Global conference captures passion of entrepreneurs

Editor’s note: Eric Dudley is president of WebsiteBiz, a Charlotte-based online marketing agency. He serves as communications chair for the Charlotte Chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - For the second consecutive year, I was given the opportunity to participate as a Charlotte representative at the Entrepreneurs' Organization Global Leadership Conference in San Francisco. The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is a global community of business owners, all of whom run companies that exceed $1 million in revenue. The Global Leadership Conference brought together 600 chapter leaders from around the globe.

This year's Global Leadership Conference focused on capturing the hearts and minds of those whom you wish to influence and lead. Passion, innovation, productivity, accountability, visionary thinking and understanding your customers were all topics of discussion.

Supporting the theme, presenters included Ken Blanchard, bestselling author of “The One Minute Manager,” Louis Rossetto, founder and former publisher of Wired magazine, Simon Sinek, CEO and founder of SinekPartners, Corporate Refocusing; Jeffrey Benjamin, author of the bestselling book series, “Real Life Habits for Success"; Mark Levy, founder of Levy Innovation, a marketing strategy and ideation firm; Bob Prosen, expert in Building a Performance-Based Culture; and Marcia Wieder, CEO and Founder of Dream University.

The conference emphasized what I have always believed: As long as there are innovative ideas, there will be entrepreneurial opportunities. New technology spurs new business opportunities and new ways to generate revenue. For example, health care, education, transportation, government and real estate are still in the early stages of technology transformation and offer many entrepreneurial opportunities.

One of the “hot” areas we at WebsiteBiz believe will continue to grow is around marketing analytics, one-to-one marketing, and the idea of utilizing the Web as a central hub for measuring integrated tactics. With continued advances in testing capabilities, there is more focus on website analytics and extraction of the business intelligence that maximizes performance and return on investment.

Entrepreneurs tend to be an optimistic group of people, so it is not surprising that the overall sentiment at the conference was that the state of entrepreneurship is strong, with new businesses and new technologies on the horizon. My opinion is that here in Charlotte, our universities, highly educated workforce, innovative companies, and global connections contribute to a healthy entrepreneurial climate. In particular, we expect to see continued growth in the interactive marketing community as more companies market their businesses online.

It was recharging to be with other successful entrepreneurs from around the world while learning from high impact presenters. The relationships formed and learning gained will help me grow my business, elevate EO’s Charlotte Chapter, and build a stronger business community here in Charlotte.

About the author: Eric Dudley is president of WebsiteBiz, a Charlotte-based online marketing agency. He serves as communications chair for the Charlotte Chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization. He can be reached at 704-338-1794.