Little Jake Series Rights purchased for APTN development deal

After many years of effort, I was very pleased to see the completion of the Option purchase for the production of digital shorts based on the Little Jake children's book series this month! This charming western adventure series (image of Book 3 adjacent) features protagonist Little Jake and his foil and side-kick, Many Skies.

A development deal is in place between APTN and producers Marylin Thomas and Tracey of Little Jake Productions for a series of digital shorts. Now in the animation phase, the deal closed this month on the purchase of the book series for production from author Jake Conkin.

It was my pleasure to assist the business development which was originally an option deal with Blair Peters and Vancouver's Studio B way back in 1999!

Well, just shows that perserverance is one of the keys to business. Congratulations Jake, Carol, and thanks to Blair, Tracey, Marylin and Wayne Clark for their untold efforts to bring Jake's dream of wholesome family entertainment set in the West to the digital world.

Top 12 SEO tips - SEO Expert Gary R. Beal of Sticky Eyes video riiPlay

Our fundfindr.tv crews captured Gary R. Beal's presentation at the 2008 Internet Marketing Conference in Vancouver. This continues our series of riiPlays of the 2008 IMC event for interested viewers with the 2009 event upcoming in September with keynote Google evangelist, Avinash Kaushik. Get tickets here.

Gary, previously Search Manager for Sticky Eyes in the Uk, was one of my favourite presenters of the entire conference with his combination of wit, must be his time spent in the UK, and of course, his SEO expertise. Note: The video runs 37 minutes and focuses on Gary not his slides.

Tune into the Top 12 SEO tips for 2008 but don't worry they still apply today! And if you would like to see Gary's Top SEO tips for 2009, you can connect to his great blog GarytheScubaGuy and the 2009 post here.

For an IPOD compatible version of the video, click here. For an MP3 file for audio only, click here.

Please note: Future video and media posts related to Internet Marketing, Sales, Branding, Education, Content Monetization and Technology will be featured here on the riiPlay.tv blog and/or website. Media and posts on finding funds for start-ups and small business, investment, venture capital, angel investing and content specific to what we like to call "Venture Dating" will continue to be posted on fundfindr.tv. This better filters the content and reflects the broader series of events we now capture and deliver.

5 Simple Steps to Small Biz Sales Success

I recently had the pleasure of facilitating a half-day workshop, Simple Steps for Sales Success, in Squamish, BC with 13 up and coming entrepreneurs. And contrary to Dilbert's sentiment here, small businesses typically either does both sales and marketing among their many hats (so they avoid this rivalry) or at a certain scale, they may bring in some expert help.

In fact, after leading many sessions like this, I was very impressed by the Howe Sound participants innovation and drive for their ventures which spanned organic farming, graphic design, art, daycare, accupunture, photography and a few others.

The workshop was sponsored by Community Futures Howe Sound and firstly, I have to say that the CF team - Nicole, Megan and Sandra - was outstanding in terms of their program development, support and resources made available for the participants. Great to see this type of support for small business.

Simple Steps To Sales Success Step 1 Bret Conkin Rii Play.Tv July 2009

View more presentations from Bret Conkin.

The topic was on Sales for Small Business and I presented our 5 Step Cycle for Sales Success. Step 1 is all about the foundation including a clear definition of your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition. Based on request, I am sharing excerpts of it on our blog and on Slideshare, to benefit a wider audience. You can see the Introduction and Step 1 by clicking above. Enjoy and please feel free to comment.

The 3 little pigs, Rodney Dangerfield and Squamish's Chief all weigh in on how to best create a plan and strategy for your small business. What can you learn from Rodney? No, not the pigs with the brick house....

I will be doing a second session on July 31st and will cover Step 1 including measurement, goal-setting, the difference between marketing and sales (as explained by Dilbert and others!) and riiPlay.tv's Selling Success Cycle.

If you would like to find out more, hold a workshop for your Chamber of Commerce or small business members or you are a small business wanting to improve your sales, please contact me via info@riiplay.tv!