Lee Brice: Garth Brooks is my hero | Kurt's Country
Neil A. Carousso produces NewsNation original “Kurt’s Country” – a celebration of country music and a slice of Americana with host Kurt Bardella.
-
What’s Up New York: Browsing Lingerie for Fashion Week
Produced by Carousso Enterprises, LLC and NY2C Corp.
NEW YORK, NY — It’s getting hot in here.
Ahead of New York Fashion Week and Valentine’s Day, Alycia Powers hosts NY2C’s What’s Up New York from Illisa’s Vintage Lingerie in Midtown East.
NY2C’s flagship digital series “What’s Up New York” is produced and written by Carousso Enterprises, LLC.
-
Taking the Leap: Growing and Scaling a Business Amid Great Resignation
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Many people who started businesses while working from home are quitting their jobs to run their companies full-time.
“I love the independence of entrepreneurship,” said Ramon Ray, founder of Smart Hustle Media, on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
Ray has made a career out of his passion for small businesses, advocating for digital growth tools and community support. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the serial entrepreneur saw so-called “solo-preneurship” booming and wrote an e-book guide “Grow Your Solo” in which Ray outlines steps to start and grow a sole-proprietorship.
“You can scale the business to the size that you want and be happy with that and live the life you want,” he told WCBS 880.
A record 5.4 million Americans submitted new business applications in 2021, a number that has accelerated since July 2020 as economists and employers became aware of the great resignation phenomenon.
One of the greatest challenges new business owners face is pricing their products and services.
“Let’s say in the Northeast, right – us people – you want to pay yourself $150 (thousand), $200 (thousand), whatever it is,” Ray said. “Now, maybe triple that.”
The small business expert noted owners have to pay employees and contractors, overhead costs, operating expenses, other unforeseen costs, plus taxes. That’s a big adjustment for entrepreneurs who have left high-paying salaried jobs.
Ray started Smart Hustle while working at the United Nations. He told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso that he was fired about seven years ago with one client on his roster.
“I had a $40,000 client. That’s all I had, Joe, but it was able to give me enough cushion and a starting point, a runway, to begin my full-time business,” said Ray.
He accepted monthly payments from the client to stay afloat and support his family while selling his services to more clients.
He suggests owners secure a few good clients, first, before taking the leap. At the same time, he believes entrepreneurs who are confident in their business will succeed if they are passionate and motivated.
As a small business owner himself, Ray consults with large national and international firms as clients and is the entrepreneur-in-residence at NetSuite, Inc., a leading cloud computing software company.
“If you’re trying to bid or sell for a larger project, don’t try to pretend and say, ‘We, we, we. We have 100 people back there,’ when you don’t. They’ll smell through that, so you can’t sell on that,” he explained, adding, “But, you can sell them on the passion and commitment and your, hopefully, past success and talk about, ‘We’re small, but we’re nimble. Maybe we can be more price competitive. We have an amazing team that will serve your needs and we will be your only focus.'”
Ray also advises to sell services directly to an executive within a company because that person can be a key endorsement and referral to other departments within the firm.
See more advice and inspiration for starting, growing and scaling a business on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight video above.
-
NYC Crime: Mourning and Outrage Over Cop’s Murder
Produced by Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Grief turns into anger over gun violence in New York City as thousands of NYPD officers and cops from around the country gathered at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue where murdered Detective Jason Rivera’s funeral was held Friday morning.
In her eulogy, Rivera’s widow Dominique gave a pointed message for New York’s leaders who are vowing to act on rising crime. Lynda Lopez examines how they aim to restore safety to the city’s streets on The 880 Weekly Rewind.
Listen to The 880 Weekly Rewind Podcast for a deep dive into the top stories of the week, produced by Neil A. Carousso for WCBS-AM New York.
-
What’s Up New York: Hot Yoga
Produced by Carousso Enterprises, LLC and NY2C Corp.
NEW YORK, NY — NY2C’s “What’s Up New York” kicks off season two with a hot yoga session in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.
Now is the perfect time to start working on your summer body and host Alycia Powers and the What’s Up New York crew took part in a class at Hot Yoga Chelsea on this week’s episode on fitness. One team member gave up mid-workout!
NY2C’s flagship digital series “What’s Up New York” is produced and written by Carousso Enterprises, LLC.
-
Midtown Music Store Attracts Global Audience with Digital Marketing Strategy
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — It’s all about that brass.
J. Landress Brass, a niche musical instrument store on W. 32nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, now has customers all around the world.
“We have instruments that people are sending us to restore from California, from Iowa, from Indiana, all over the United States,” said owner Josh Landress. “Just this week, we’ve shipped out instruments to Germany, to France, to Korea, and that’s all generated through our online presence.”
On the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank, Landress told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso that he focused on growing the company’s Facebook and Instagram accounts during the COVID-19 shutdown in March 2020. They posted videos showing their craftsmanship repairing brass instrument valves and fixing dents as well as showcasing individual performances.
“People have discovered our abilities outside of us helping New York and they really are coming to us for our skills – as far as our craft – and for our products that we’re selling, we’re having a very curated high-end business of retail,” he said.
Landress told WCBS 880 the company’s revenue increased 60 percent since making digital sales and marketing a focul point.
“For many years, my business was kind of derived with local New York business kind of supporting the New York community,” he explained. “I really had to find a new direction for my business in order to keep my employees employed and the doors open and with that was really generating more online traffic so the use with Instagram and Facebook.”
While J. Landress Brass expanded globally, its hometown customers in New York demonstrated why they are the heart and soul of the business.
Several customers created a montage video while the store was shuttered, performing Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” on their instruments at home. When J. Landress Brass reopened, they were greeted with scores of new customers.
“We were still doing what we do once we reopened after being closed for 115 days and people in the community came here just to say hello, and be around instruments, and see other people just to feel normal again,” said Landress. “It was really an honor to be a part of that.”
See this heartwarming story of how the local music community rallied around J. Landress Brass and how the company has amassed a global audience on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight video above.
