Maymay made a business out of a YouTube channel, and you can too
Posted On October 7, 2024
Businesses can start from all sorts of places and situations. For Maymay Helms, her business started with a house fire. “In 2011, we lost everything we owned in a fire in our home,” she said. “I had been kind of a fan of YouTube. I’d been watching paper crafters and artists and things that I loved. And I remember saying to my husband: ‘I think I could do this.’” Helms did just that, starting a YouTube paper crafting channel out of a 4×6 closet that now has more than 380,000 subscribers. Our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
Disrupting the old school way: By creating a unique customer experience
Posted On September 12, 2024
Want to disrupt an industry? Most would lean on new technology. But that’s not the only way to do it. How about a radically unique customer experience? That’s exactly what Ron Holt has done to do something most wouldn’t have thought possible – make moving fun. Holt founded Birmingham-based Pink Zebra Moving after his mother-in-law had a terrible experience with another moving company. Our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” he’d already had one entrepreneurial success, the residential cleaning company Two Maids & A Mop, which experienced rapid growth after utilizing a unique compensation model… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
How to get people to pay for something they can find for free
Posted On August 16, 2024
Why would you pay for something that you can find elsewhere for free? You might if it’s a superior product or service. Or if it’s a service personalized specifically for you. Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” has done just that. Rob Lightbrown is a lifelong weather junkie and former National Weather Service intern who now runs Crown Weather Services, a subscription-based website that serves, essentially, as a personal weatherman for its subscribers. While there is a plethora of weather forecasts available for free on television, the internet and social media, Lightbrown said many… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
The Path to Distinction: How to set your business apart
Posted On June 3, 2024
How do you set yourself apart from your competitors? The first step is becoming distinctive. How do you do that? Scott McKain can tell you. McKain, our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” is a speaker, author. consultant and Sales and Marketing Hall of Famer who has put a lot of study and research into how a company or brand can become distinctive. “Distinction to me is being the go-to in your category,” he said. “Why would a customer choose you instead of the other alternatives in the marketplace?” For many of us, it’s because… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
Helping businesses grow through franchising
Posted On May 28, 2024
Burnie Juneau helps businesses grow. But only if they want to. Juneau, our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” works for Franchise Marketing Systems. Based in the Atlanta area, FMS identifies companies ripe for expansion through franchising, helps them prepare for the process, and then helps them find and vet franchisees. Most of these businesses are restaurants or service-related companies. Juneau, based in New Orleans, has a background in the food-service industry and focuses on restaurants from Texas to Florida. “I like to see successes,” he said. “I’m looking for Mom and Pops, businesses that… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
How to grow a restaurant business (and how not to)
Posted On April 23, 2024
What kind of restaurant has the best chance at scalability? What are the most common mistakes restauranteurs make? What should anyone who wants to start their own business ask themselves? Lauren Fernandez knows, because she’s been there. Fernandez, our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” is the CEO of Full Course, an Atlanta-based investment company and accelerator that specializes in helping restauranteurs scale their businesses with an eye toward eventual sale. Fernandez is an attorney who became a restaurant manager and owner herself, so the advice she provides comes from experience. A self-described “MacGyver” whose… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
Selling team-branded gear (and getting smiles) just takes some personality
Posted On April 7, 2024
Shadrick Toodle came by his gift of charisma naturally. His mother raised six children and still found time to teach Sunday School and be the “candy lady” in the neighborhood. So when Toodle had kids of his own, he threw himself into their sports and other activities. And that, combined with his personal charm and judicious use of social media, has helped him build a business. Toodle, our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” owns Toodle Boys Sports, which designs, creates and sells unique branded clothing and other merchandise for high schools, club programs and… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
Creating the ‘World’s Best Salsa,’ and growing a brand
Posted On March 31, 2024
Cooking is in Tony Tejas ‘ blood. But his background is in restaurant management. Tejas has now combined his cooking skills and his business sense to create his own products and his own company. He shared how in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston.” A Mobile native, he spent part of his younger years in Houston and developed a love for Mexican cuisine. During his 20 years as a restaurant manager, he developed a concept for his own restaurant. While that concept never got off the ground, it became the catalyst for something else. Disgusted at what… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
When it comes to training quarterbacks, a top coach remains a student
Posted On March 10, 2024
David Morris has trained a lot of quarterbacks. His company, QB Country, has trained four first-round NFL draft picks since he started it in 2009. Two more, Drake Maye and Bo Nix, could be first-round picks in this year’s draft. But Morris, our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” still believes that he has more to learn. “I’m more of a student now than I’ve ever been,” said Morris, a former collegiate quarterback at Ole Miss. “You can’t fake this stuff when you’re talking about guys that are going to be top 10 picks. Year-round,… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
Designing great outdoor spaces and an engaging social media presence
Posted On March 3, 2024
We have talked before in this space with experts who tell us we need to harness the power of social media to build our personal brand, and build our business. Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” is someone who’s putting that advice to good use. Catherine Arensberg is a landscape architect in Mobile, Alabama, who has built quite a social media presence. She has 26,000 followers on Instagram, more than 5,000 on Facebook, and 8,000 on YouTube, where she hosts her own web series: Simple.Honest.Design. She’s done it by being authentic – followers have… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston