Open from AMEX sponsors this blog in part and gives me the opportunity to attend their very popular Open Forum events, which I did a week or so ago. (You can check out the archived webinar if you like.)

I had the chance to interview Mario Batali, one of New York City’s hottest restaurant owners and Liz Lange, maternity apparel designer for the stars. New York City treats restauranteurs and fashion moguls like rock stars so I loved their down to earth answers to these questions.

Me: As your business expands how do you continue to find good people?
Mario Batali: Give them a piece of the action. You can’t hang on to everything, let good people run things.

Me: You started all by yourself, how do you deal with your new found growth?
Liz Lange: At first I was nervous about letting go, now I love it. I get to do all of the fun stuff.

Two points of view I’ve found that more small business owners could adopt. Letting go may be the hardest thing a small business owner has to deal with as the business grows – but it’s the only way it’s going to happen.

MasterCard’s Head of Global Small Business, Bruno Perreault dropped by the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast to talk about small business and credit.

Credit is a necessary tool for many small businesses and it’s important to understand how to find it, access it, and use it wisely. (MasterCard offer more small business products than I knew existed.)

The small business section of their web site features a growing collection of business building articles such as this one on Managing Your Overhead.

We also covered fraud protection, merchant accounts, record keeping and the recently completed “Build Your Business” sweepstakes.

I don’t often wander into personal territory on this blog, but today I do. (How’s that for a warning.)

A few of my favorite things.

• Giggles – the kind that only children and grandpas can produce
• Books – Bird by Bird: Anne Lamott – just go buy a copy
• ESP – I love that my college sweetheart (and wife of 23 years) can read my mind. It makes communicating so much easier!
• Music – Moondance: Van Morrison – just put it on
• Today – I really can’t wait to get up in the morning – how did that happen?
• My Mom – signing hymns while hanging out the wash – I miss you mom!
• Pony Tails – my four daughters have taught me the value of a well placed pony tail
• Short Ends – Gates and Oklahoma Joes – is BBQ a food or a feeling?
• 3rd Base Coaches – if you ever think baseball is boring, just watch a 3rd base coach roll through signs to a hitter
• Libraries – there’s nothing like the smell of thousands of old, well-read books
• Meatloaf – never place your complete trust in someone who can’t cook a mean one
• Moleskin – those little unruled notebooks favored by artists and writers alike
• Tulamore Dew – cheap and infinitely drinkable Irish Whiskey.
• Rain – we all need a little cleansing from time to time
• B & G – yes, I’m talking about Biscuits and Gravy from the kind of place that lists gravy as a beverage
• Manners – I often forget mine, then a teenager blows me away with theirs
• Smiles – the kind you can hear
• Guild Guitars – D35, bright and bold and all trebley
• Labrador Retrievers – the world’s happiest dog

Thanks for taking the time to read this silly little blog of mine!