Sbcn Small Biz Podcast

Chris Davis returns with Linda Ockwell-Jenner, co-founder of the SBCN,  to delve deeper into the subject of IT downtime and what it means for your business. It's quite easy to think of downtime purely as the situation where your PC stops working, but as you'll discover, there's so much more to it than that.What is Downtime?Many small businesses do not have a solid plan for preventing "bad things" from happening to their computer networks. "bad things" such as server/desktop crashes, firewall crashes, or router/switch malfunctions can take down an entire network for many, many hours. These instances are considered downtime, but they have another hidden component that is possibly even more costly than when a network device crashing.Things you may not realize that contribute to downtime can be as simple as  waiting for applications to load.... waiting for slow web pages to load..... Waiting for pages to print on the printer.... When you recreate deleted and missing documents... these are all forms of d

Linda Ockwell-Jenner is joined by Loretta Morrison, who shares some valuable tips she's learned on her journey to business success. Driven by a desire to spend more time with her family, and to enjoy the flexibility that comes from owning a successful business, Loretta created some winning strategies to lead her toward her goal. She now applies these to help other businesses find their success, fast!

In this episode, Linda Ockwell-Jenner chats with our featured guest, the ever bubbly Sylvia Pond! Sylvia is well known for two things: great photography and being part of great local networking events. If you've ever wondered how professional photography can help your business, Sylvia has some excellent insight and great tips for you.

In this episode, Linda Ockwell-Jenner is joined by Chris Davis, Founder and CTO of Polarverse IT Services to talk about IT Managed Services and specifically around Business Continuity. With IT forming an important backbone of our businesses, it's important that we're able to have resilience in the face of interruptions, so that IT problems don't become business problems!

Linda Ockwell-Jenner interviews one of our SBCN Ambassadors, Brendan Waller and talks about the stratgies that his business relies upon to differentiate and provide value to their clients. Brendan is always looking to innovation in the marketing space, so don't miss some insightful hints into how Unison Measurable Marketing approaches the space.

In this episode, we continue to explore some valuable tips for small businesses. Gunther Kramer, CEO Gecko Websites, joins SBCN Co-Founder Linda Ockwell-Jenner to cover some of the tips that's helped Gunther's business recently celebrate 20 great years!

SBCN Member Mike Diamond of Appcast joins Linda Ockwell-Jenner to discuss some simple IT tips that any small business can use. Since IT is so important to many of our businesses, we need to make sure it's reliable and effective, so these tips are invaluable to keep business rolling!

Wagepoint CMO, Leena Thampan joins Linda Ockwell-Jenner to share a number of important tips for small business that keep her sane. These include Leena's tips for managing email, taking time to meditate and more. Wagepoint was founded in 2012 and has grown to over 1,000 customers.You can find out more about Leena and Wagepoint on the SBCN website member directory https://www.sbcncanada.org/whois/4680

Linda Ockwell-Jenner is joined by Tim Elgar, Director of Small Business Services, American Express Canada to discuss the latest Small Business Monitor. This ongoing study, of which this is the 17th report, looks at issues facing small businesses. It provides excellent insights into what motivates small business owners and it's perhaps not what you think!The latest Small Business Monitor commissioned by American Express Small Business Services examined the change in SBOs attitude towards work-life balance, revealing how they’re reclaiming control by working to live, rather than living to work.  Some key findings include:55% of SBOs believe their work and personal lives blur because their business is their passion64% of SBOs believe technology makes it nearly impossible to disconnect from work   To find out more check out the SBCN Small Biz Podcast.

SBCN Co-Founder Linda Ockwell-Jenner talks about Content Marketing and why it's a powerful way to help promote you, your expertise and your overall brand.

SBCN Co-Founder Linda Ockwell-Jenner discusses the importance of building alliances and partnerships with trusted connections.

One of the most important aspects of networking, is also one of the most overlooked. SBCN Co-Founder, Linda Ockwell-Jenner shares some tips for successfully following up with your connections and making sure you maintain strong business relationships. Until someone says NO to you it's often a case of the person you are following up with is too busy to respond, has lost your contact information or they are not ready to move forward. If you don't follow up you could lose a sale to someone else.

Linda Ockwell-Jenner shares some tips on influencing your network. It's not all about selling; you may need your connections to partner with you, refer you, sponsor you, etc.

Linda Ockwell-Jenner interviews the CEO of CivicAction, Sevaun Palvetzian. CivicAction lives and breathes leadership and knows the importance of growing strong civic leaders for today and tomorrow.Sevaun Palvetzian is the Chief Executive Officer of CivicAction, based in the Greater Toronto area, a non-partisan organization tackling some of the city-region’s toughest social, economic and environmental challenges. 

SBCN Co-Founder, Linda Ockwell-Jenner, invites you to join her at the Small Business Mentor-in-Residence Open House, at the TELUS store in the Festival Marketplace Mall, Stratford. The launch of the Mentor-in-Residence program enables small business owners to get free mentoring from Linda and her team of business experts.

Linda Ockwell-Jenner chats with SBCN member Lucie Fournier to learn more about her fascinating business and her views on wellness in the workplace.

Connected for Business, a Rogers Magazine, has named the Small Business Community Network (SBCN) one of five great communities for Canadian entrepreneurs. Listen as SBCN Co-Founder Linda Ockwell-Jenner shares the news.

We're back chatting to Athena Varmazis, VP & General Manager, Small Business Services, American Express Canada on the latest findings in the quarterly Small Business Monitor. This episode features some fascinating insights into Canadian small businesses and the growing positive sentiment amongst them.

Well-known networker in Waterloo Region, and one of the most highly-regarded business success consultants Lois Raats joins Linda Ockwell-Jenner to chat about some of her tips to stimulate business growth.

Linda Ockwell-Jenner is joined in this episode by Elite Resumes Martin Buckland. They discuss the finer points of handshakes: why they're important and exactly how you should approach the often mis-executed greeting.