Opening Registration and Lunch
    11:30 – 12:30 Registration & Lunch
    12:30 – 12:45 Welcome & Introduction
            Beth Shocklee, Evans & Dixon

Worker’s Compensation Agenda (Main Conference Room)
    1:00 – 1:45 Tillotson v. St. Joseph Medical Center:
        Case’s Affects On Communication With Medical Experts
            Beth Shocklee and George Floros – Evans & Dixon
    1:45 – 2:00 Break
    2:00 – 2:20 Social Media: LIKE It?
            Bob Haeckel, Sabrina Merritt & Katherine Whitaker – Evans & Dixon
    2:20 – 3:00 Illinois Case Law And Legislative Update
            Bob Hendershot and Kim Parks – Evans & Dixon
    3:00 – 3:15 Break
    3:15 – 3:45 Kansas Case Law Update
            Brian Fowler and David Mosh – Evans & Dixon
    3:45 – 4:15 MO Case Law Update & MO Legislative Review
            Karen Johnson, Shari Lockhart & Tim Tierney – Evans & Dixon

Business Services Agenda (Plaza 4)

    1:00 – 1:45 Social Media: Cutting Edge Technology with Bleeding
        Edge Liability Issues
            Gerry Richardson – Evans & Dixon
    1:45 – 2:00 Break
    2:00 – 3:00 I’m From The Government And I Am Not Here To Help
        You: Tips On Being Prepared For A Regulatory Inspection.
            Gene Schmittgens – Evans & Dixon
    3:00 – 3:15 Break
    3:15 – 3:45 Electronic Contracting: How To Avoid The Land Mines
            Brian Rogers – Evans & Dixon
    3:45 – 4:15 The Internet and Intellectual Property Law – Common
        Sense Tips For Every Business On How To Avoid
        The Liability Landmine
            Don Kelly – Evans & Dixon

Civil Liability Agenda (Plazas 5 & 6)

    1:00 – 1:45 You Got Served: Civil Litigation Basics
            Susan Brown-Miles – Evans & Dixon
    1:45 – 2:00 Break
    2:00 – 3:00 Up in Smoke: What Happens When A Good Product
        Goes Bad- An Overview Of Product Liability Litigation Rights And
        Remedies In Missouri.
            David Berwin – Evans & Dixon
    3:00 – 3:15 Break
    3:15 – 4:15 Show-Me the Money: Collections, Evidentiary Issues,
        And Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Defense In Missouri
            Karen Jones and Chris Durso – Evans & Dixon
Cocktail Reception
    4:15 – 6:00  DoubleTree Foyer & Bar


    To register for this free event, see the Evans & Dixon event page at www.evans-dixon.com/stlouisseminar.aspx 

Yellow-Tie member, Brian Rogers of Evans & Dixon, LLC, and Kurt Steves of Fifth Third Bank, will conduct a presentation called "Buy, Sell, or Hold." It will address legal and financial issues related to buying, selling, and operating a business.

The event will take place at the Lodge at Des Peres, 1050 Des Peres Rd, Des Peres, MO 63131. To attend, RSVP to Lauren Bowman at lbowman@evans-dixon.com.

Do you have the one innate talent that is the hallmark of genius performance? Do you even know what it is? Come find out, and you will learn how to tap into your own inner genius for sizzling success, with less stress and a whole lot more fun along the way.

The St. Louis Small Business Expo is Wednesday, March 14 at the St. Charles Convention Center from 11-6. 

Patty Cook is the Founder of Yellow-Tie St. Louis. She will be in Booth #510. Her presentation is at 1:30pm. 

News Release

TRUE COURSE LAUNCHES NEW SERVICE
Announcing the Set A True Course^© System

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, FEBRUARY 12, 2012 – One offering that Kevin Martin, president of True Course, LLC, is bringing to its joint effort with Business Coach, LLC is the Set A True Course system.

Specifically designed for private business owners who want to think and plan strategically, to reduce cost and eliminate waste, and to achieve a higher level of satisfaction through better delegation and management, this powerful new process takes the owner through:

• Vision and strategic goal setting
• A company-wide analysis and audit
• Developing and implementing action plans that are in complete alignment with strategic objectives

The owner receives peace of mind, builds processes that reduces the time spent working in the company, and creates efficiencies that reduce cost and eliminate waste.

Bringing this process to the Business Coach LLC will strength the value offered to clients and create a dynamic service for business owners who want to achieve their personal, professional and company goals.

Don't spend another day working in your company without also working on it. Call the Business Coach team right now at 314-822-7000.

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News Release

KELLY FERRARA TO SHARE BRANDING WISDOM AT
YELLOW-TIE NONPROFIT SEG MEETING – EVERYONE WELCOME

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, FEBRUARY 13, 2012 – The Yellow-Tie, Nonprofit Executive Directors Skills-Enhancement Group is thrilled to have Kelly Ferrara, president of StratCommRX, share her extensive branding wisdom at its February 22 meeting.

Kelly's presentation, "How to Build Your Brand, Your Board and Your Bank Account," will be tailored to address the unique issues of the nonprofit community.

• The meeting is February 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Canterbury Enterprises, 7228 Weil Ave., Shrewsbury, MO 63119
• There are 14 seats available – Yellow-Tie members may attend free and get priority seating
• Nonmembers may attend for $20
• We use a "brown bag lunch" format – so bring your lunch with you if you plan to eat during the meeting

If you have questions or want to register, start by sending Yellow-Tie an email.

# # #

News Release

TRUE COURSE JOINS BUSINESS COACH TEAM
Kevin Martin to Chair Mastermind Group and
Provide Coaching and Consulting Services

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, FEBRUARY 6, 2012 – In a meaningful example of Leveraging the Power of the Group, two Yellow-Tie members, Kevin Martin and Richard Pierce, officially have joined forces to increase their ability to serve.

Long known and respected for his operational mindset, depth of experience and facilitative approach, Kevin Martin, president of True Course, LLC, brings a wealth of business experience to the Business Coach team. His focus will be in three strategic areas:

• Coaching: Using his Set a True Course system, Kevin will guide business owners through the process of growing as company leaders.
• Facilitating: A certified coach and facilitator, Kevin will apply what he learned through 24 years of service in the U.S. Air Force and 10 years of executive-level leadership to chair one of the mid-tier Mastermind Groups within the Business Coach, LLC, system.
• Consulting: From audit to implementation, Kevin’s six-month course correction will provide the “get it done” guidance C-level executives need to transition from working for their companies to building companies that work for them.

Kevin’s first step as a valued member of the team is to launch his Business Coach Mastermind Group. The first meeting is March 20. Only 10 seats are available. To register or get your questions answered, call Richard Pierce, president of Business Coach, LLC, at 314-822-7000.

# # #

When you give without keeping score, however, the payback is almost always more than what you put in, because value is in the eye of the receiver. (I may introduce you to someone who from your perspective will change your life. Whereas from my perspective it was a completely casual introduction.)

Trading is great, but it's giving without keeping score that fuels exponential growth.

Often a business has more than one targeted segment  but then tries to connect with their customer base and prospects with just one message.

While the sale of your product or service may start by connecting with purchasing or member of the company's general staff, often times it filters up to a department manager, CFO, and even the CEO before it is finally approved.

Familiarity and confidence with your product offering at all levels can be critical to your success. In order to achieve that goal separate messages may need to be created to reach everyone involved in the decision making process.

A CEO or CFO certainly views the world differently than a down line marketing person.

I recently wrote a blog addressing this issue. You can check it out at www.solomonturner.blogspot.com.

If you're considering cold-calling, I'll suggest you read on. But the moment you find the reason you should not cold-call, you can save yourself some time by skipping reading the rest.

Should You Learn How To Cold-Call?

There are really only two good reasons to learn how to cold call effectively:

1. You truly love repetitive tasks -- so repetitive they become almost brainless -- and want to control your own income. (Note: Only about 2 percent of the population fits this mold, so there's a 98 percent chance you should not cold-call as your primary means of finding clients or customers.)
2. You want a contingency plan for any time you're in the famine cycle on sales. (Note: It's actually kind of comforting to know that you can find a client and close a deal within one week any time you want to or really need to. I mean, if your family needed feeding and you could find a client using honest cold calling, would you temporarily be willing to do it? If so, then by all means learn how.)

So if you both hate repetitive tasks and don't feel the need to have the cold-calling arrow in your client-acquisition quiver, then don't waste any more time here.

The Right/Wrong Way To Cold Call

There are really only two ways to cold call, and the best way I know of to explain the difference is to discuss the objective of every dial:

1. Wrong: Your objective when you dial the phone is to set a sales appointment or close a sale with the person on the other end of the line.
2. Right: Your objective when you dial the phone is to find out whether the person on the other end of the phone wants a sales appointment -- "Yes" or "No," either answer is fine.

Here's the deal. Only 5 to 10 percent of the buying public will regularly answer the phone, listen to an honest cold-call offer and make a yes/no decision without being ticked off that you called. And at any moment in time, only 1 to 2 percent of this small group is ready to buy right now. So if your objective is to "close" everyone you call, it's no wonder most of the people you call hate your guts.

However, when your objective is to find the people willing to take your calls and willing to buy when the timing is right, then only the rare prospect will rant and rave when you call.

The Manipulative Vs. Honest Approach

Manipulative salespeople do whatever it takes to keep you on the line, keep you talking and keep you engaged, because they're too stupid to understand that it's faster, easier and better to build relationships before trying to make the close.

Honest salespeople:

• Make EVERY attempt to disqualify the people who don't want to be called at all, so they can remove them from the call list and NEVER waste their time or their prospects' time calling again.
• Give their true prospects (people willing to buy from a cold-call), EVERY chance to say "No" to "today's offer," so they can build an "I'll take no for an answer" relationship and keep the door open to CALL BACK.
• Respect the time of every person they call. (Even with true prospects, you should never exceed about 20 seconds on your ENTIRE offer. Anything more and you're officially a salesdrip, because you effectively put your own needs and desires ahead of the needs and desires of the people you're calling.)

A Few Summary Points

When a cold-calling system is working, it hardly ever changes. That's why implementing one on a daily basis is so repetitive. All the guess-work, analysis, configuring and tweaking goes into creating the system. After that, it's pure repetition that makes it work.

There are typically two types of minds involved in creating a killer cold-call system and making it work long-term.

• The creative genius who figures out how to make the system work (that's why guys like me get paid).
• The heads-down implementers who actually enjoy banging away at the phones all day.

I will personally dial the phone like a madman in either of the following situations:

• I've been hired to create a cold-calling system and I'm solving the puzzle of how to get it to work.
• I got lazy on my other marketing efforts, ran out of cash and need to pay the rent. (Nice to have this arrow in my quiver when I need it.)

So learn cold calling only if you love repetitive tasks and want to control your income, or if you want the ability to find a buyer and close a deal quickly, should your other marketing efforts suddenly dry up.
As for my last request, I wish everyone who hates cold-calling (because you don't like doing it or because you hate getting called by idiots who do it poorly) would stop bashing the entire profession. There are a lot of outstanding people out there who suffer the effects of your thoughtlessness while working their asses off to earn an honest living taking care of the people they call.

I think they deserve a break and would greatly appreciate your giving them one. (Thanks!)

Gill E. Wagner