How to Find Success as a Hawai‘i Business on the Mainland
Five guiding principles from the daughter of the founder of Sun Noodle, which has expanded to California and New Jersey.
Marketing
5 Steps to Keeping Your Marketing Local, Even When Headquarters Is Not
Hitting corporate numbers while keeping products and services authentic for Hawai‘i customers can be an art form.
Central Pacific Bank says Rebranding Reflects “Digital-First Mindset”
Central Pacific Bank, which unveiled a $40 million renovation of its downtown Honolulu headquarters on Jan. 26, has also launched a rebranding campaign.
6 Marketing Principles for Hawaiʻi
Experts explain how to ensure your marketing campaigns are effective in the local market AND for the particular audience you want to reach.
5 Steps for Recruiting Candidates on Social Media
For some employers, social media platforms have gone from third-string benchwarmers to key players in the recruitment lineup. These platforms help companies diversify their hiring efforts, build employer brand, and most importantly, recruit new employees. Emy Yamauchi-Wong, manager at Altres…
8 Tips for Marketing Your Restaurant During COVID-19
These steps are essential for keeping your business top-of-mind during the pandemic.
Harnessing Intelligent Tech for Your Company Now
Thousands of Hawai‘i businesses have moved some or all of their operations from in-office to remote and online. Local tech expert Derek Gabriel, cofounder and CEO of Ignite Solutions Group, suggests ways your company can create opportunities in this new technological landscape.
Ugly Doesn’t Sell
Why you need to take your brand identity seriously A business is like a book. It’s judged by its cover. These judgments are now being made in split seconds as consumers constantly scroll online, pushing past the estimated 5,000 ads…
6 Tips for Effective Social Media Marketing
Smart strategy and effective execution in social media are the difference between results and Just about every business uses social media for marketing. But how you use social media makes all the difference. “Every business should be marketing via social…
Hawai‘i Island Identity Crisis
The dream of a Hawai‘i vacation is often nurtured by a steady stream of messaging from the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau and its island chapters. Their job, in a nutshell, is to ensure steady growth in the tourism industry.…
Do It for the Gram
Instagram has emerged as a vital (and potentially lucrative) marketing channel that not only drives customer acquisition, engagement and sales, but also provides small businesses with a free innovation lab and instant feedback for designing their brands and iterating new…
10 Ways to Draw More Visitors to your Store or Restaurant
“Off the beaten path” means different things to different people, but overall, visitors to Hawaii are more sophisticated and going farther afield than ever before. That has been good news for many businesses that used to depend exclusively on local…
Buy Local: A Simple Phrase with Layers of Meaning
This story explores the power of local in business ownership, corporate leadership and consumer preferences. Attorney Jeff Watanabe, who has served on the boards of several large local companies, has spoken often about the subtleties of Hawaii’s culture. He says…
5 Steps to Making a Splash with Your News
Have an important story to tell? Communications expert Christine Matsuda Smith explains how to drop news that your constituency will remember. 1. Jump-start the coconut wireless: Think carefully about where your target audiences get their trusted intel – and more…
Hawaiʻi's Local Youtube Stars
Young celebrities (and some older ones) understand the path to successful careers in show business, fashion or music looks a lot different than it did a generation ago. They start with video and social media, then branch out in all directions.
Restaurant Leaders Describe Industry Trends, Jobs and Growth
They share the challenges of running successful restaurants during a Hawaii Business SmallBiz Academy event “West Oahu has been a great community for us,” says Jason Higa, CEO of FCH Enterprises, the company that owns Zippy’s Restaurants and several other…
How To Make Your Restaurant Successful
Want to open a new restaurant or introduce your existing eatery to more customers? Maybe you want the inside scoop from some of the biggest names in local food. Whatever the case, you should attend “The Business of Restaurants,” a…
Is Customer Service Dead?
In some places, yes, but in others it is thriving and evolving to meet the expectations of customers who want all the options, from online shopping to friendly face-to-face service. When you arrive at Big Island Candies in Hilo, you…
Behind the Scenes at Hawaii News Now [Sponsored]
Many hands (and a few paws) make light work from Sunrise to signoff at Hawaii News Now The Hawaii News Now studios, home to KGMB, KHNL and KFVE, run like a well-oiled machine. The 70-member team is constantly looking for…
New Ways to Fundraise
Traditional fundraising techniques sometimes have a poor return on investment and don’t speak to a modern audience. Here’s how local nonprofits are innovating to reach new donors and funding. 1. Ditch the Banquet Today’s donors can tire of what…
Meet Your Unfair Advertising Advantage [Sponsored]
Spectrum Reach just introduced a new product for Hawaii advertisers that makes connecting with ideal customers easier than ever before. Our exclusive TV planning tool puts our entire world of data intelligence to work right before your eyes. The result…
East Meets West Second Day Delivers Info Packed Panel Talks
Day two of the East Meets West Conference was held appropriately at the East-West Center in Manoa, Friday,…
Hawaii’s People Stay True
Brand loyalty is strong in the Islands, but give a customer a bad experience and they may never forget or forgive. “From right here, I can see one, two, three, four, five banks outside my window,” says Dennis Christianson, partner/CEO…
“It’s Always Different”: 5 Child Care Providers Share Their Challenges and Joys
They spend long days teaching, cooking, cleaning and comforting keiki. And please don’t call it “babysitting.”
How Rail Got to $12.45 Billion and 11 Years Late
We sorted through more than a decade of cost overruns, audits and reports to explain how the price soared and why completion fell behind schedule.
Hawai‘i’s Most Profitable Companies 2022
Fueled by its China service, Matson tops the list that shows how 70 companies and nonprofits fared in 2021, a year of recovery.
