How to talk about your business in 60 seconds or less
There sure are a lot of events in the Seattle Biznik business networking events calendar, hey? And while most of the listed events are social in nature, I’m particularly impressed to see educational workshops like the one John Martin is teaching in Seattle on Thursday, Oct. 18: Pitch your Business in 60 Seconds. That’s because workshops of this kind offer valuable skills that can have a direct, positive influence on our ability to successfully grow our businesses. I interviewed John to learn a little more about him, and what members who attend his workshop can expect to learn.
Q: Why do you think it’s hard for people to talk about their business?
For many people, one of their biggest fears is speaking in public. And when it comes to speaking about their business, this intense fear is compounded. I believe the reason they fear speaking in public about anything is that they’ve had little or no training to speak in public. Few people have taken a public speaking class in high school or college. I find this lack of training or education interesting, since we spend over 55 percent of our communication time speaking and listening to others speak. Conversely, most people have had 12 or more years of education learning to write. However, writing is the communication skill that most people use the least.
Q: Where did you learn public speaking?
My first speech class was in high school. I had the coolest teacher ever. His name was Bill Lewis. He was tall and classy. He always wore suits. His favorite saying in speech class was, “Cool Your Jets!” He wanted all of us to slow down. This is so important when it comes to public speaking. Especially in the fast-paced communication era we now live in. I’m currently working on a book about delivering effective business presenentations in honor of Bill Lewis. The title is “Cool Your Jets!”
Q: How did you get into teaching, and how long have you been at this?
I was lucky enough to get a teaching assistanceship at Miami Ohio in 1985. So I was teaching 20 year olds when I was still in my 20’s.
4. What is the most common mistake people make when talking about
their business?
They don’t have a single presentation objective (SPO). An SPO is like a blurb in TV guide. Another way to think about it is a dust-jacket cover on a book. You must develop an SPO and practice it in public. I recently attended a backyard BBQ at a Biznik member’s home. This was a non-Biznik event. Many professionals were there networking. One gentleman stands out in my mind. He was an excellent speaker. He had maybe 6-7 people standing around him. The question came up, “So, Bill what are you up to these days?” Bill launched right into his SPO without hesitation. It was like the old commercial: “When EF Hutton speaks, people listen.” His pitch was smooth, clear, and best of all precise. Whe he was done, he just happened to have a stack of buisiness cards to hand out. It wasn’t a bit cheesy. Bill was very genuine and authentic about his offering. People appreciate this.
5. What can people who attend your upcoming workshop expect to learn?
To learn how to become comfortable speaking about themselves in public. Everyone will get a chance to develop there own SPO. What has always amazed me about the workshop mechanics is how the group bonds. Seeing the bonding is why I continue to teach this workhop. It’s very much like group therapy. The speaker only receives positive feedback from other group members. It’s amazing to see what happens when someone is bombarded with positive comments. Their fear of speaking slips away. As a facilitator, I do give constructive feedback as to what could be improved on. This is a very safe and supportive learning environment. It’s sacred ground.
John Martin is a Seattle-based presentation coach. To sign up for his workshop, visit http://biznik.com/events/2007/10/18/pitch-your-biz-in-60-seconds
0 Comments Ron Sukenick: business networking today requires more strategy, more connectedness, and more trust.
We’re fortunate to have one of the world’s foremost authorities on business networking, Ron Sukenick, as a member of Biznik. And what’s better, he’s flying to Seattle this week to join us at BizJam on June 9, where he’ll hosting a session titled “9 networking strategies every entrepreneur should know.” I’ve never met Ron in person, but from many phone conversations I’ve learned that his passion for business relationship-building is infectious. And as the author of two books about how to network effectively, he’s got a lot of say on the subject. So here he is, in his own words…
Q: What interests you so much in business networking, and how have you come to make a career of it?
What has interested me the most from inception is the opportunity meet and be with people. In fact, in a world where owning and operating a business is no easy task, the power of building, developing and implementing networks of contacts has been a life saver. I began back in the late 70’s in Los Angeles really taking an interest in the process and by the late 1980’s I was smack in the beginning of the biggest movement for expanding what today is considered the largest and most successful business-to-business contact networking in the world. That happens to an organization called BNI.
With a passion for being with and bringing people together, the word just kept getting out there and the next thing you know, people are interested in the message and paying to attend speaking engagements, workshops, and then other consulting opportunities as well. In fact, one day an editor from a publishing company heard me speak and he stated the following - “If you would promise that you would keep speaking about your passion on networking, and you could write a book, we would be more then happy to publish it. With that being said, it was clearly the fuel that kept the fire burning. The rest is all history.
Q: Tell me about the books you’ve written, and how you came to write them.
“Networking Your Way to Success” was published in 1995. The first book was easy to get out because it was very clear to me why a large percentage of people were not achieving the results they desired. I figured that if people would just develop the passion and form some strategy behind the process, then people can be in control of their efforts. This first book is about 9 networking strategies that, if implemented, will work for most people, most of the time.
My second book - “The Power is in the Connection” is really about taking networking to the next level. In essence, it’s beyond networking.
It is very interesting how this book concept actually came to me. Just picture this - I was getting ready to speak at a Jiffy Lube National Convention in Palm Spring in September 1995, and the excitement was building because my first book was also being published at that time.
I was on stage speaking to 600 people and within a split second it hit me that there was clearly a next level for the thing called networking.
As I kept speaking I stated that networking is awkward for most people, hit and miss for most people, and in more instances always about individual success.
If you think about it, I really started to tell them that while networking has served us well, there was clearly a next level for the process.
You see, people tend to use this incredible marketing tool as a way to make sales, and if they would spend more time and effort developing a relationship focus, and look for ways to co-create and collaborate, the idea of networking could easily be moved into a new philosophy for building business with others.
I ended building the basis of the new book around the philosophy called NetBeing, a word I coined that captures the Essence of a relationship mindset.
“The Power is in the Connection” helps individuals build out a roadmap for transforming their networking contacts into meaningful connections.
I’ve put in place with my writing partner 15 relationship building strategies that lay the foundation for long lasting business partnerships with others.
Q: Biznik makes a big point of emphasizing relationships over referrals. Do you think that’s a good approach?
In my opinion, it’s the most effective approach. Let’s be straightforward. As people, we want affiliations. And as human beings, we want relationship. From a business standpoint, there’s no doubt that relationships open doors. The fact is that relationships don’t always make sales.
But with all things being equal, and even if there not equal, people in business will more times then not gravitate toward doing business with people they or someone they know has a relationship with.
In closing, relationships add to the quality of life, and easily is translatable into enhanced revenue for all involved
Q: Is business networking different today than it was a few years ago? What trends do you see that affect how business networking takes place?
Networking it not like what it used to be.
Handing out your business card at monthly Chamber of Commerce meetings no longer qualifies as networking. Today’s business leaders know that real, profit-generating networking requires more. More strategy, more connectedness, and more trust.
I’d suggest we’re moving into an era where the relationship-based NetBeing, a set of attitudes and actions that foster real meaningful business relationships and build mutual trust, will overtake networking as a business development strategy.
Adapting to this new strategy brings its share of challenges but it can also yield great rewards. Partnerships form more easily. Sales and retention increases. Profits grow faster. After all success in business is all about relationships.
Q: What can people who attend your workshop at BizJam on June 9th expect to learn?
That’s a great question. In fact, I can hardly wait to hear what I’ve got to say! All joking aside, attendees will experience my tremendous passion behind the process that I’ve been building since the 70’s. I will help those in attendance implement a proven system of taking their existing networking relationships to another level. In fact, I’ll also provide a step-by-step approach in going from contacts to a meaningful connection. And if that’s not enough, I’ll throw in what I call the “Magic of Six.” This is a proven method for people to increase their frequency of interactions with others thus leading to mutually rewarding business relationships. And if that’s not enough, I’ll introduce what I call the “Small World” Theory. A method for reducing anything that is taking place at the point of interaction that has the ability to create the biggest impact on others.
In closing, I’m thrilled to be coming to BizJam on June 9, and looking forward to many exchange opportunities. Can’t wait to meet the people in one of my most favorite places in the world: Seattle, Washington.
Ron Sukenick is the Chief Relationship Officer and founder of the Relationship Strategies Institute, a training and Relationship development company that provides innovative, effective and relevant programs and systems for corporations, organizations, and associations. To learn more about the value of Relationship Development, visit their Web site at www.RelationshipStrategiesInstitute.com or e-mail him at - RS [at] RelationshipStrategiesInstitute [dot] com.
bizjam business networking business relationships connections networking Seattle social capitol trustSierra Faye: Massage Freek
One of the things I hate about a lot of businesses is how scrubbed clean they are of any hint of personality. In their effort to avoid scaring off any potential customers, they bury their individuality so deep that it’s almost impossible to tell whether they ever had one in the first place. But Sierra Faye, I’m happy to report, does not have this problem. She’s a massage therapist, and a self-described freak, so what better name for her business than, well, Massage Freek? Let’s find out how one of Biznik’s original members (who we’re thrilled to have as a principal sponsor of BizJam) turned her passion for massage and self-expression into a business.
How did you come up with the name of your business?
The name Massage Freek came to me like a bolt of lightning from the sky. I had just been fired and I was sick of being told what to do in work environments about how to dress and how to act and what things I could or could not say
I knew that I wanted to work with “my people.” and by that I mean people that are living lifestyles that are very much not normal (but awesome, in my opinion). Some examples are: swingers, polyamorous, kink/fetish lifestyles as well as people from the Burning Man community and essentially free-thinking and open-minded individuals. I figured a name like Massage Freek would be great for attracting people that would want to see someone who shares the same way of life. I also thought Massage Freek, as a name, would act as a natural filter for people that wouldn’t be comfortable with me, my lifestyle, my opinions and expressions… And thus be uncomfortable receiving massage from me. Why try to attract just anyone, right? Might as well attract and focus my marketing on people who would be more likely to come to me not for my excellent massage skills but my wonderful, charming and freaky personality.
How long have you been a massage therapist?
I have been doing this work since I graduated from the Brian Utting School of Massage in December of 2000. I wanted to be a massage therapist since I was eleven or so. Over six years in practice now.
There’s a lot of massage therapists in Seattle. How do you stand out?
I stand out … because I’m nuts! No … all massage therapists are nuts, in my humble opinion.
I think I stand out for a few pretty powerful reasons:
I have been practicing for longer than most of the therapists out there. I know there are many that have been around longer than me, but most LMP’s stop practicing after about 2-3 years.
I am very good at what I do… Lots of experience, lots of hours doing not much else but intense injury treatment and problem solving… Improving the quality of people’s lives thru the treatment of pain in their bodies,
I consistently have clients report significant improvement thru my massages. I have found that my massage has a tendency to be more effective and have longer-lasting effects than the therapists that most of my clients have used.
I think the way I stand out the most is being openly kinky, poly, swinger and burner. I think that most people, especially in my profession, are VERY hesitant to disclose much of any of their personal life, much less integrate it as a selling point and a quality that provides deeper healing.
I have found that in sharing my personal lifestyle and being open about being a rebel and a freak, people tend to relate to that because they have that in them. I think that me just being me and giving space to allow that sort of lifestyle and expression gives not only a safer place for freaks like me to get healed, but it also creates a new way of life at all. A bold and more open, accepting idea of what’s possible to experience in a work place. I think I stand out because I’m a rebel amongst my peers and most of them are actually pretty supportive of my uber-open behavior and presentation. I think showing full true self allows people to know that they can be their own true self as well.. And in that… I don’t even have to touch them or have them as a client… They are healed just by observing and having a different idea of what’s possible.
Has Biznik helped you build your business? How?
Of course! Biznik was god’s gift to me… I know that sounds funny but.. I think it’s just “too perfect” that you and Lara came up with Biznik at the exact same time I was starting to do Massage Freek promotion.
I remember just trying to figure how the heck I was going to get in front of people – in a larger scale way than one on one or at parties - that would grow my business with people that would be likely to hire me.
The cool thing was that you guys hit your friends first and they are a bunch of burners so HEY! Target market!
And because the energy of biznik is (duh) for business, it kept me focused on growing my business as you were growing the influence of Biznik. I wanted to be in the minds of the badass people that were not only open-minded and free thinking but also strong in their entrepreneurial mojo.
In short, it was your target audience that was also my target audience. As you have grown, so have I. I feel comfortable “getting more visible” with this crowd. Once I have this experience of rising to the top of a general pool of people, I figure it will give me the personal power and strength to strut my stuff in front of other groups of business networkers and entrepreneurs and not be afraid of what they think.
Any advice you’d give to anyone starting a business?
Advice for anyone starting a business… DO IT. Be free from your job because self-employment is way more secure than a job.
Don’t give up – it can get hard. Take care of yourself – don’t let yourself fall into patterns of overworking. Take advantage of your open schedule. Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to spend money on consultation, self-care and the tools you need to get your work done. Do your work in an environment that you like and that feels good. Take yourself seriously but not too seriously. Keep your word, keep your appointments don’t be a flake. But if you flake, don’t waste your time trying to get someone to trust you again… The trust is broken. Just move on and try to just get more clients and don’t flake out on them. Do what you love. Take breaks so that you don’t get burned out. Know that you will hit walls, you will get sad, you will cry and you will feel that worry of “am I gonna make it or not.”
You will have to go through all sorts of self-healing and confrontation of worth issues, integrity issues and you’ll have to confront the places where you are not good at some of the aspects of running your business. Just keep going. Be clear that what you are selling, practicing or creating is truly an expression of your heart, mind and soul. These things have helped me. I don’t know if they apply to everyone but they might apply to several. I hope that something I said helps.
Sierra Faye’s website is www.massagefreek.com. Her office is located in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
1 CommentSterling Peake: Every business needs a plan
Sterling Peake is one of Biznik’s newest supporting members, and already she’s posted two upcoming events in the calendar. One of the things that struck me immediately when reading her profile and looking at her business’s website, www.greenpawstudios.com, was this: Sterling is on a mission. She knows where she’s heading with her business, and she’s executing on what looks like … a plan. And in fact, when I interviewed her, I discovered that not only does she have a plan, but it’s an award-winning plan. So join me while we learn more from Sterling about her plans…
Q: I read a little about how you started Green Paws on your website, greenpawstudios.com (which is very impressive, by the way). Something that stood out right away was that you won a $10,000 award to start your company. Can you tell me about how that happened?
I’ve been competing in business plan competitions since I was a freshman in high school. It’s a great way to win money and also to understand the big picture of business. You’re forced to step out of your comfort zone whether that be designing, advertising, finance or operations to really understand how the entire business model works. If motivation is difficult, sign up for a local business plan competition. Not only will you get structure for deadlines and an opportunity to win money, you’ll also get excellent feedback from the venture capital judges.
Q: Which do you recommend locally in the greater Seattle area?
The NWEN puts on an event each year called Early Stage Investment Forum and although there’s no prize money, because of their mentoring program for four weeks, you will have a very polished plan and a strong idea of what investors are looking for. UW, WSU and U of O all offer competitions and there are more on this site: www.smallbusinessnotes.com.
Q: I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you have a passion for dogs. Do you think that it’s important for everyone starting a business to be passionate about it?
I do have a passion for dogs but more than that I have a passion for helping people and creating strong brand identities. I just finished a business plan about umbrellas that is an outstanding investment opportunity and I don’t even own an umbrella! Some people love business for the sake of loving business but having a passion and deep understanding of your product and service can get you a long way even if you don’t have a formal business background.
Q: Sounds like you’ve got a lot of interests. Something I’ve noticed about a lot of entrepreneurial types is that they are idea people - but not so good at executing on their ideas and doing the work required to bring them to life. How do you do things like building brand identities for other people while building running Green Paws?
I made a special exception and did consulting for some friends of mine on their project as long as they let me enter it in the Seattle University competition. I’m presenting tomorrow - eek! It is not something I do often as I don’t usually have the time. You are right though, there is often a huge disconnect between the ideas people and the ones who want to do the day-to-day work. There are ways you can overcome this by setting goals and boundaries as well as hiring someone who is good at the stuff you hate doing. It might be true that many well-intentioned “entrepreneurs” should be in consulting so they can come up with new ideas all the time without having to deal with the drudge of follow-through. The people ideal for starting their own companies are addicted to working. They have the ideas and put in the blood, sweat and tears to make it happen.
Q: You are very up-front about being a Triple Bottom Line business. Why? And I’m also curious why you decided to donate 10 percent of your profits to local organizations.
There is no way around it - business is built on the surrounding community and environment. You may be able to get by without acknowledging them in your financials but you will reach your goals much faster if you employ them in your operations. Throw local events, donate money to non-profits, give away your products and services. You will be amazed at what the planet and your neighbors can do to help you. For me, 10% of my profits and 10% of my time not only keeps me sane by giving me the opportunity to help people but it also builds my business with the kind of people I want involved.
Q: Do you think it’s important for everyone with an indie business to write a business plan?
I think it’s important for anyone with a business to write a business plan. Again it’s so you can understand all aspects of the business but also so you have a clear idea of what your goals are and what you need to do to get there. Joe Shirley, who often gives workshops for BizNikers, can help you set your personal and emotional life goals. This sometimes needs to happen before you can write an honest and effective business plan. Planning is always a good idea and asking for input refines your ideas into winning business models. I encourage everyone to sit down and pencil the next three years out.
Sterling Peake runs Green Paws Studios, a dog training and boarding facility in Seattle. Her website is www.greenpawstudios.com.
Biznik business plan green business Seattle triple bottom lineBiznik-2-Biznik: “Making more money and having more fun”
Karrie Kohlhaas and Andrea Driessen.
You never know what’s going to happen when you go to a happy hour. For Karrie Kohlhaas and Andrea Driessen, a Biznik happy hour led to mutual appreciation, more money, more joy, and a satisfying validation. In this post, Andrea and Karrie share their story and a few tips on how you can make great Biznik-2-Biznik connections too. Read on!
Why did you join Biznik?
Andrea: I joined to expand my circle of contacts and connections, though not my client base (most Biznik members are not my clientele, who are almost exclusively corporate meeting planners).
Karrie: I never thought a networking group could offer the community I craved: Until Biznik. My client Kat Morgan offered such a strong recommendation, I felt a fool not to at least try it. She was right.
How did you meet?
Karrie: At my second Biznik event, a Holiday Happy Hour, Andrea and I struck up a conversation. I was not looking to "drum up a new client" but rather, I genuinely wanted to get to know her. She’s interesting, she’s smart, and she’s run a successful business by herself for many years.
Andrea: (Hmmm. I believe the only Biznik events I’ve been to so far are happy hours…! Maybe that’s why I joined in the first place: to attend the events at pubs!
What’s special about your connection?
Andrea: The old saying is true: "When the student is ready, the teacher appears." What I most appreciate about Karrie is her capacity, which seems almost magical at times, to flex from one aspect of business (strategy, for example), to marketing, to an aspect of my personal life… It’s as if she has a built-in micro-macro lens that she can move at will, and on a dime. Being on the receiving end of that kind of keen observation, I found myself growing and learning in ways I’d not thought possible.
In fact, I experienced more internal focus and sustainable, external growth in eight short hours spent with Karrie than I did after scores of hours [and thousands of dollars’ worth] of meetings with the world’s largest CEO-membership organization. I’m working less, experiencing more true joy, making more money, and having more fun. I just had my biggest month ever. And I have a much deeper well of self-assurance down to my core. The law of attraction—a combination of confidence, energy, and belief—is really working for me now.
Karrie: Through her work, bringing wildly interesting and unusual talent into corporate meetings, Andrea is shaking up the system, giving them something different, unexpected and something new to talk about. Not everyone has that entrepreneurial spirit, so Andrea brings a taste of it to them! She is truly filling a need and doing it in such a clever way.
Working with Andrea has been inspiring and reminds me why I love my work. Andrea brought a level of willingness and motivation to the table that moved me and made me want to up my own ante. Witnessing Andrea transform one thing after another in and between our sessions, I too wanted to cause a new level of transformation in my own business.
I stopped consulting in the corporate sector because I thought I could make bigger differences helping small businesses grow. Working with Andrea was a wonderful reflection that I am doing the right thing, and that feels profoundly satisfying.
Based on your experience, if you were to offer one piece of advice to a new Biznik member about how to get the most out of their membership, what would you say?
Karrie: I don’t think enough people at Biznik do follow-ups. I find this to be one of the most important elements in building relationships and I encourage more people to do it. I follow up with people after having meaningful conversations at events by sending a short email and sometimes by calling. I mention something about them that struck me or I send them a resource I think might be helpful to them. Sometimes I just say hello and how glad I was to get acquainted with them. Basically I am real with people and I let them know that our meeting meant something to me.
It’s important to let go of thinking about what you are going to "get" out of the relationship. Follow up just because you liked someone or thought they have an interesting business. Or maybe you want to ask them another question or introduce them to someone who might be a good connection for them. Many times these follow-ups have led to unexpected referrals, new ideas, new friends and yes, new clients.
Andrea: Be grateful for and take advantage of the depth of Biznik’s resources. I started my business over 8 years ago, and had to do so much on my own. Looking back, I think that had something so readily available and affordable as Biznik been available then, I would have certainly fast-tracked my ramp-up time.
Thank you Karrie and Andrea for sharing your story! Do you have a Biznik-2-Biznik story to share? Contact Joe Shirley.
biznik 2 biznik business relationships relationshipsSonya Neblett: Truly Twisted Marketing
It’s pretty clear that Sonya Neblett likes to put her own twist on things. Take the name of her company: Truly Twisted Marketing. The Asheville, North Carolina based writer, designer and marketing strategist believes that “marketing should be about being honest, being transparent, building relationships and not pushing people.” Sounds refreshing, hey? Let’s find out more about her and her approach…
Q: Tell me about yourself and what gets you excited about what do for a living.
I love marketing. I’m one of those people that was built for it. So, it’s not really like work. I get to write, find creative solutions to problems, do research (I’m pretty nosy by nature you should go ask my family members
a lot of eyeball rolling goes on around our house because I’m always asking the “w” questions - who, what, where, when and the biggest one why). I started out in print publishing as a writer and editor. From there I moved online and started a little web design company to help local businesses create a web presence and it was just a natural progression into online marketing. I’m not a full indie at the moment as I’ve been contracted out and given a title by a pure play ecommerce company called SpecialtyLiving so I consider myself half indie.
I think what I love the most about marketing is the relationship building. Once you know the underlying motivation of people (customers), it’s pretty easy to come up with creative answers to their questions then, boom, you’ve got them — that’s when you can build up your relationship. If I had an interest in you as a customer, the first thing I’d want to know is what keeps you up at night? What’s the problem you are having that I can help you solve or, better yet, how can I create an experience that will make you feel better about it? It actually feels pretty good to help people out.
Q: How’d you come up with “Truly Twisted Marketing” as a company name?
Well, you’ve probably heard about push or pull marketing. My theory is you can push or pull people only so far. I mean, I don’t want to be pushed, told what to do or pulled into doing anything. I want the information but I want to make my own decisions. Truly Twisted Marketing is really about being honest, being transparent, building relationships and not pushing people into taking action which is a bit of a twist from traditional marketing. So, the name came about from a discussion I was having with a colleague about pushy marketers and the fact that marketers, especially those focusing on offline marketing, don’t really seem to get it. There is this big gap between online marketing and offline marketing and the two haven’t quite met up yet. The idea is to take both and twist them up together. One thing led to another and viola - TrulyTwistedMarketing.
Q: So, how would you characterize this gap? What is it that online marketing is doing right, and offline doing wrong?
I’m really using the term offline marketing to mean traditional forms of marketing which are typically not geared toward the web.
And, in all truth, I don’t think traditional (offline) marketing should be characterized as bad and online marketing as good. But because of technology, marketing, in its original state, is changing. For example, you might get a better response from a viral video on YouTube than from a television ad. Your podcast might have a better ROI (return on investment) than your radio spot. Press releases are sent not only to news media outlets but to bloggers and individuals who might be interested in spreading your news. And, in addition to all that, traditional forms of marketing tend to be more about businesses telling people what to do and less about creating a conversation with customer input and feedback. Online marketing, in its current state, is more about creating a relationship with customer interaction.
That’s the gap. Basically, it’s a different way of thinking about marketing and a grasp of how to use technology to enhance the conversation you are trying to create.
Q: One of your stated goals is to “empower people to free thinking in their professional lives.” How is that valuable? And why do you think so many otherwise free thinking people don’t to apply that same thinking in their professional lives?
Oh boy, you opened up a big can of worms. I threw that in because it’s ultimately what I want to do. It isn’t really about marketing so much as it is about opening up people’s minds to what can be. I think we all get stuck in the quest for more - climbing the corporate latter or in running our businesses and keeping an eye on the bottom line. It’s like a disease we American’s are afflicted with. You know, each and every one of us has unique talents and gifts and in the quest we tend to forget who we are and what we can bring to the table.
It’s interesting you asked about why, what you and I might consider a “free thinking person,” wouldn’t take that into work with them everyday. My gut feeling is that an average work place environment doesn’t support free thinking. Employees are supposed to be sheep more often than they are supposed to be radical and think creatively outside the box.
Q: Tell me a bit about eBooks. You’ve written one? Have you had success with it? Do you see it as a viable way to deliver information that can compete with traditional print books?
e-Commerce Unveiled is my first eBook. It just recently launched and came about because of a collaboration between myself and eCommerce technology provider ProjectThunder in CA.
So far, the success part has come from people who read the book and call me up to get marketing help or want to do a quick consultation. My personal goal was to pack the book so full of information, tips, tools, strategies and new technology that anyone could use it. The problem I ran into is that there is so much important information to cover I had to break it down into digestable tidbits. It took about 4 months to do all the research, interviews and compile the information and I still feel like there’s more to add!
The eBook format is really interesting. It provides instant, easy access and it’s not complicated to create. Updates and revisions are a snap. I actually do think it’s a viable way to deliver information and there’s no publishing house to deal with. The only real downside to an eBook is that it isn’t available to anyone without an internet connection, which is shrinking by the second, I think. The whole eBook phenomenon (if you can call it that) is really a reflection of the whole socialization of the web.
Sonya’s website is www.trulytwistedmarketing.com. If you’d like to purchase your own copy of Sonya’s e-commerce eBook, she’s offering a special discount to Biznik members - use coupon code “sonya” to purchase the book for $29 instead of the normal price of $87.30.
asheville Biznik business networking ebooks marketing north carolinaSeattle Nurse Practitioner Grace Grymes Chapman: I want to provide quality service, not quantity service
Grace Grymes Chapman will be hosting the first Biznik event in 2007 - a speed networking night on Tuesday, January 2. Grace is a nurse practitioner who sees patients of all ages, both with and without insurance, and offers a hugely reduced fee to patients without insurance, not because she has to, but because she wants to. Let’s find out why…
Q: You just opened the West Seattle Community Clinic last August. Can you tell me how you came to start that business?
I have worked in healthcare for sometime and after I received my Masters in Nursing I worked for a few places as a provider. I knew I wanted to open my own clinic but didn’t think it would happen so soon. I just got tired of the politics and B.S. that came from the organizations and managers. I want to practice my own way without being told how many patients I need to see or how long I can spend with patients. I want to provide quality service, not quantity service.
Q: What makes a community clinic different from, say, a doctor’s office?
They are both pretty much the same except one is private and one is for public health. A community clinic offers service to the disadvantaged and gets government funding for the services they provide. My clinic is not a “community clinic” on that level. I wanted the community to know we are there for anyone. No one is excluded, insured or non insured.
Q: That’s awesome, but how can you afford to stay in business if you accept patients without insurance?
It is not easy, but I am not in it to be rich, I do it because I love what I do and I also have been in the same place as some of my patients. They pay cash for their services at a steep discount from most clinics. I give cash-paying, non-insured patients a 50 percent discount on office visits, that does not include lab fees. I dont know of any other clinics that offer that, even public health and community clinics are stopping their sliding scale fees due to financial woes. Because I see patients w/o insurance means I have to step up the marketing for the clinic and referrals I receive so that I can balance my patient panel with insured and non insured. Hopefully it will all work out in the end.
Q: Are there any unique challenges that you’re facing with your business right now that you’d like help with?
I would really like to have a gazillion referrals and low cost/free effective marketing. My first month in business I spent my budget on advertising with little results. I talked with Dominic Canterbury a couple of Fridays ago and because of his advice and our brainstorming, I am hosting a children’s health fair in March and have partnered with the King County Health Department to help me put it all together.
Q: You’re hosting a speed networking event on Jan. 2. What can members who attend expect to experience at your event?
I hope they find it fun and informative while they meet new people. I attended my first event last week and it was fun and relaxing and I met some very nice people while I was there.
Q: How’d you hear about Biznik?
I was told about it by one of the massage therapists, Michael Mandell, in my building. I think he found it by searching the internet or by one the members. But after I joined and told him about the events I persuaded him to join, he even attended the event with me last week at Kallaloos. I think the members I have met have been very supportive and seem to be genuine. I also like the way Biznik is willing to help new businesses w/o charging you dollars for listening to the same old B.S. from one or two successful people who aren’t really trying help you get were they are.
Grace’s website is www.westseattlecommunityclinic.com.
affordable healthcare Biznik business networking clinic nurse SeattleMeet Vitaly Golomb, Biznik’s 2000th member
Biznik passed a membership milestone on Dec. 23 when Vitaly Golomb of San Francisco, become Biznik’s 2000th member. And as a big fan of -nik names, I was delighted to learn the name of his business: Sputnik. So let’s meet him, shall we?
Q: Tell me a bit about how you started Sputnik.
SputnikSF (aka Sputnik Designs Group) was founded by myself and childhood friend Alex Pachikov to answer the requests for web and general marketing design in 1999. At the time we were both in college. We organized several of our friends and acquaintances in the industry and formed “Sputnik Designs Group” as a Colorado company. Our early customers came by referral from our friends, family, and associates. Several of them are still with Sputnik six years later. Out of our web design business came our web hosting service “Tinball Networks” and to supplement our print design business (and my background in print production) came our digital and offset printing service “SharkPrint.com”. A couple of years ago Alex decided to pursue another opportunity and I took Sputnik to the next level. In 2005, Sputnik Design Group became SputnikSF and moved its offices from Sunnyvale (close to San Jose California) to San Francisco’s famous “Multimedia Gulch”, home to many of the world-class ad and interactive firms. Here Sputnik grew 200% in 2005 and 250% in 2006. Also, in 2006, SputnikSF took six design awards as well as world-class clients such as Namco Networks.
Q: How’d you choose the name Sputnik for your businesses?
Sputnik was of course the name of the Russian space program that on October 4th, 1957 successfully launched the first satellite in to space. The word “sputnik” in Russian means “fellow traveler” or “companion”. We have always paralleled the astonishing and complicated task of launching a spacecraft to launching a new business. “Concept – Launch – Support” is our slogan and our approach to client-relations. Hence why our very first client is still with us. So as our clients go into the unknown, we are their trusty “fellow travelers”. The name came from both Alex’s and mine shared birth place of the former Soviet Union and Alex’s fascination with space and subsequent degree in Astro Physics.
Q: How many employees do you have today? And what challenges did you face growing from just a couple of guys doing freelance work to being a small firm?
SputnikSF is currently 6 (with 100% planned growth in 2007) states-side and about the same in our Eastern-European development operations. As they say, “good help is hard to find”. SputnikSF, being at the cusp of technology, has had to compete for the same technical talent as the likes of Google and every Web 2.0 firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. Also, as any entrepreneur will agree, it is hard to find people that “care” as much as you do about anything beyond a paycheck. So growing sales is one thing… but growing the production capacity while maintaining the same level of service quality is probably the biggest challenge we’ve had to overcome.
Q: You’ve worked for both large and small clients. What’s your ideal project/client?
Although SputnikSF’s services address the needs of even small self-funded startups, we find it ideal to work with growing and established companies on specialty projects that allow us to flex our muscles in all of our strong areas. We begin every engagement with a thorough analysis of the client’s differentiating factors, goals, and competition to structure a precise strategy. Our approach demystifies seemingly complicated tasks and the inherent information architecture involved. Our creative team stays current with the times and makes sure that the designs and color schemes are appropriate for the given industry and application. Our development team utilizes ever-evolving coding best practices to create dynamic interaction and clean SEO compliant layouts. So to sum it up, we are happy to work with clients of any size, but shine while working with clients that are willing to commit the type of resources necessary to gain the “unfair” advantage in their respective marketplaces through our expert application of all currently available technologies and the most advanced techniques. Our experience with a multitude of industries and business models gives us the context to assure effective ROIs.
Q: What sets you apart from other firms of your type in the Bay area?
Besides the consultative approach described above, SputnikSF is unique (at least amongst the firms of similar size) for being expert in such a wide range of services. We approach each engagement holistically and make sure that the desired effect is achieved via opportunities both through online and offline marketing. First and foremost we understand business and that makes us aligned with our clients’ needs, rather than simply “interpreters” on the creative side. We’ve also been called upon by several large clients for specialty projects utilizing our expertise in the bleeding-edge web technologies. No client too small, no project too big.
Q: How important is business networking to the continued growth of your business? What organizations or online tools have you used to network? What trends do you see in that space in the coming few years?
Any service business (especially professional services) depends heavily on referrals and credibility. SputnikSF has taken a proactive approach to networking by working through conventional business networking events, online services (such as LinkedIn), and by encouraging referrals within our customer and associate base. I see a big surge in 2007 towards maintaining business relationships through business social networking sites. You look at sites like MySpace.com that allow young people to keep in touch and stay up to speed with their former classmates with minimal effort… and it’s not difficult to see a huge growth in business adapting the same model to keep in touch peripherally with their associates and customers between engagements.
Vitaly’s website is www.sputniksf.com.
Bay Area Biznik business networking san francisco sputnikPole for the Soul
Biznik is a business network for people who are passionate about what they do for a living. And Krisha CatZen is definitely one of those people. She’s a pole dancing instructor and founder of Seattle’s first pole dancing school, Pole for the Soul. And to hear her describe it, pole dancing isn’t just a great way to stay in shape - it’s meditative, empowering, fun, and yes, sexy. So…let’s hear her describe it!
Q: A lot of people work out so they can feel sexy. With pole dancing, it seems you can achieve both at the same time. Is that the idea?
Definitely! I’ve tried other forms of working out, from walking and running to weight lifting. You can certainly gain a lot of confidence from the improvements these activities eventually make to your body, but they aren’t always fun and not everyone feels sexy while lifting weights over and over again. Everything about pole dancing is sexy, from the stretching and floor work we do in my classes to warm up, all the way through to the end where students learn to dance, spin and even a bit of striptease.
Q: How did you learn to pole dance?
There is a dance club in Capitol Hill with a pole for it’s customers to play on (it’s just there for customers, there are no paid or professional dancers). Before I could dance, I used to admire the men who pole danced there. When men pole dance, it’s very Cirque de Soleil-ish; mesmerizing and beautiful. One day I worked up the courage to walk up to one of these pole dancers and ask them to teach me a trick. He did, and the first time I went spinning around that pole, I felt like I was flying! I was hooked instantly and I kept coming back every weekend to ask the men who pole danced there to teach me a few of their tricks. Eventually I wanted to learn more than they could teach me, but there were no pole schools here in Seattle. So I took a month off work and drove down to Los Angeles and took an intensive pole dancing course at the famous S Factor studio there.
Q: Your business name, Pole for the Soul, implies that it’s not just about physical fitness. How is pole dancing nourishing on a deeper level?
I think pole dancing is a spiritual experience on more than one level. In the classes, women often discover a part of themselves they never even knew existed. And the more they learn in classes, the more opportunities they have to delve deeper into this undiscovered territory and fully embrace and express it. They leave feeling more beautiful, expressive and free than they could have ever imagined before the class. Learning to embrace and appreciate every aspect of yourself is incredibly empowering and nourishing to the soul.
Pole dancing also gives women an opportunity to push past what they thought were their own limitations. At first they see women spinning and flying around the pole or hanging from the pole by one leg, and they think; only strippers or dancers can do that. I teach them that preconceived limitations like that can be completely shattered and they can in fact do those amazing things. Breaking their own barriers and accomplishing something they thought was impossible, gives women an sense of empowerment that goes far beyond just feeling sexy. And this feeling of being unlimited and powerful changes us permanently, from psyche to soul.
There are also some similarities between pole dancing and meditation. Mediation can be challenging because it often requires the mind to be perfectly still. People study for years trying to learn to quiet the mind and be totally present in the moment. But when you are spinning on a pole, you are completely present and free of thoughts. It’s almost impossible to think while you are spinning. So there is this magical feeling of flight combined with perfect calm and total stillness and presence of mind. It’s very much like mediation.
Q: What are the origins of pole dancing?
It probably originated with the Maypole dance, which was originally a Pagan fertility dance before later becoming a common folk dance in Western Europe. Pole dancing was introduced to strip clubs in the 80’s.
Q: How do your classes work, where are they, and when is the next class starting?
Intro classes are taught once per week for 6 weeks. Each class is an hour and a half and starts with yoga inspired warm ups and floor work and progresses into pole moves and spins. The purpose of the classes are not to learn to dance sexy for some one else or memorize a routine to perform. Instead, they are about learning to slow down, move in an entirely new way and tap into our sensual sides, using the pole dancing and floor work as a way to free and express that inner beauty and sensuality. My studio with 3 poles, mirrors and a surround sound stereo system is located inside my Queen Anne home. I have outgrown my small home studio though and I’m shopping for a larger dance studio. Classes are currently in session and the next 6-week session begins in January 2007. I also offer 2-hour pole parties, which are different than the classes. Women generally book pole parties with their friends for bachelorette parties, birthday parties, or just for a fun girls’ night out.
Q: Once you’ve learned the moves, are there any poles in Seattle where dancers can stretch their stuff?
The Vogue in Capitol Hill has a pole, but they are moving and changing their name in January. There is also a dance club in Capitol Hill called Sugar (not to be confused with “Sugars” which is a strip club) that has poles on the bar. Z Bar in Renton has a pole and the Wild Palms in Pioneer Square used to have a pole (I don’t know if they still have one). A Mexican restaurant in Lake Forrest Park called La Hacienda has a dance floor with a pole.
Krisha’s website, which lists her upcoming classes, is www.poleforthesoul.com
Atom Kahn, Erotic Glass Artisan
Looking for a way to stay warm and well connected as the snow piles up here in Seattle? Join glass artist Atom Kahn at his studio in West Seattle next Monday for a glass of wine, and an opportunity to watch him do what he does best: make spectacular erotic art out of molten glass. I got an opportunity to see some of his work first hand at an event recently, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s made. Not to mention he’ll be offering a 20 percent discount for purchases made during the event…
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself and how you become a glass artist.
I was raised in Southern California in the 70’s in a, shall we say “Liberal” family with both my mom and dad being into theatre and art, so I had the opportunity to take art classes at a very early age. My first form of erotic art was actually in 2nd grade with an assignment for a mobile made from magazine pictures. Well…..my dad half jokingly gave me one of his Playboy’s (something I never had to sneak to look at) and I proceeded to finish my project. So after the big “Critique” in the principal’s office the next day, with my parents…..erotica was my path! I have used many media in my art but working with molten glass is a unique experience. It works well for erotic forms because in its natural state, it will always have bulbous, curvy shapes!
Q: It feels just wrong to call your hand-crafted creations “sex toys.” I’d go with “art you can play with.” Where did the inspiration to make these come from?
Although its very hard and often associated with being cold and fragile, and upon breaking, can become quite sharp and scary. In the 13 years I have been working with hot glass, I have changed that whole perspective and seen its true state and felt the soft curves and strong forms that it can be. In my larger sculptural pieces, I create blown forms that have big, round areas often contouring to narrow rippling areas….much like the human body. With such a high gloss, oils and anything slippery have a wonderful, sensual feeling on the glass surface next to your skin. And with the ability to make these very organic, embracing shapes…it was just a natural progression!
Q: How many hours of work goes into making each one?
Each toy takes an average of about 45 minutes to create and that is the reason that each one is so unique. I do make some of the designs as a regular shape because people really enjoy them, but each one will be a little bit different on the curvy details. Making glass objects in this manner is the oldest form of glassmaking known to man. Each toy starts as a molten ball of pure crystal clear glass that is drawn from a furnace that is like a small bathtub full of liquid glass, idling around 2150 degrees fahrenheit. The colors are applied at this point in various techniques, constantly returning the ball to the furnace to reheat it and keep it liquidity. This is why it is such a process: if the glass is allowed to cool too quickly, it will literally shatter to pieces in just a few minutes. Some of the forms, after a full day in the cooling chamber, go on to be worked for 30 mins to an hour on a polishing machine.
Q: You’re hosting a happy hour at your studio on Dec. 4. Will we be able to watch you creating some of these?
Yes! I will be demonstrating how the process happens and will be making toys for an upcoming show. Everyone is welcome to huddle around the fire and watch as this ball of fiery honey looking goo is transformed into a sensual piece of erotic art that just calls to you…”Pleeaase touch Me!!” Questions are always welcome too….I love to share this experience with people and even offer classes for people who want to try this amazing art form.
Q: If I wanted to buy one of these beauties for someone special at your event, how much will it cost?
They start around $75.00 and get up to $300+ for the larger, more ornate designs and I can also do custom designs for people who like something very unique. I will be offering a 20% discount during this event and that applies to the price for a class as well. I really enjoy making these erotic pieces and its great to have people collect art they can use and enjoy.
Atom’s website is located at www.atom913.com.
art business creative erotic glass blowing happy hour SeattleBarry Hurd: The best asset of any community is the talent of its members
I met Barry through a conversation in Biz Talk a few weeks ago, and that conversation led to us having coffee. Where we talked about something we’re both really excited about: social networks. Biznik is a social network for independent business people, and Barry works for a startup called Blogging Systems that provides turn-key community blog networks for the real estate industry. If that’s a topic that any of you are interested in, or if you’d just like to join us for a drink and talk about your business, Barry’s hosting a Biznik happy hour in Lake Forest Park on Thursday, November 30. But first, a bit more about Barry, from Barry.
Q: More than most people, you’ve spent a ton of time checking out social networks and trying to understand them. How’d you develop that interest?
Laughingly, I am a freak of nature. My father was a computer expert for the National Security Agency. I had a strange childhood. As a kid I played with computers under his guidance and tried to understand how they worked. That wasn’t really my niche, but as I grew up my education and skills put me in a corporate office working with online recruiting.
My computer knowledge eventually combined with my experiences in the social network of the recruiting world, and I soon discovered my love of connecting the dots between people. That led to the past ten years where I became an expert in online marketing and social networking; studying everything from banner ads to blogs- working on different projects ranging in complexity of things like my own personal journal to Monster.com.
Q: Where are you currently working, and what are you doing there?
I work with a team at BloggingSystems.com as the Director of Business Development. We have a bunch of smart minds that have created a community blogging platform that helps people form communities of almost any type. My focus is understanding our technical abilities and finding new markets that can benefit from our technology. I also help our team create new solutions for clients and build relationships with partners in other industries. It’s a great role for me; merging my personal interests as tech-geek and problem solver.
Q: How long have you been blogging yourself, and what do you blog about?
Good question. I’ve actually maintained different online journals since 1990 or so. I’ve used blogging for connecting with friends, making introductions with new people, handling projects within virtual teams, and building different communities with people around the world. Professionally I blog about industries that I see having huge benefits with the Blogging Systems platform- real estate, mortgage companies, credit unions, newspapers, and education. The list goes on and on. I’m constantly reading information on any group or industry that can benefit in nurturing an online community.
Personally I write about everything else. I am a tech geek by nature. Every now and then I find some gizmo or site that I think has an interesting feature. I also write creatively about my daily life (I’ve done list like top five things at Greenlake) and viewpoints to keep my friends up to speed on personal events. Believe it or not, I also tend to blog a lot of poetry (sometimes 2-3 pieces a day).
Q: What do you think are some interesting trends right now in the social networking space?
I think there is an amazing growth spike happening. The social networking space is at it’s infancy. We went through the 90s having commercial internet destroy a lot of the human connection we had. For lack of a better phrase, the web destabilized some of our real-world aspects of community. Technology has now developed the tools to help rebuild that lost sense of personal interaction and people are flocking to it like crazy.
In the big picture- the blog total is up to 55+ million, communities like Biznik are growing at amazing rates, and even major corporations are starting to discover how powerful virtual communities are becoming overnight. Things like cell phones and PDAs are helping to cross the barriers of web connectivity and offline geography. For me, the real exciting part of my daily effort is helping real world people and businesses merge the power of online communities into an actual geographic or professional area.
Q: You’re hosting an event on November 30th that will be about “friendly ideas for doing business online through blogging, search engine optimization, word of mouth, and buzz marketing.” What can members who attend your event expect to learn and experience?
I’m hoping that attendees will sit down and enjoy some in-depth conversation regarding how online trends are opening up really big opportunities for them. I like to share my experience and viewpoints with other people. I have a talent for what I do. I also hope that attendees bring some of their own personal energy to the conversation and help me understand what challenges they are facing. It would be great if a few talented people showed up and started other conversations regarding experiences they’ve had, and leave me with some amazing new train of thought at the end of the night.
My end goal of having discussion groups with creative professionals is this- I really hope that the Biznik attendees realize the best asset of any community is the talent of its members. I think there is a lot of information and intellect in the Biznik crowd- I can only hope that someone shares with me as much as I can share with them.
Barry’s personal blog is Technical Disaster.
barry hurd blogging business social networks19-year-old entrepreneur Ross Hill hosts the first international Biznik event in Australia
Biznik now has members in 46 countries. But so far, all of our events have been in the United States. Thanks to Ross Hill, that’s about to change. The 19-year-old entrepreneur and university student from Australia will host Cashflow 101, the first international Biznik event on Wednesday, Dec. 6. I’ve mentioned Ross before in this post, but this occasion merits a full interview!
Q: Tell me a bit about yourself - you’re in university, yes?
I’m studying Entrepreneurship of all things! And yes there is a degree for that. It’s similar to a Bachelor of Business but with a major in Entrepreneurship. We study regular business areas such as marketing and finance but they are focussed on startups so we spend more time on things like low cost marketing techniques and raising capital. We also get to meet a range of entrepreneurs in the ‘Entrepreneurial and New Ventures’ class and hear their stories of both success and failure which is really insightful.
Q: You’re also running a business while you’re in school. Tell me about Thrive.
I’ve been playing with the web since I was 12 but started thinking more commercially in 2003. After doing a couple of sites word got out and I ended up getting a few leads through “networks” - a lot of people think that it is some big, scary term but my networks in those days were friends, people that my parents knew, and contacts of school teachers. In July 2006 I thought it was time to get a bit more serious and replace the “Ross Hill” business cards with something more solid, so I registered Thrive Web Marketing.
I think website design is a great way to get into business because of the low barriers to entry. Like a lot of freelancers and consultants, all I needed to get started was a mobile phone, a couple of business cards and my trusty Powerbook. It does cause a problem though, in that there are so many other website designers out there - search for web designer on Biznik and there are 233 results!
Running a business while in school is fantastic. It really suits my university course because I can apply what is learnt directly, and hand in the Thrive marketing and financial plans as assignments! You get feedback on your assignment, which is good academically, but it can also be applied practically in the business. Since all of the lecturers have a lot of experience this can be really helpful. In our third year of study every student actually has to start their own business anyway, so I guess I’ll be starting my second by then. Another advantage to having a business while studying is that I have had a lot of class mates hire me! My classmates and I were talking about the cost of our degree but some of us will probably end up breaking even by the end of it.
Q: I find it’s pretty rare to meet entrepreneurs who are under 30. Why do you think that is?
In a post on my blog called School Versus Real Life I quoted Chris Yeh saying “School isn’t like real life. In fact, it’s about as far from real life as can be imagined. The lessons that let you be successful in school (follow the rules, work hard, know the right answers) are completely the opposite of those that help you become a successful entrepreneur (change the rules, work smart, know the right questions).”
At the end of 2005 I completed 13 years of learning how to go out and get a job.
It isn’t ironic that most people go out and get a job, or study more at TAFE or university before finding work.
I think young people find it hard to get support to start a new business. Public perception is that it is too risky and that 90% of businesses fail within a year. That said, I think that there are actually a lot of young entrepreneurs around, or at least people with aspirations of starting their own business in the future. My university course has 70 excited young entrepreneurs, and with groups like VentureTribe they can get together with like-minded young people who will support them while they get started. The latest site in the Thrive Portfolio, Free Business Tips got some press recently and within a few days most of the members on the forum were young people. We just need places that we can go to find some positive energy and have someone asking us “why not?” instead of telling us why not!
Testing an idea is easy, and that is what makes the successful stand out from those who just mention their million-dollar-idea over a beer at a barbecue. With the internet you can test whether there is a market for your ideas without spending much at all. But you can just as easily do it in the real world as well. I came across the story of Innocent Juice and love it. They’d made juice at home and thought it could be a good business, so they bought a bunch of fruit and set up a stand at a music festival. They had a big sign that said “Do you think we should give up our jobs to make these smoothies?” and had two garbage bins underneath - one saying ‘YES’ and the other saying ‘NO’. At the end of the day the YES bin was full so they resigned the next day and got started building their new business which now commands $120,000,000 worth of the market.
I think people just need to realise how easy it is to get started. If you have an idea you are sitting on right now, ask yourself what is the simplest way that you can test to see if there are people who would buy your product or service? If there are then you already have your first sale!
Q: What gets you excited about entrepreneurship?
I’m sure you know the feeling - you walk into a networking event and there is this buzz in the room. Everybody is so excited about what they are doing and hearing about what everyone else is doing. That positive vibe and helpful attitude is addictive. People with jobs do “work”, entrepreneurs love what they do and find ways to get paid to do it. How could you choose to do anything else?
Q: How’d you learn about Biznik and why did you choose Biznik to host your event?
I stumbled across Biznik through a link on somebody’s blog and I liked what I saw so I signed up for an account and stuck around. The manifesto just shines and when I saw that you use Flickr and that there is a podcast I knew I had to look deeper. I don’t think I have seen a networking group with such a well-rounded online presence. Most of you are still in Seattle, though, so I had to put Geelong on the map! When I joined there were only 5 people in the whole of Australia but I have recruited a few more locals since then.
I had a game of Cashflow with a few guys a couple of weeks ago and it was really good fun so I thought I better pick a date for the next game. There were a couple of other Cashflow events listed but Biznik was clearly under-represented down under so I submitted the idea as an event. Now I can just send people to the Biznik link Geelong Cashflow 101 Night and they can RSVP there so it is a really simple process. It will be good to see what features are built into Biznik 2.0 - which sounds really exciting so far.
Ross’s website and blog is Thrive Web Marketing.
australia Biznik business networking cashflow entrepreneur startupSeattle writing coach Rachel Whalley helps entrepreneurs Write with Meaning
Blogging is a fantastic way to put a human face on your business — if you know how to write with passion and flair. But what if you don’t? What if a blank screen and a blinking cursor just reminds you of term papers and sleepless nights?
“Sometimes all you need is a little expertise and some support from a compassionate person you trust,” says Rachel Whalley, who has made a businesses out of teaching people to Write with Meaning. Next Monday is a great opportunity to learn from her first hand, when she teams up with Dominic Canterbury to offer a class on business blogging. But let’s find out a little more about her first, shall we?
Q: Teaching people how to write is typically an academic pursuit. How’d you come to do it for a living outside of academia, and what do you enjoy most about teaching people to write?
I did teach classes while getting my first graduate degree. My favorite part of being a teacher was the individual student conferences, where I could connect with each person. I have a much easier time giving a person what she needs if I can get a sense of how she learns best and how my message needs to be formed in order to reach her. From my perspective, ten minutes of one-on-one time is worth four hours of lectures pulled straight from the textbook.
I don’t particularly like working inside of academia. It’s oddly political and in a less direct manner than the corporate world. I also prefer to make a decent living, which is much more possible as an entrepreneur. And I want to work with people who are invested in improving. Your average college student could give a rat’s ass, honestly. He’s just trying to pass his classes so he can keep partying on daddy’s dime.
I love helping people improve their writing because the excitement is contagious. Helping people reverse the damage from mean English teachers and conquer their writing fears…it’s a rush. The same is true when I help people get unstuck in their writing projects. Entrepreneurs LOVE what they do for a living, and I love helping them talk about it and bring their passion to a greater audience. If more people could do what they loved rather than what they barely tolerated, the world would be a much better place. It’s all about world peace, really.
Q: You and Dominic Canterbury are hosting an event about business blogging. Can you tell me more about it?
Our class is a combination of Dominic’s marketing wisdom and my writing expertise, packed into two hours. Blogging for business is such a new tool and many people don’t know how to start and/or how to do it right. We think that blogs give future clients an intermediary step between first exposure and actually meeting you or trying your product. And, it’s far better than a static website because it can actually demonstrate your expertise, as well as your personality. Personality, as if we didn’t know, is key for a successful entrepreneur.
Q: If I attend your upcoming class, what can I expect to learn?
You will learn a bevy of things, including how a blog boosts business, how to setup a blog, who to blog for, what to write about, and how to say it. Most successful business bloggers are not teachers or coaches by nature, so there’s little help out there for people who want to learn to walk the tightrope between personal and professional writing. I’ll be helping you learn to step more confidently on that wire, like your own balancing pole. And of course, any class that gives you access to Dominic’s marketing insight is a great deal!
The class will be part material-presentation by me and Dominic, part Q & A, and part collaboration in small groups with other Bizniks. I’ve really enjoyed classes that include time to work on ideas with other people, since more minds increase creativity AND it gives me a chance to network. I’m excited that we’re incorporating small-group work into our class.
I measure the success of a class by how much I leave with. You will walk away from this class with all your essential business blogging questions answered, stronger connections with other Bizniks, and (drum roll, please) personalized topic ideas for five business blog posts.
Q: What’s the most common writing mistake you see indie business people making?
Not revising. You can catch so many embarrassing or confusing mistakes (poor grammar, repeated words, nonsense phrases) in your writing just by giving it a good once over. I can’t tell you how many people think they’re bad writers because they don’t write a perfect first draft. I’m gonna let you in on a dirty little secret–NO ONE writes perfect first drafts. Not me, not Tolstoy, not Seth Godin. No one. If you think you’re a bad writer, stop and consider whether you ever review your writing before publishing it. It may just be that you’re a good writer and a crappy editor.
Learn more about this upcoming event and RSVP online. Rachel’s website is writewithmeaning.com.
Tad Hargrave brings his Radical Business Intensive to Seattle November 17 - 19, 2006
A lot of indie business people fail to distinguish themselves by trying to be everything to everybody - that is, everybody who they think can afford their services. Tad Hargrave doesn’t have this problem. He’s a living, breathing, kilt-wearing example of how nich-marketing yourself can get your customer’s attention, and hold it. How does he do it? Well, for starters, he works only with “green, local, sustainable, holistic, life-affirming and otherwise conscious entrepreneurs.” And then there’s the kilt he wears while teaching seminars. And the fact that his seminars are “pay what you can.” Intrigued? Tad will be sharing his marketing wisdom to a Seattle audience November 17-19. I interviewed him recently to learn more about his approach to marketing and what anyone who attends his event can expect to learn.
Q: Your Biznik profile lists your job title as “marketing consultant to hippies.” Can you elaborate?
Sure. Basically, it means that I work exclusively with businesses that are some combination of locally owned, community minded, conscious, green, ethical and sustainable. I carefully screen my clients - even for workshops. The more radical they are, the more I like them. What I found was that there were no trainings or services out there for these folks. And I think they’re needed. I mean, there’s a lot of ways to talk about it but basically we live in what I call the “Suicide Economy” and we’re trying to shift over to a more “Conscious Economy,” you know? But that’s a hard transition, especially for business owners. And there’s not much help. Most of the marketing training available are incredibly, incredibly expensive and also very . . . how to say it - they’re aggressively capitalist. I found it a distraction. But at the Radical Business Intensive weekends it’s only hippies. It’s only business owners who embrace the notion of a triple bottom line of not only financial profit, but also people and the planet. It makes the events way more exciting, safe and open.
Q: Tell me about your upcoming event in Seattle.
I’m getting really excited about it.
The Radical Business Intensive will be happening in Seattle Nov 17-19. It’s being sponsored by BALLE Seattle and run in partnership with Biznik member and marketing genius Dominic Canterbury.
It’s a weekend-long training where conscious entrepreneurs can meet each other, have some space to reflect and wrestle with some of the tough issues of marketing their businesses effectively. We focus on the basic, core fundamentals of marketing.
I guess there’s a few main things about it that I think are particularly cool.
First, nobody pays a cent to me when they register. No credit cards. No cheques. No cash. People don’t pay me a dime until the last 7 minutes of the weekend.
Second, in those last seven minutes, people only pay me what they thought it was worth. I work on a pay-what-you-can basis, based on what you can afford philosophy. You like it a little? Just give me a little. You like it a lot? Then you can give me a lot. People still have a hard time believing this, that there’s no big catch, but there really isn’t. I even have people pay with three cheques so they can break the payment up to make it easier on them.
Third, people get like 331 pages of grounding materials worth more than $500 before they ever arrive. And the materials are really, really good.
Q: How successful have you been with your “pay what you can” pricing strategy? I have to admit we’ve had limited success with that approach on Biznik so far.
It’s gone really well. I’ve learned a lot about how to do it and how not to do it. I think they jury’s still out on it in some ways but I’m young and single and this is the time for me to experiment, you know? But it’s gone well.
Here’s the main lessons I’ve learned:
1) You’ve got to be clear that pay what you can does not equal “free”. It must be clear that paying nothing is not an option. I think even if somebody just gives me a dollar . . . there’s something about respect there in the ritual of acknowledging that an exchange happened. You must pay something.
2) You must make clear to people how much they would be paying for this anywhere else. Most people will have no idea what to give. They might not know that I’ve gone to 5 day marketing seminars that cost $5000 (not including accommodations). They might not realize that the average weekend seminar would cost about $1693. So, it’s important to help people understand the value that they’re receiving. It’s so important to really communicate this again and again. To take it seriously.
3) Multiple cheques. In my situation people used to just pay me with one cheque. And I can’t tell you how many times people said, “Tad, the weekend was amazing. I want to give you more but . . . this is all I can afford . . .” They felt so ashamed and I was like, “Dude, I don’t care.” but they did and I realized that this same person would likely now avoid me in the future because they felt like they owed me something. It was odd. So then I started making it mandatory for people to pay with three cheques. Not only did it almost double the amount of money I got but I stopped getting the “I wish I could pay more” responses. It felt more . . . comfortable for both sides.
I think it works well for one time things but I really question its applicability for long term situations. Like pay what you can monthly coaching? I can’t imagine that working.
And I think you have to be ready to only receive a fraction of what you would if people paid full price. But that’s the trade off - you get less money per person, but you get WAY more people because there’s so little risk.
Q: How do you define your work as “radical?”
What’s not needed right now is to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.
The idea of trying to patch up the Titanic or just “greenwash it” to make it look prettier and more sustainable misses the point so profoundly.
We need another boat entirely. Abandon ship.
It’s similar with the greenwashing that major corporations are doing today.
On my website I list the values of Radical Business as:
“Fair trade not ‘Free’ trade, alternative education that nurtures the whole child, not just reading, writing and ‘rithmetic’, a maximization of relationships, not of profits; honesty and transparency, not more lies, hype and manipulation; naturalness, not pretense; the growth of consciousness and creativity , not brands and market share; democracy and decentralized ownership, not concentrated wealth; a living return, not the highest return; a living wage, not the minimum wage; a fair price, not the lowest price; sharing, not hoarding; simplicity, not luxury; life-serving, not self-serving; partnership, not domination; cooperation, not competition; win-win exchange, not win-lose exploitation; family farms, not factory farms; biodiversity, not mono-crops; cultural diversity , not monoculture; creativity, not conformity; slow food, not fast food; our bucks, not Starbucks; our mart, not Wal-Mart; a love of life , not a love of money.”
But to me it’s really coming from this deep sense that we need large not small changes. We don’t need a “more sustainable” Suicide Economy. I think that whole focus is bullshit.
I mean, God bless all work to decrease the violence and damage that groups like The Natural Step are doing at all levels, but the idea of “greening the Suicide Economy” as a goal? I feel horrified and disgusted by that. As a means? Possibly. As an ends? No way.
Plus, the idea of talking about making the Suicide Economy, Empire, the Corporate Global Economy - whatever you want to call it - MORE sustainable is misguided at best because that presupposes that it already IS sustainable and now we’re just making it more so, you know? The Suicide Economy is NOT sustainable. It is violent. It can be made less violent but . . . is that it? Is that the extent of our vision? To decrease violence?
No.
Our ends and our means must both shift - not a little but a lot. We don’t need reasonable and conservative changes - we need radical change. We all feel it. We need to find a way to meet human needs and the needs of all life without imperiling future generations. Hell, without imperiling THIS generation.
So, I’m constantly pushing people to consider what more we can do as entrepreneurs.
Q: What role do you see business playing in making positive change?
A major one. I think that one of the most powerful, practical and most easily embraceable things we can and must do is build up local, living economies. There are more radical things we can do, but this, to me, is a major priority. There are things that business owners can do that non-profits simply can’t.
We need to rebuild and renew locally, even as we work to dismantle global systems of oppression. We need to grow our food locally again. We need to get to know our neighbors again. We need to support locally owned businesses again.
Here’s two articles that go more deeply into this:
http://www.tadhargrave.com/index_html/Welcome
http://radicalbusiness.blogspot.com/2006/09/as-radical-as-we-wanna-be.html
Q: What’s the biggest mistake you see indie businesses people making?
The first thing I’d say is that it’s different for each business. I’ve actually seen eleven major problems that crop up and I created a really simple diagnostic tool - a quiz of sorts - that entrepreneurs can use to pinpoint where they’re strong and where they’re weak on a general level. I get raves reviews about it:
www.tadhargrave.com/Virtual_Workshops/horriblehundred
But to answer it directly, I’d say the biggest mistake is not making their marketing a priority. They put it off. They just don’t handle it. And I can’t really blame them, up until now there haven’t been many trainings or books or consultants targeted to a conscious, green, local business. What this often creates is a strange incongruence in a business. The inner reality is wonderful. The products and services kick ass. But . . . no one knows about them.
Tad’s Radical Business Intensive is coming to Seattle on November 17-19. It will be held at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in West Seattle. To learn more, visit www.tadhargrave.com/RBI
Biznik business networking green marketing radical Seattle sustainableAaron Silverberg: I work with clients to find their ENOUGH and live it bravely
Aaron Silverberg is a Seattle life coach who makes a living helping people create happy, fulfilled lives. He’s also Biznik’s most recent event host, with an event coming up on November 1st, “How to increase compassion in your life.” I interviewed Aaron recently to find out more about his services and his approach to life coaching.
Q: Your profile says that you “help people create a happy, fulfilled life across the board.” That’s a pretty broad statement! How exactly do you do that?
A person lives a 24 hour day each day, composed mainly of a mix of sleeping, eating, sexing, working, playing, washing, defacating/urinating, cleaning, cooking, shopping, exercising, entertainment, socializing, computering and responding to voice mail. Everyone is challenged by this modern lifestyle to accomplish a ton of tasks and still find time to kick back and heave a sigh of contentment. The best approximation of “happiness” is a client reaching full acceptance of their CHOSEN mix of these. Our mind is usually in acquisition or protection mode, we nerver have enough _____ (fill in the blanks) or are completely safe/secure. I work with my clients to find their ENOUGH and live it bravely.
Q: How’d you become a life coach?
I think I always was a Rennaisance man of sorts, from majoring in philosophy to playing flute, dancing, master level chess player, professional tennis, writing poetry, adventuring in the wilderness, acting in improvisational theatre and stage, reading voraciously, yoga, aikido to the study and living of Dharma (Buddhism).
I never had a mentor in my formative years (early 20’s) to help me INTEGRATE my interests so that I understood how each of the areas of my life (work, play, relationships,etc.) contributed to my overall goal of life (for me: to love and be loved)
Practically I attended the Academy for Coach Training in 1999-2000 and honed my already considerable counseling skills to another level and received a Professional Life Coa