Katie: Welcome to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. We are your hosts, Katie Laird -

Esther: And Esther Steinfeld.

Katie: - and we've got a pretty nifty show for you today, if I do say so myself, which I do.

Esther: You do.

Katie: I sure do. We have a great Chapter 3 where we're taking a look at certainly one of the hottest and most controversial news items out there - all about BP; talking a little bit about some crisis management tips.

Esther: Basically talking about what other companies have done successfully that BP might be able to learn something from.

Katie: Yes or a lot from. [Laughter]

Esther: A lot from.

Katie: Then in Chapter 2, we've got a fantastic interview with Nate Alder, founder and CEO of Klymit, Klymit with a K, a company that specializes in inflatable insulation gear for the outdoors.

Esther: Neat.

Katie: And that was an interesting interview that Russ Capper did for The BusinessMakers Show.

Esther: Very cool and then in Segment 1, as usual, we're going to do a little Business Week in Review but we're also gonna do a new segment this week.

Katie: Oooh!

Esther: Business Fact or Fiction.

Katie: Ahh!

Esther: That's gonna be fun and of course, you know, there's a segment we do - we don't do it every week but our links of the week segment.

Katie: Yes.

Esther: Links we Love. We talk about some amazing tips and tools you can use for your business to be successful, so we're gonna bring that back this week, too, so -

Katie: Exactly. We're -

Esther: Let's go.

Katie: -We're sharing the geekiness. [Laughter]

Esther: That's right. So what's happening with Walmart?

Katie: So we found a really interesting article on CNNmoney.com that actually has much different look at the economy and that, you know, the way things are running right now than what we've been hearing from other major retailers, like Saks, Hewlett-Packard, Target. Basically, Walmart isn't so like smiley, yellow happy face right now.

Esther: Sad face.

Katie: Sad face, saying that even though international growth has helped pushed up revenues up 6 percent, United States stores actually fell 1.4 percent from the same time this past year.

Esther: Interesting.

Katie: Which is interesting 'cause we keep hearing all of these, "Hooray, things are getting better! Things are wonderful!" from these higher-end retailers and yet Walmart who, I believe, would be an amazingly strong indicator of, you know, what the common man is going for, you know, as people are finding employment again and are able to actually buy a little bit more for their families. That's where they go, it's Walmart. And yet, Walmart is still hugely unhappy.

Esther: And they're saying that, you know, more than ever people are living paycheck to paycheck. They can't even afford gas to get to the store.

Katie: Yes.

Esther: So they're living off food stamps. They're getting a lot more government help these days so, you know, maybe if you were just being conservative because you were afraid and you didn't wanna go to Saks to buy your, you know, Jimmy Choos, now you're feeling okay. Okay, maybe I'm not gonna lose my job. Maybe I am gonna have this paycheck all the time and I still have my savings intact and you know, wanna go see a movie or go to a nice dinner. It's okay. So maybe that's why the higher end retailers are doing a little better and also Hewlett-Packard said that they have been doing better because they are selling more business computers -

Katie: Exactly.

Esther: - than personal computers.

Katie: Exactly and even Home Depot -

Esther: Commercial sales is a - you know?

Katie: Exactly. Exactly.

Esther: Like any retailer, you gotta branch out into commercial and government sales to really get those big orders.

Katie: So I mean definitely a smart move actually, I guess moving with the cheese. You know, figuring out that this isn't working and figuring out whose pockets are not completely empty. [Laughter]

Esther: That's right. Another retailer who is not doing its customers so well these days is AT&T.

Katie: Oh.

Esther: I have to say before we get into this news bit that I was in Manhattan, walking next to Central Park.

Katie: Okay.

Esther: I was there for a conference and I was literally in the heart of New York City and I had no reception. It's insane. I mean and actually the CEO of AT&T actually, he was in the news last week because he was talking about walking around Manhattan in New York and testing - there's an app that you can actually test for reception and see how good the reception is there - and he says, "We know, Manhattan, it's bad. We're working on it. But my God. AT&T.

Katie: Yeah, it's real bad.

Esther: It's really bad. So -

Katie: It's real bad.

Esther: - what's happening is you know for whatever reason AT&T has decided to increase its ETF. It's what, what -

Katie: Early termination fees.

Esther: That's right.

Katie: Boo! [Laughter]

Esther: So basically, Verizon already did it. We talked about it on this show.

Katie: Yes.

Esther: They did it several months ago.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: And we were outraged then and I guess AT&T's just trying to keep up with them because really, this is the smartest thing they've ever done. What a great way to make a little extra money and keep people customers for life? They're like, "Man, I'd rather have this crappy cell phone," and a ma- you know what I also think - it's one thing if you have an iPhone. You put up with it. You deal with the bad coverage. You deal with the spotty network because you have an iPhone and you know -

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: - it's a shiny, pretty thing but what if you don't have an iPhone and you're an AT&T customer? What if you have like some crappy little other phone that no one's even heard of and you still have to pay this outrageous fee to break your contract. You're like stuck with this piece of crap.

Katie: [Laughter] Well, it's funny 'cause this article from Fast Company says that even though AT&T is nearly doubling, you know, up to this $150.00 ETF fee now, for what the article calls dumb phones, so not smart phone, they're actually lowering their ETF from $175.00 to $150.00. So I - it almost is good -

Esther: All right that seems like a PR stunt to me.

Katie: It yeah, kinda does.

Esther: Like, "Oh we're, don't worry we're raising the smart phone fee from $175.00 to $325.00 but -

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: - we're actually reducing," and who even has a non- sm - a dumb phone as they say anymore?

Katie: [Laughter] I don't know.

Esther: By next year, no one's even gonna have one.

Katie: My mom. [Laughter]

Esther: Yeah. You know your grandmother.

Katie: But she's on Sprint anyway so it doesn't even matter. [Laughter]

Esther: Yeah. Their termination fee's pretty high, too, I think.

Katie: Yes, actually it truly is. [Laughter] Oh goodness.

Esther: Well I guess that wraps our news. We're gonna skip on to some other, more fun, features this week.

Katie: Yay! Let's talk about Business links to know.

Esther: Let's do it.

Katie: So I have one that's not completely, completely business related but time is money and this website will save you time. It is gethuman.com.

Esther: Awesome.

Katie: And it's really -

Esther: I like the name of it.

Katie: - honestly, it's really pretty darn simple. You go to gethuman.com. You type in any company name and they'll give you the direct number and extension to speak to an actual human being. So instead of sitting, you know, you're fighting with AT&T about something, instead of having to go dial 40 different numbers and then ending up somewhere in India where they drop your call anyway, now you can just go right to the heart of the problem and hopefully get it solved.

Esther: That's awesome.

Katie: So gethuman.com.

Esther: Did you actually see - you might not have seen this but on NBC this fall there's going to be a show called "Outsourced".

Katie: No.

Esther: And it's all about outsource, outsourcing, call centers, and -

Katie: It's like a reality program or -?

Esther: No, it's like a 30 minute sitcom.

Katie: Oh my gosh!

Esther: Like it's gonna be on after "The Office" or "30 Rock" or something.

Katie: [Laughter] Okay.

Esther: Yeah. We might like that. We're gonna have to talk about that one on the show when it comes out.

Katie: Yeah, right? Good deal. [Laughter]

Esther: Yeah. So my link of the week is actually something that Katie and I are very familiar with because we actually know the people who founded this company. It's pretty awesome local business, although not so local anymore. I mean, hope you haven't forgotten where you're from, guys.

Katie: [Laughter]

Esther: But the company's called Werkadoo. Werkadoo actually specializes in matching really talented, awesome qualified people with really awesome companies. It's like matchmaking for business.

Katie: They call it E-Harmony for business. I love it.

Esther: Right. It's amazing. You go through the process. You sign up. You fill out all this stuff. You tell them all about you, what makes you shine, and then a company comes to them and says, "We need this person and we need this bright, shining star" and they match you up and it's like how easy is that? You know, you kind of - its way for you to stand out in a sea of people who aren't as qualified as you are, aren't as funny and wonderful and talented and creative and it's just fantastic. We just really like this tool.

Katie: That's very cool and again, it's Werkadoo - it's W-E-R-K-A-D-O-O.com.

Esther: That's right.

Katie: Gotta love those geek brands. [Laughter]

Esther: Absolutely and they actually do a lot. They'll actually make - create a team. Like if you are working on a project or your company needs a project - they'll put together a team of people to work on this project for you.

Katie: I didn't even know that. That's cool.

Esther: Yeah. Yep.

Katie: Excellent.

Esther: Pretty awesome.

Katie: Speaking of pretty awesome, we're gonna do our very first, inaugural Quirky Business Facts.

Esther: I am nervous.

Katie: Fact or fiction - and Esther, you are on the hot seat tonight, lady.

Esther: I'm really nervous because when I sat in for John Beddow on The BusinessMakers Show, I had to do a similar task and I totally failed. It was like business -

Katie: Did you choke? [Laughter]

Esther: - business jargon and Russ Capper told me, "You're gonna know this one. It's easy." Did not know it.

Katie: Well I specifically picked these out because I don't think that you're gonna know it and it's not easy. Not that that's gonna help put you at ease at all. [Laughter]

Esther: That'll make me feel better, though when I don't get it.

Katie: Okay. So I -

Esther: Stop laughing at me, John.

Katie: [Laughter]

Esther: See you over there.

Katie: Actually, yeah, let's see how you fare, John.

Esther: Yeah, right?

John: Right. I'm gonna do it.

Katie: Come on! [Laughter]

Esther: Ridiculous.

Katie: So I have two little business tidbits for you, Esther and John. One of them is fact -

Esther: Right.

Katie: - and one of them is fiction and I want to know -

Esther: Cracking my knuckles over here.

Katie: - which is which. Number one Bank of America was originally named The Bank of Italy. Founded by the son of Italian immigrants, Amadeo Gianini, he wanted to start a bank serving immigrants that other banks wouldn't serve, especially as his father was shot, literally with a gun and bullets, after not repaying an outstanding $10.00 loan from a local bank.

Esther: Wow.

Katie: The very first Bank of Italy was started in a converted saloon in San Francisco and it was changed to Bank of America in 1928 after successfully weathering the Great Depression stock crash. So that's tidbit number one.

Esther: It's amazing because that sounds so real but you totally could've written that.

Katie: [Laughter] All right.

Esther: Damn you and you're good writing.

Katie: Tidbit number two. Way back in 1857, Edmond McIlhenny, founder of the McIlhenny Company, that is the company behind Tabasco hot sauce, for all of you hot sauce freaks - Edmond actually first bottled his hot sauce in old moonshine bottles. He used these because he thought they were easy to come by and he believed that the moonshine and peppers combined created a more powerful hot sauce, it would last much longer in kitchen pantries for cooks who were slow to use their sauce. That's tidbit number two. You guys nervous, palms sweating?

John: No, I know which one's fake.

Katie: You know which one's fake?

John: Yeah.

Katie: Esther?

Esther: Um, I think the hot sauce one is fake.

John: Bank of America.

Esther: Bank of America is fake?

Katie: No. The hot sauce one is fake.

John: No, he did use - aw, come on now. He -

Esther: Woop! Woop!

Katie: Edmond, Edmond used, in his very first batches of Tabasco hot sauce, he used discarded cologne bottles that he found in his bathroom, not moonshine bottles.

John: No!

Esther: Man, I feel good.

Katie: That's right, Esther!

Esther: I feel better because you were so sure.

Katie: Yeah. You were - you knew it.

John: I just watched something on Tabasco and I was like, "Sweet, I know this."

Katie: You better TiVo that next time, then. [Laughter]

Esther: You better re-watch it.

John: Wah wah wah.

Esther: That's amazing.

Katie: So Bank of America originally the Bank of Italy.

Esther: Pretty weird. That's my bank, too.

Katie: Pretty, pretty funky. Okay. Yeah, it has roots.

Esther: Cultural roots.

Katie: That's right. [Laughter]

Esther: I like it.

Katie: Very edifying.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: That's what we are here at The BusinessMakers Overtime Show. [Laughter]

Esther: Edifying. Yes. Well I guess that wraps up Chapter 1. Stay tuned for our wonderful interview - actually it's not our wonderful interview, it's Russ Capper's -

Katie: Exactly. We're riding on his coattails.

Esther: - wonderful interview with Nate Alder and he invented something totally, totally rad. We're gonna talk about it in Chapter 2. So stay tuned. You're listening to The BusinessMakers Overtime Show, heard here and online at theBusinessMakers.com. I'm Esther Steinfeld -

Katie: And I'm Katie Laird.

Esther: We'll be back in Chapter 2.