11:30 networking

12 noon All-you-can-eat buffet lunch with a sous chef, salad bar, many entrees and sides, and a desert bar or Salad Bar only.

12:15 - 30 second commercials during lunch

12:30 - dessert

12:40 - Speaker introductions

Keith Klein, the host of WisOwners, will do a whirlwind combination of three “stump” speeches, all in 24 minutes flat:

The Eight Keys to a Successful Web Presence

The Ten Biggest Mistakes Businesses Make Online

Web 2.0 - What it is, and what is in it for you.

A brief questions and answer session will follow the presentation.

Keith Klein is also the owner of OnYourMark, a web development and internet marketing firm, and the author of WebForging, a Practical Guide to the Art of Forging Your Web Presence, which should be freshly published (and on sale with autographs!) just in time for the luncheon.

Wisconsin Business Owners Network (WisOwners.com) is an organization of Southeast Wisconsin business owners who meet monthly to share experiences and referrals.

Your choices and cost for the luncheon meeting is as follows:

Salad bar only, $20 (cash) at the event or $15 (credit card) with advance reservations.

• $20 (credit card) with advance reservations or $30 (cash) at the event . Fee covers all-you-can-eat buffet lunch with sous chef, salad bar, desert, soft beverage and gratuity.

• $15 (credit card) with advance reservations or $20 (cash) at the event. Fee covers Salad bar and soft beverage only.  ($5 rebate given at event, online signup offers only one fee)

Save $10 - Pre-register at

At our monthly luncheon meetings, we listen to member presentations or a guest speaker as well as participate in one-on-one interactions.

Feel free to add a comment or update your member page. If you are interested in a member page just let us know.

A unique Milwaukee citizen, Richard Thieme is a noted business consultant, author, media commentator and speaker. His topic is Making It In Milwaukee - And Out.

Study after study details the deficits of our beloved home town. We are in the last quadrant of almost every measure of success and viability.

Yet on we go - sort of.

A prominent business leader said to Richard Longworth at a meeting of the GMC the other day when Longworth spoke about the Midwest and its problem — “My friends are making more money than ever. What’s the problem?”

Well, there are problems, there are deficits in leadership, cultural bias, economic disadvantages but … still, a lot of us stay.

What are the keys to success in Milwaukee? What are the options? What can we control and what can’t we control?

Richard Thieme has been speaking and writing for fourteen years with Milwaukee as a base. He has spoken recently in Sydney and Brisbane, Auckland and Wellington NZ, Tel Aviv, Dublin and the Hague — and his Islands in the Clickstream column was sent to readers in more than sixty countries.

During our brief time together, Richard will note some challenges and opportunities, respond to your concerns, and make our lunch together a happy occasion.

Richard is a noted business consultant, author, media commentator and speaker. He is the author of “Islands in the Clickstream: Reflections on Life in a Virtual World.” His track record includes hundreds of published articles, dozens of published short stories, one published book with more coming, several thousand speeches, and – in a former incarnation - hundreds of sermons, all original, all unique.

We are so very honored that Mr. Thieme is joining us to share his thoughts and wisdom.

This is a must attend event!

His web site is http://www.thiemeworks.com.

The May topic is to be announced. A brief questions and answer session will follow the presentation.

Wisconsin Business Owners Network (WisOwners.com) is an organization of Southeast Wisconsin business owners who meet monthly to share experiences and referrals.

At our monthly luncheon meetings, we listen to member presentations or a guest speaker as well as participate in one-on-one interactions. Maxwell’s buffet costs around $15.00 and everyone contributes $1 to the group to defray room rental charges, etc.

Feel free to add a comment or update your member page. If you are interested in a member page just let us know.

If you are a Wisconsin business owner, please join us at Maxwell’s on May 30, 2008.

The April topic is Strategic Planning for the Small Business. Dave is the COO of Adoption Resources of Wisconsin and the past CEO of Family Health Plan, owner of a marina and a car wash business. He is also the webmaster of the Rock County Genealogical Society. A brief questions and answer session will follow the presentation.

Wisconsin Business Owners Network (WisOwners.com) is an organization of Southeast Wisconsin business owners who meet monthly to share experiences and referrals.

At our monthly luncheon meetings, we listen to member presentations or a guest speaker as well as participate in one-on-one interactions. Maxwell’s buffet costs around $15.00 and everyone contributes $1 to the group to defray room rental charges, etc.

Feel free to add a comment or update your member page. If you are interested in a member page just let us know.

If you are a Wisconsin business owner, please join us at Maxwell’s on April 25, 2008.

Robert H. Boehm is the owner of Boehm & Associates, a marketing firm. Rob is the marketing guru that Keith, the moderator of Wisconsin Owners and President of OnYourMark, LLC goes to when he needs help with his marketing strategies and communications. Rob will cover how “Persistence Pays” even in these tough economic times. A brief questions and answer session will follow.

Wisconsin Business Owners Network (WisOwners.com) is an organization of Southeast Wisconsin business owners who meet monthly to share experiences and referrals.

At our monthly luncheon meetings, we listen to member presentations or a guest speaker as well as participate in one-on-one interactions. Maxwell’s buffet costs around $15.00 and everyone contributes $1 to the group to defray room rental charges, etc.

If you are a Wisconsin business owner, please join us at Maxwell’s on February 29, 2008.

Ann graciously provided the quiz for us, and we are making it available here to anyone who is interested. It is available by clicking the link below…

Independant Contractor Information

Our guest speaker, Jeanine Dent, Managing Partner of The Networking Community, will be this month’s presenter. In Jeanine’s role as managing partner, her mission is to make networking easier and more productive for the individual by bringing together the necessary networking resources to ensure success. Jeanine will cover Networking Netiquette, the Do’s and Don’ts, Profiles of a Networker and 10 tips for Networking. A question and answer session will follow.

Networking helps increase business, develop new connections and build lasting business relationships. Introduce your friends to the power of networking at this meeting with a good lunch and a great presentation.

Wisconsin Business Owners Network (WisOwners.com) is an organization of Southeast Wisconsin business owners who meet monthly to share experiences and referrals.

At our monthly luncheon meetings, we listen to member presentations or a guest speaker as well as participate in one-on-one interactions. Maxell’s buffet costs around $15.00 and everyone contributes $1 to the group to defray room rental charges, etc.

If you are a Wisconsin business owner, please join us at Maxwell’s on February 29, 2008.

Our guest speaker, Ann Mazer, SPHR of Jannsen & Company, S.C. will speak about the “5 Common Pitfalls Small Companies Make and How to Avoid Them.” Ann is a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a degree in Human Resource Management. Ann has over ten years experience in the Human Resources field and specializes in assisting clients with difficult employee situations along with a wide variety of HR outsourcing services. A question and answer session will follow.

Networking helps increase business, develop new connections and build lasting business relationships. Introduce your friends to the power of networking at this meeting with a good lunch and a great presentation.

Wisconsin Business Owners Network (WisOwners.com) is an organization of Southeast Wisconsin business owners who meet monthly to share experiences and referrals.

At our monthly luncheon meetings, we listen to member presentations or a guest speaker as well as participate in one-on-one interactions.

If you are a Wisconsin business owner, please join us at Maxwell’s on January 25, 2008.

I hope you learn from and enjoy these podcasts…I will be posting past episodes as well as new episodes as they become available.

Take Care, and we’ll see you at the luncheon…

Christian Kocinski

Video Developer

OnYourMark, LLC

Networking helps increase business, develop new connections and build lasting business relationships. Introduce your friends to the power of networking at this meeting with a good lunch and a great presentation.

Wisconsin Business Owners Network (WisOwners.com) is an organization of Southeast Wisconsin business owners who meet monthly to share experiences and referrals.

At our monthly luncheon meetings, we listen to member presentations or a guest speaker as well as participate in one-on-one interactions.

If you are a Wisconsin business owner, please join us at Maxwell’s on January 25, 2008.

Our speaker this month is Dave Bruno, a Greenfield Shorewest real estate broker. In 2005 he donned an Elvis costume and ran a billboard campaign that said, “Guess who is moving into your neighborhood?” He was overwhelmed by the response and said it was the best marketing campaign he’s ever developed. Dave will speak of how he overcame adversity and got back to business. A question and answer session will follow.

Networking helps increase business, develop new connections and build lasting business relationships. Introduce your friends to the power of networking at this meeting with a good lunch and a great presentation.

Our speaker this month was Rob Wasserman, Vice President and part owner of Designs By Degree Inc. He has 19 years of computer graphics and pre-press experience. In addition he consults in workflow management for pre-press set up.

October’s topic: “Computer Graphics and Art Files: How to make sure all logos and marketing collateral can be used seamlessly for all media.”

• Creating art and graphics from scratch that are universally compatible and creating graphics for a specific need.
• Using the right graphics program for the right project.
• Adobe Acrobat- powerful but like any tool it has to used correctly.
• Do’s and Don’ts for PDF files.

The guest speaker was Cheryl Muskus of Muskus Management Corporation. Cheryl spoke on the benefits of using a Contact Manager program such as ACT.

Cheryl spoke about the differences between CM versus CRM software. She mentioned that the distinctions between the too are their abilities in Sales Logic, and heir abilities to do Billing, Transactions, and Work orders. Some of the similarities mentioned are that they are a great way to find what you are looking for from a search standpoint.

Cheryl talked about CM and CRM in comparison to using Microsoft Outlook, she mentioned that the differences between them, is that Outlook is great for what it is meant to do, and that is emailing and calendar functions, but it lacks the ability to tie in contacts with events, and that it is difficult to export things into Outlook. She said that Outlook does its job, but it is limited.

CM and CRMs are your one stop shop for whenever you do anything with a client, it does a great job of keeping records.

Some of the CM programs that Cheryl mentioned, were ACT, SalesForce.net, Maximizer and Microsoft CRM.

Thanks Cheryl for your insightful talk on this subject.

If you would like to be the presenter at one of the Communication Networking Group monthly meetings, please apply to speak at the CNGWeb.net website.

Our Next meeting will be Friday, April 27th 2007, noon to 2 at Maxwell’s in the Best Western Midway Motor Lodge at the Moorland exit off of I94. April’s meeting will be held in Cali’s Lounge which is located just before the restaurant on the right hand side. Our guest speaker will be Bob Weiss on “How Not to Be Your Own Worst Enemy.” This event will be videotaped by OnYourMark, LLC.

Bring a friend!

Those attending were Eric Carver, Techware PC, Kathy Gaster, OnYourMark, LLC, John Gaidosh, Waymore Productions, Brian Weis, Wisconsin Jobs, John Wiedemann, Devin Group, John Murphy, Murphy Associates, Paul Gumm, Imaging Communications Service, Jeff Norton, Datum Consulting, LLC, Kurt and Sue Roskopf, Whatever Technical Solutions, Chad Murphy-Price, All-Star Design Studio, and Bob Syut,

The topic, Data Backup – Data Recovery was presented by Eric Carver, owner of TechWare PC. He spoke about the importance of backing up your computers, pictures, files and other data storage devices. He discussed the pros and cons of various types of backup medium including CDs, tape backups and remote backup services.

Eric discussed how easy it was to backup “my docs”, pictures and other files to a CD or DVD. The con to this is the life of a CD is around 5 years. Tape drives are very reliable as long as you rotate the tapes and replace as per the manufacturer’s recommendations. Tape backups have been around for over 25 years and are not fail proof. Remote backup uses the Internet to send your backups off site to a secure server and is automated and easy to use.

Data backup is an important part of data management for anyone with a computer. Those precious pictures of your children, your client list and important company information all should be protected with a data backup and recovery plan. Eric also suggested including a mock data recovery in your plan to check possible failure of your backup files.

You can find more out about remote data recovery at www.techwareit.com/datavault or contact Eric Carver at 262-808-9000.

We appreciated the time Eric spent with us discussing this important subject. Thank you.

If you would like to be the presenter at one of the Communication Networking Group monthly meetings, please apply to speak at the CNGWeb.net website.

The next regular meeting will be on February 23, 2007, noon to 2 at Maxwell’s in the Best Western Midway Motor Lodge at the Moorland exit off of I94. Podcasting is the scheduled topic for discussion presented by Keith Klein, President of OnYourMark, LLC.

Those attending included Keith Klein, John Murphy, Kurt Roshkopf, Jerry Schritz, John Gaidosh, John Gaidosh IV, Paul Gumm, Ted Vinzani, Mike Tischer, Frank Ciotti, Tom Erickson and Dave Bradford.

Portraits and 30 second videos were taken for those that wanted them. The video was a 30-second commercial, often called an elevator pitch, of a short monologue about you and your business. This video might be used at a convention, during a chamber of commerce meeting, or even…in an elevator. See Intelegist.com for a great example.

Many stayed and enjoyed OnYourMark, LLC’s open house activities that started at 2 p.m.

Meetings are held on the last Friday of each month at the Midway Motor Lodge (check meeting dates in case location changes) and the buffet lunch is worth the trip in and of itself!

Come join us for camaraderie and networking opportunities among Owners and CEOs of marketing, communications and technical firms.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Gaster

Those attending were: Paul Gumm, Imaging Communications Service; Dave Tacke; John Gaidosh, WaymoreArt.com; Keith Klein, OnYourMark, LLC; Kathy Gaster, OnYourMark, LLC; John Mujrphy, Murphy Associates; Dave Bradford; and Patty Murdock.

The meeting opened with a welcome from Keith Klein and everyone gave a brief introduction. The presentation was by John Gaidosh. A video production developed in joint venture with OnYourMark, LLC was previewed.

Keith Klein is doing trial run interviews with business owners and has a few more spots available. If anyone is interested in participating they can contact Kathy Gaster at OnYourMark, LLC by phone at 262-820-8201 or mailto:kathy@onyourmark.com.

John Murphy, Murphy Associates, lead a round table discussion on streaming video.

Keith Klein requested that everyone go to www.CNGWeb.net and enter their information as the web site has recently been updated. If they have any questions on the process please call Kathy Gaster at 262-820-8201.

The next meeting is tentatively planned for the first or second Friday in December at OnYourMark, LLC. Watch the web site for this information.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Gaster
Web Marketer
OnYourMark, LLC