Archive for January, 2009
What Is Your Buzz Word?
Everyone knows that buzzwords are crucial to a great sale of a product or service, but are you aware of all the buzzword traps that you fall into? I’m currently reading the book “Eat This, Not That: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution!” Even I fell into the old trick of buying the book because it had the buzzword “weight loss.”
In one section of this book, the author discusses how food companies put buzzwords on their products to help them sell, such as “all natural” or “less calories”; the mindful buyer will be caught by these buzz words, but will also look at the ingredients to see if the buzzwords are true. So what is your buzzword to catch consumers? Just as consumers check food labels to make sure they measure up to what was advertised, buyers of your product or service will inspect your company to see if it stands up to its buzzword.
Need help with your sales and marketing?
Join me at Small Business BC on Friday, January 30th, 2009 where I will be running “Small Business Marketing” from 9AM to noon and “Sales for Small Business” from 1PM to 4PM. You can register here. Just scroll down the page for the information.
Thriving Through the Downturn
At a recent event I met David Greer, who provides tailored, senior-level support to companies needing to accelerate areas of their operation that have plateaued, or who want to tap into high-potential markets. We were talking about all the negative media around the current financial cycle. David likes to be a positive person, so he recently surveyed more than 200 of his entrepreneur friends to ask them for their ideas on how companies can thrive in this economic climate. Then he took their ideas and put them together in the article “Thriving Through the Downturn: Eleven Strategies That Will Make Your Company Boom.” You can view a copy of the article here:http://www.davidgreer.ca/articles/eleven.strategies.to.boom.pdf
Great Marketing and Technology Event in Vancouver
Marketing + Technology = Rebooting Yourself
Join local marketing, sales and communications professionals for an educational overview on how technology will improve your marketing efforts including:
- What Telus found from introducing company wide blogging (social media)
- CBC provides pointers on creating affordable podcasts
- iPhone and Blackberry basics with Rogers Wireless
- Futureshop discusses how to connect home office and entertainment equipment
- Website and security basics from Webnames.ca
- Preview of a new consumer and production website for the movie industry from Movieset.com and more…
Canadian Women in Communication is a national organization dedicated to the advancement of women in the communications sector through strategic networking and targeted professional development. www.cwc-afc.com
WHEN: February 11th, Wednesday 5 – 8 PM, come connect for an evening of networking, Q & A, light evening meal, wine and beer available.
Where: BCIT downtown, 555 Seymour St., Vancouver.
(Underground parking available.)
There is limited seating due to the seminar style format of the evening, so register ASAP.
Event admission includes participation in seminars, a light evening meal and networking, $50.00 members, $60.00 non-members and (limited) $40.00 student tickets. Wine and beer available.
For more information, or to register, please visit the CWC Calendar of Events
Contact: bc@cwc-afc.com
Women of Substance: Minna Van
Today’s Woman of Substance is Minna Van, a 27 year old dynamo who started her first company, Atomic Media, in high school. This serial entrepreneur has since launched 2 other companies: The Network Hub and Urban Bella Marketing. High energy does not even begin to describe this woman.
What drove you to open The Network Hub?
I was lonely working in my basement office, tired of being on my own. My vision was to create affordable office space to work in, that would get people out of their basement offices and provide a place where they could share ideas, energy and best practices. So I went out and found a downtown space, and the hub was born. Now we have expanded to 2 floors and have a waiting list!
What was the inspiration for Urban Bella Marketing?
This company was launched 18 months ago. I saw a need in the market for a promotion company that would cut through the clutter and reach consumers effectively through personal, interactive relationships. We catch the eye of your customers through unique events and product tastings. Our clients include liquor companies and Fortune 500 companies. We got our first client by crashing a trade show and collecting business cards of all the marketing directors who were there. The next day we emailed them all and landed our first contract! You have to be confident and after what you want.
What’s your secret for being able to manage so many companies?
My greatest business strength is that I am quick to spot new opportunities in the market and then I am quick to act on them. Urban Bella Marketing, for example, was launched the day after I came up with the idea. A week later, we were at the trade show! I focus on building the marketing and sales strategy for my companies and then I put strong partners in place to run the business – I hate the operations stuff.
What is your strategy for handling the recession?
We are being even more targeted in the new clients we are going after. Our focus is to expand strategically by adding new services that are popular in a slower economy. The real key is that we move quickly when we spot an opportunity, and there are a lot of them out there.
What’s your other advice to other women in business?
Just go after what you want. If you’re always an observer in life, you’re not really living your life. It is always the things you didn’t get to do that you regret, rather than the things you messed up or the stupid mistakes you made.
Women of Substance: The Modern Domestics
At a recent speaking event, I met Denise Trottier and Cori Kyle, owners of a very cool company – The Modern Domestics. I love everything about this company – the business model, their dead-on niche marketing, their branding and their website!
This company is proof of the effectiveness of niche marketing. They opened in May 2008 and their client base continues to grow on a weekly basis. In fact, the market response has been so positive, they are already working on a franchising model. With that kind of record of success, how could I not interview them for Women of Substance?
1. What is your business?
We take care of domestic needs like housekeeping, errands, laundry and ironing, as well as offering senior care and delicious meals. People today are so busy they are almost crazed. We know that a well-run home is the foundation for a happy life so we do the stuff you never have time for, that makes all the difference to how happy you feel at home. We make home a stress-free zone for our customers.
2. How did you discover this niche market?
When doing our market research, we noticed that no other company really put the total package together – they either offered either cleaning or errands, but not both. We wanted to combine it to make a total domestic help service. That is what our target market told us they really wanted.
3. What words of wisdom do you have for women entering the business world?
The world is your oyster. Nothing is ever as hard as it seems and we, as women, are usually more intuitive to what people really need, which can make us great business idea people.
4. What advice would you give to women who work full-time and complete all the household duties?
Take time to enjoy your life and your family. Take some “me” time. Delegate the chores or hire a cleaning company. It’s more cost effective than you realize. For the cost of your daily Venti Cafe Latte and banana bread at Starbucks, you could buy more than an hour of housekeeping within a week. Trying to do it all yourself causes a lot of unnecessary stress. Besides, what would you rather do – clean the house or play with your kids?
5. Your business offers many different domestic options to help in the home, what is the most purchased option?
People love the fact that they can get their errands and laundry done, but the most popular option is housekeeping (once every second week is most common).
6. What’s your big goal for 2009?
We are really excited about the unique micro-franchising model we are developing; we believe that it will give every woman an opportunity to own her own business, work around her family, and bring significant income into her household with fantastic hours.
How Do You Know What You Want?
A few months ago I started thinking “am I doing what I really want?” To figure out the answer to this question that so many people wonder, I was encouraged to write in a journal. As I looked back over my journal entries recently, I was really able to pick up on what I wanted to complete now and what I wanted my future to look like. As we begin a new year, it is a great time to really think about what you want in business and work towards clear goals. Life is too short to live without realizing and achieving your goals.
Great New Resource for Women in Business
January 1, 2009 saw the launch of The SheTeam – a group of trail blazing CEOs who want to help you catapult your business to the next level. And I am delighted to be part of this project!
The mandate is to provide free, on demand business coaching for female entrepreneurs. The site contains resources, great blog articles by experts in business development, sales, marketing, personal success and organization, as well as podcasts and book reviews.
Use it to make the 2009 a powerhouse business year for yourself!
