There’s $2.2 trillion in private equity deals expected this year– $821 B of them in the United States alone.  Law firm Duane Morris recently assembled a panel of experienced investors and strategic buyers for a symposium on this year’s private equity outlook.

Joseph Ibrahim of Riverside, a global private equity investment firm which discovers the next generation of medical technologies and devices, was one of the panelist. He plans another 40 investments globally in 2012. “We look worldwide for the right opportunities to grow the company,” he says.

Joseph counsels, “Positioning your company for a sale can take a couple years if you do it right. Think about it before the exit, and build that story from the beginning—it’s money well spent.”

As you create your legend, Joseph suggests focusing on why your company is special or unusual—it can drive good valuation and make you easier to desire. If you are one of several firms just like you, then you open yourself to price pressure at the closing table. This is the intersection of storytelling (or public relations) and sales–your story is an intrinsic part of your sales strategy.

Like Riverside, Roark Capital is looking for new acquisitions. The investment firm’s platform companies include GFL and Wastepro.

Robert Bryant of Roark said he expects to find more opportunities to acquire companies this  2^nd and 3^rd quarter—maybe even restaurants. The pace at which investment companies roll up other firms is another item for companies to be aware of when looking for the right investment partner. Richard Kahlbaugh, Chairman of the Board at Fortegra Financial, worked with Summit Partners when structuring Fortegra’s IPO a few years ago. He commented that knowing when to join an investment fund was critical in giving his company the mentorship and time it needed. “When you join too late in a fund, the investment team may have to do something dramatic to exit, and that isn’t usually good for your operation.”

Give your story great characters

All of the investors, whether with private equity or with strategic buyers, focus on the strength of the management team when evaluating acquisitions.

“For us, says Joseph, “it’s all about the management team. We can augment, but that is not our preference.” He explains that Riverside keeps their eventual customer in mind. “We will sell it in 3-5 years, so our customer is further out—that’s how we evaluate the opportunity, as it looks to us 10-15 years down the line.”

Says Steve Voorhees of Rockten, “If the management team is not strong, it’s very problematic. The general managers are a big part of the solution—the assets end up being a function of how well they are managed.” Robert Bryant with Roark also  mentioned they prefer to back an existing, functioning team, although Roark does have experience backing existing entrepreneurs in environmental services.

Steve also commented that “structuring a deal and doing the financial analysis and tax implications up front can be absolutely critical in getting deals over the goal line.” He also likes to see financial analysis done early and done right.

Also on the panel was Ronald Chang, who acquires companies for UPS. “The two things that scare me the most about a potential acquisition are when one person knows everything, like the founder, or when a firm only has only one truly outstanding sales person. In either of these situations, UPS is generally not interested.”

Ron shared his advice for companies that want to sell—engage an advisor or investment bank to help work through reasonable expectations of value.

“EBITDA is not as important, because we will be integrating them into an existing business.” He points out that for UPS to conduct due diligence can easily cost from $500,000 to $1M, so it takes a substantial minimum deal size to justify the consideration costs.

All that said, what really gets Big Brown moving is current customer demand. If UPS needs a technology to protect its customer base from a competitor, that’s a big driver for strategic acquisitions, he commented.

Focus on a clear financial plot

Besides a sound management team and stable sales engine, overall financial performance is high on all of these deal-makers lists.

“The last thing you want to see on an acquisition is roller coaster earnings. Everyone’s projections all look surprising similar: the hockey stick. But history reveals all,” says Ron.

Carefully edit your IP

The final hot button for all of the investors on the panel was owning intellectual property. “You just can’t buy what you don’t own,” said one of the panelists, pointing out that he sees too many potential deals where the companies “don’t even own their own trademark.”

–Lisa Calhoun

I may not be the world’s best networker, but I have noticed a few things recently that made a difference in my success rate, and ultimately confidence, when it comes to networking with other executives. Please take a look at these tips I’ve discovered to help make networking a breeze.

Be memorable – The real challenge begins once the introductions have subsided. The given period of small talk has passed, and it is up to you (or them) to keep the conversation going (or not). Now, you could take the easy path and discuss what your businesses have in common, where you went to school, or your latest big company news, but that would be boring. And you won’t stand out. Try taking the conversation to a new level by sharing a surprising piece of information you just learned, discussing a favorite vacation spot, or asking a question about the person’s day. The goal here is to be different. Stand out. Challenge the conversation. If one person is willing to take the conversation from “small talk” to “real talk”, both parties are bound to feel more comfortable, and leave with a face, name, and businesscard that could turn into something more than the faceless businesscard sitting next to it.

Always be prepared – Obviously, you don’t want to go to a business party without your cards. But what about the grocery store? The park? I have made many valuable connections with people outside of the typical networking scenario. This is why I have learned to always carry business cards with me. Most of them store great inside your iPhone 4 case ;), and you know you’ll always have that by your side!

Follow-up - If you meet someone whom you think you could possibly do business with one day, follow up. If you meet someone you think you may never do business with one day, follow up. The key to networking is realizing that it is meant to expand your network. Maybe you didn’t meet the perfect prospect, but you may have met his brother, friend, or future colleague. Treat everyone you meet like they have the ability to help your business, and in turn, be willing to help them. A simple follow-up note takes so little time, and it sets you apart. This way, if you actually do need to reach out in the future…you’ve already started on the right foot.

Post written by Melissa Grisham.

In the future many people simply will not read.   For many the future is “now.”

What?  How radical!  How can I make such a statement?

Well, because I observe it, and quite frankly because I am part of it.  Now let’s calibrate:  There’s nothing like reading a good novel on a sandy beach during vacation; likewise, who hasn’t stayed awake far past bedtime to find out Who-Done-It when reading a James Patterson mystery. No, this article refers to all the other “stuff” senders ask us to read—printed text on paper, or in small fonts on websites, trying to gain our attention and provide us with information. Slowly, but surely, I see it disappearing.

It’s certainly generational.  Under-Thirties receive information differently than Fifty-somethings.  Under-Twenties, differently still.  Does Madison Avenue really expect today’s teens to read their slick copy as they enter the workforce with increased purchasing power?    To me, that would seem to be the equivalent of investing in a buggy-whip factory.

To the well-known Atlanta-based law firm who sends me, by snail-mail, an impressive eight-page glossy mini-magazine several times a year:  “Thanks, but I don’t read it”, and I suspect I am not alone.

I examine my own information-receiving habits:  It’s Bloomberg Television for business news in the morning (on my iPhone, by-the-way); TV for local news; CNN and Fox for national news; Bloomberg Radio driving to work; NPR for a break from the news; and on and on.  Thanks to DriveSafe.ly my incoming email messages are converted from text to voice—I listen to email, I don’t read email.  Then suddenly, as I go to a website for information, my world changes– I’m asked to sit patiently in front of a screen and read, and read and read.   It’s like going back in time—I consciously, or even subconsciously, really want to receive information through audio and/or video formats.  I’m increasingly impatient and turned-off by having to read.

Yes, for many the future is now.  Many websites are replacing their tired, stale head shots and written verbiage with crisp, concise presentations using video and audio.  Recently, I learned to use my voice-to-text software by watching a very well-designed and professionally-presented four minute video on the vendor’s website.  I’m spoiled!  I may never read a user’s manual again.

Time-shifting is also increasingly important.  Like many busy persons, not only do I wish to receive information by audio and video means, but I need to receive it on my schedule…often not the sender’s schedule.

Finally is the topic of multi-tasking:  How cool is it to quickly download several audio interviews of persons and topics of interest to me, onto my iPod, and listen as I hit golf balls on the driving range, or pull weeds from the flower beds.  I do it regularly, filling my head with information I would not have otherwise received had reading been the only option.

Let’s summarize:

• We must prepare for a time in which people won’t read
• For many the future is now
• Connect with me by audio or video or both—assume I won’t read your information
• Allow me to time-shift into a time period convenient for me
• Allow me to multi-task while I am receiving your information

That’s what will work for me in the future, and that’s what is working for me today.

I think I should make an audio or video recording of this Blog!  Yep, I probably need to do that.

Guest post written by Bernie Wolford, President of Buckingham Associates, LLC

No longer.

Social media are engaging by nature, as opposed to impressing for traditional media. So it’s critical to come up with a strategy about the type of engagement you want to create with your audience and who you want to engage.

The recent struggles of McDonalds in the world of Twitter give a good example of unwanted engagement with the wrong audience.

McDonalds launched a campaign on Twitter using the hashtag #McDStories. The idea was to inspire people to share their McDonalds stories. Well … sharing they did! The invitation was accepted and #McDStories was used to share many stories. But as you can image not all stories were exactly positive stories and so the #McDStories hashtag quickly became a bashtag. Eventually the stories about the bad stories took over the bashing. So the #McDStories channel got clogged. Try finding a positive #McDStories tweet, it’s impossible now.

The moral of the story is to realize that not every social medium is the same and that especially on Twitter there is absolutely no control or ownership. One might argue that even in the old days ‘all publicity is good publicity’ but that’s not true anymore. If you’re a brand that has had serious image challenge for years, a campaign gone negative on Twitter is the last thing you’d like to pursue.

So for McDonalds to engage with their loyal audience without the unwanted interference of the other, Facebook is offering a much better platform. And McDonalds is already using this as well. Actually McDonalds is doing just fine on Facebook, with no less than 13 million likes!

Obviously there are also ‘I hate McDonalds” groups – but 13 million fans grouped and addressable are a true asset to work with. And you’ll find the I hate McDonalds groups only when you search for them. Now 13 million sounds like a lot – but Coca-cola has more than 37 million fans on Facebook, so there’s still room for much more reach.

Conclusion: social media offer unique ways to tailor B2C engagement, each has specific uses, benefits and dangers.

Guest post by Wayne Kurzen, Certified Growth Coach

Fortune Magazine says 70% of CEOs fail because they don’t take action. The real problem isn’t the high-level strategy.  It’s bad execution!

Your strategy becomes public knowledge rather quickly – the deal breaker is in how well you execute!  Southwest Airlines is the only airline that has made money every year for the past 27 years. Everyone knows its strategy, yet no company has successfully copied its execution.

How do you know it you have an Execution problem?

1. Increasing Revenue is not accompanied by increasing Profit.
2. Dealing with the same internal problem(s) over and over.
3. Not consistently delivering the same quality (including delivery time) product/service.
4. Taking too much time to make and/or distribute your product/service.
5. Everyone is pointing the finger at some other entity to try to deflect liability and blame.
6. Too many boring meetings.
7. Slow decision-making – not enough relevant and accurate feedback.

In my previous article, I introduced the Four Decision areas critical to business fast growth. These Decisions are People, Strategy, Execution and Cash.  Let’s take a brief look at the Decision that most effects Profit – EXECUTION.

Would you like to know your strengths and weakness regarding Execution? Take a look at this Execution Checklist used by 20,000 companies worldwide.

So what is the secret to overcoming Execution problems?  Well, it really goes back to Decision #1, PEOPLE.  But let’s say you have the right people in the right seats and you know you have a great strategy.

“The reality in most organizations is that execution too often turns into talking about execution. It becomes talking instead of doing. You must build a unified organization that is quick, bold and knows how to execute.” Tom Peters, author In Search of Excellence

Execution requires a plan, discipline, systems, accountability, and commitment.  Here are some tools and actions I have found that make execution consistently happen:

• Awareness of where you are now – try the Gazelles 10 Habits Execution Checklist.
• A 90-day action plan with 3-5 goals supporting your Strategic Goals – complete with action steps, who is responsible, and when each is to be completed.
• Commitment of resources – giving your team both the responsibility and the authority to execute.
• Measuring the right Key Performance Indicators and knowing what they mean.
• Documented processes.  If it isn’t written – it is not a process.
• Knowing the difference between a problem and a “tension” – you solve problems, but manage “tensions”.
• Constant attention to your supply chain – your vendors are your customers too.
• Keeping your team “Synchronized”—a well-run, meaningful Daily Huddle (10-12 minutes).

About WAYNE KURZEN

Wayne Kurzen the founder of “The Kurzen Group”, has over 30 years of sales, marketing, management and leadership experience. He is known for putting the fun and profit back into business by providing new ideas, proven strategies and customized solutions for growing businesses and executives who want to increase their revenue and get bigger and better results from their team.

Wayne personally started an importing business that he grew to Home Depot supplier in just 2 years. As a business coach, he has won four national level coaching awards for marketing, client results, and rookie coach of the year.

Wayne is a former military and airline pilot, certified Gazelles International Coach, a member of the Atlanta-based Entrepreneur Advisors, and an inspirational presenter. www.WayneKurzen.com

Just a couple weeks ago Obama, with Clinton at his side, announced another $4 B in federal investment in smart grid technologies for the business sector in the next two years. That’s in addition to the $10B earmarked by the Recovery Act in 2009. This is a drop in the bucket of the almost $53 billion in smart grid investment expected just in the U.S., but shows that policy is pointing this direction on a federal level.

To capitalize on the energy public relations and industry leadership buzz, it’s important to understand where the bulk of this money will go. Much of it will be plowed into smart meter upgrades for utilities across the United States. That’s happening now, and as soon as the majority of home and business meters are “smart” instead of linear, a lot of things start to happen fast. For one thing, utilities and power generation companies will be overwhelmed with data. Good data management and analysis will become the fodder for a technology boom around energy that will help match energy supply with demand in almost real time.

Top Smart Grid and Energy PR Stories 2012 Feature Tech

Smart grid publicity in 2012 will focus on big picture around difficulties of the data being gathered for the first time at scale. Entrepreneurs and technology innovators will have stories around geomapping, metering, and monitoring in new ways.

Energy PR Do’s and Don’ts for 2012

If you’re one of the IT companies investing in the energy boom, you’ll need to keep these thoughts in mind as you tell your story to the business world:

1)     Explain WHY the technology you have around smart grid is important in clear, simple and human terms. For example, to say a “new technology saves 10 trillion megawatt hours by interpolating data from live sources” is not going to cut it and will be easy to misquote. You’ll have to translate your technology in simple examples busy people can comprehend to get the publicity impact you’re looking for. For example, your “technology cuts the power a small town needs to thrive by 40% by figuring out the patterns it the town’s energy usage.” And go on to explain that the money saved, ploughed back into the town, can repave all the roads twice, or hire 22 new teachers, or build an airport.

2)     Don’t use energy tech speak. Most of the problems around energy PR come from the fact that brilliant people work in energy—and  have for most of their careers. They have learned their own dialect. But if you’re an energy or cleantech company and you use the energy dialect with a typical business journalist, you might miss out on the big story you were looking for simply because the language hid it from them in the few fast minutes they had to interview you.

3)     Do turn ideas and numbers into concrete items. Many of the stories around smart grid investment over 2012 will focus on security, technology, data analysis, and the emerging smart grid network. All of these are conceptual—the average business reader will understand your technology much more instinctively if you take the numbers and concepts, and turn them into practical hypothetical examples with emotional impact, so they can feel as well as understand these stories.

4) Assume an ignorant audience. Most people, even educated business readers, are specialists. Almost all smart grid stories get off on the wrong foot if you assume a general understanding of smart grid infrastructure—always back off and explain the big picture, then go into the specifics of the development you are reporting.

Licking the surface of a raging river

We produce so much energy in the US—yet only use the smallest fraction of it. It’s almost like even with all the gas we burn in our cars, all the lights we leave on, all the AC and heat on all the time in all the malls, we are still only licking the surface of a raging river when it comes to the energy we actually LOSE.

Few stories in 2012 will have as much impact on our lives as those around the smart grid. The energy to power our future is hidden in the sentences and stories being told. It’s important for public relations professionals as well as energy journalists to put their best communications foot forward to give stakeholders a crystal picture of these developments as they happen.

What do you find most difficult about telling smart grid energy stories accurately? Let us hear from you @write2market.

Part 2 of 10

I hope you enjoyed our last energy and oil and gas PR tip–watching out for Clean Air Act impact by crafting a message strategy that protects and promotes your environmental investments.

For the second of the Top 10 Energy PR Tips and Trends in our series, we turn to shale oil.

US Oil Boom Demands Expert Media Messages

It takes millions to drill a shale oil well and begin to frack it–and only a few weeks in production to make that money back, if managed properly. The growing, hungry world runs primarily on fossil fuel and has a big appetite for diesel, the most “bang for the buck” of common fuel sources. 2011 was first time since 1949 that the US was a net exporter diesel and refined petroleum products–and with Bakken, Eagle Ford, and Marcellus shale sources coming on line as fast as possible in market driven by historically high barrel prices, the rush to capitalize on tight oil will drive many a major investment. Expect the competing issues over water management, environmental damage, taxation and new exploration technology to maintain a fever pitch in national news as well as engineering and trade commentary. If you think America watched Middle East crisis in Iraq and Iran the last few decades with interest, imagine their involvement in oil when it’s produced onshore, in their backyards.

ENERGY PR Take-Away: Fortunes will ride on properly managing the message for investors, technologists, engineers and the public this coming year.

New environmental and production technologies will need expert message support to break through the clutter and get the attention they deserve. Write2Market can help.

The holiday season slows things down just enough to share some of the inside perspective at Write2Market on the year ahead in energy public relations.

Write2Market has deep roots in upstream and downstream energy public relations and investor relations, and I’m looking forward to sharing a few thoughts with you here about how to create the reputation you deserve in the coming volatile news environment.

The 2012 Energy and PR News Opportunities

This year will be different–with more fortunes made and more than a few broken than previous years. More than ever–energy public relations will be a driving force in creating profits and protecting assets.

Why? A confluence of powerful regulatory, exploratory, and financial markets will drive a media environment around energy that will make the BP oil spill look like a commercial break.

Consider these issues and how they effect your energy company:

1. The 2011 Clean Air Act has teeth–for example, just this month in Louisiana, Pelican Oil was sentenced to pay $12 M in violations for not properly implementing environmental protections at its Lake Charles refinery. The Clean Air Act, just effective this last year, is gaining steam as the EPA learns how to enforce and penalize.

ENERGY PR Take-Away: Properly communicating your environmental commitment is worth millions. Write2Market knows this landscape–let’s discuss how we can help.

Interested in more 2012 Energy PR Tips & Trends?

Read Part 2: Inside perspective on energy and oil & gas public relations

Download this energy PR presentation: Energy publicity trends

As you’re looking for opportunities to share your knowledge and experience with your target audience refer to this energy PR presentation, which reveals several key prospects for you to get your name, company and mission in front of key decision makers.

This energy PR presentation will show you how to take initial steps toward becoming a recognizable industry leader with our Triple A Industry Leadership Methodology: Access to decision makers at energy conferences, awareness through media relations and awards.

Don’t miss our energy PR events!