Pull- social marketing
Marketing is changing with ease of use and trust– we don’t want spam. we use content to gain trust in social media. content is words, images, videos– a piece of information. The content is the same, but we are sharing the content in different ways. We no longer watch VHS, but rather we use Netflix. What is changing is how we interact with the content. People choose to get their content from where they feel connected. Be opinionated so customers feel connected to your opinion.
BREAKAWAY SESSION: Jon Goldman
Jon Goldman knows his audience He throws in yiddish words and then adds in new acronyms to teach us how we can zig when our competitors zag.
We need a reason to believe because we are at a time of advertising resistance.
Strongest word: BECAUSE
why?
Giving a reason gets to people. You are heard more when you give a reason. A good reason is “because”.
Testimonials help marketing– but your business needs a “poster child” — you need to be specific, no generalities.
Put a headline on everything that you do.
It is an art to write a good testimonial.
TIP: freeteleconferencing.com
If you own a company and want to persuade people here are 3 things according to Jon that you need:
- be dramatically different
- overt benefit
- reason to believe
These 3 things = a tripod of persuasion
If you are an expert in your business then you can claim that space. You have a lot to offer. Being an expert allows you to educate, educating leads to trust.
Jon goes around and collects the business cards of the executives in the room. The best business card is made by Ptex! and the winner won a free vacation!
The secret to a good business card is to market your expertise.
Give me your name, I will give you free information.
Pick a title.
Develop leads– re-purposing information helps to get interest.
Do not give up– stick to it. It usually takes up to 5 times for it to succeed.
Plan out your year. Carve out a plan.
Ready, Fire, Aim. Don’t miss your shot.
I am sitting surrounded by strong, powerful business women. One woman next to me nods her head and says, “that was good…great exciting introduction! With music and frog throwing — it caught my attention and kept it the whole time”.
I missed what sounds like a thrilling introduction! I came in the middle because I was learning in the other breakaway session with David Steel.
Both breakaway sessions with David Steel and Jon Goldman discussed how we need to get customers to trust us. Goldman says testimonials and education lead to trust, and Steel says be opinionated and people will be attracted to the content that they like.
LTB VISION & MISSION
Meny Hoffman, CEO of Ptex Group, is greeted on the stage with a slow clap after a testimonial video. Meny is a pillar of strength as he thanks everyone else who he has worked with to create the very first LTB Summit.
What a great organization– filled with support and devotion that made this event possible.
Personally thanks Hashem, God, for giving him every single person with their own set of skills.
LTB 2013 is a moment for us all to begin to learn, grow, and succeed together. Success is not being on the top. Success is being better than you were the day before. It is not easy. That is not what life is about. Things fall part all the time. Tomorrow will be a better today. Let us make a commitment to take 2 or 3 things from what we learned today, commit to ourselves and our companies, to implement it tomorrow. then tomorrow will be a success.
Meny quotes the bible to connect with his audience even more. A true leader.
Let this be a great start for LTB in the future.
POWER BREAK
Now is the time to put all of your networking skills to work! Meny Hoffman CEO of Ptex Group and Founder of LTB Summit with Lou Landau from SnapAhead and Breakaway speaker Jon Goldman.
Ice cream included!
Esther Krausz from Prominent Logistics inc. approached me confidently stating that LTB 2013 is filled with, “awesome encouragement, guidance, and education…all in one”. Esther, what a great way of describing this incredible, information packed day!
Yossi from Crystal Dream, a client of Ptex Group, is still full of energy after a full day of conferring. He tells me filled with excitement, “It is a beginning of a new era, I would say, opening something new to our community that we desperately needed…and I am looking forward!”
THE LAUNCH PAD™
Modeled after the Shark Tank reality series, LTB 2013 is featuring hopeful entrepreneurs who propose business ideas to potential investors, also known as “Sharks,” and are awarded a financial backing. The Launch Pad opens the opportunity for chosen participants at LBT 2013 to pitch their idea and leave with $100,000+ in financial backing to propel their idea into a reality.
The audience is ready. I can feel the anticipation. The energy in this room is vibrant!
As Harary introduces him, Kevin Harrington smiles, ready to get on stage.
He is really here!
Kevin was featured on ABC’s Shark Tank for 3 seasons. He gets a slow clap! He also received a lot of claps for having a Jewish son 🙂
Kevin’s quick tips for choosing a good investment:
- Vibrant industry that has growth factor in industry
- Business, service, or product that problem solves- ex: Apps
- Does it solve the problem in unique enough fashion that it is not already done
- Great testimonials with your product- either users or your business
Take the steps to make things happen. Fail 3 out of 4 times…but then you still succeed once.
Those who win are those who think they can.
The co-host Josh Rubenstein is now introducing the sharks…
With close to 100 applications, 5 sharks were chosen:
- Neil Rock
- Seth Fireman
- Kevin Harrington
- J. Morton Davis
- Mark Bess
Proposal 1: Eli Rosenbloom presents FR Conversions
- His business features handicap emergency vehicles and wheelchair vans
- Kevin bowed out.
- Neil and Seth are willing to give $100,000 each but want 20% of the business.
- J. Morton says call me but no decisions right no
- Mark offers another $100,000 for another 20% of the business.
- Negotiations have started!
- DEAL!! Neil and Seth are investing! $250,000 for 25%
Proposal 2: Ari Ben Shimon presents Extra Fuel
- Biodegradable emergency fuel
- One of a kind product- new to the market- great emergency product
- Nearly everyone raised their hands that they would buy this product for $29.99
- 5 different patents
- Kevin makes an offer!! $100,000 for 20%
- Niel and Seth want to be part of this deal!
- Ari Ben Shimon — says he needs more money…but this makes Kevin back out…
- Ari then says– he needs support and marketing more than money.
- Kevin, Niel, and Seth are back in…
- A DEAL!!! $100,000 for 20%
- The lights are blinking! smiles all over!
Proposal 3: Joel Schwartz presents Parlor
- The first talking social network
- Davis has to leave early but The Launch Pad continues with a new shark– Chesky Kauftheil, who was also part of our Executive Roundtable
- Mark offers to give $250,000 for 51% and if it gets to $25 mil evaluation in one year time then he will go back down to 10%
- Neil and Seth offer say$ 250,000 for 50% and if it gets $25 mil evaluation in one year time then they will go back down to 10%
- Now it just turned into one combined offered!
- It has then become $300,000 and 51% and then goes down to 10% if reaches $25 mil in a year.
- No deal– Schwartz is confident in other deals and does not want to give so much power over his company over. Focused and driven, he will continue to push for Parlor independent of The Launch Pad Sharks.
Proposal 4: Moshe Teitelbaum presents VOIP
- First ever encrypted VoIP, with no phone delays
- Niel and Seth offer $125,000 for 45%
- DEAL!!
- What a great investment– privacy protection
proposal 5: Matis Swerdlof presents Dsmart
- dsmartinc.com
- Requesting $2.5 million, which was too high for the Sharks
- No deal but an intriguing idea and a great video presentation!
Proposal 6: Elliot Grossbard presents SupplyMart
- Customers are their business
- He left with no deal but with great new customers, which are in turn very strategic alliances!
I just witnessed dreams coming true at LTB 2013. After all the interactive negotiating and relationship building, the conference comes to a close around 7pm. I can’t believe the day has gone by so fast! It was action packed and pumping with energy. Groundbreaking ideas and collaboration fueled the historic event at the beautiful Dyker Golf Course today, and I feel so fortunate to have been a part of it!
Thank you to our sponsors and to Ptex Group.
A true success.
Have a great night and stay tuned…this was just the first LTB Summit!
Once again, be sure to follow us on Twitter #LTB2013 and Facebook !
