And I'm one of them, too. In fact, I have been for years – a member of the Baltimore chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. It's been the source of contacts and good friends over the years. This is where I first met Peg Silloway my publisher, over 20 years ago. At the time we were both in different careers. Peg was a CPA and I was a ceramic artist.
Yesterday the new season got under way with a lunch meeting at Gia Magliano's Confetti's Event Centerin Towson. Right away I saw a great marketing idea that Gia came up with. She has many events (parties, weddings, you name it) at her facility, and has turned bottles of water into portable bits of advertising. Her private label bottles have her company's name on the front and a coupon on the back – a good idea!
There was networking, of course, and then we each had a chance to share our "elevator speech" with the others at our table. After a round of introductions, the leader of our table suggested that we "tell us why someone would use your services." Since my table mates were from all different businesses, we got a good variety of answers:
Carlisle Hashim - Carlisle Flowers
Tanya Waltrick - Baltimore Business Journal
Shobita DuBois - Attorney
Jan Thompson - President, Arthritis Foundation
Sara Williams - Strategic Business Solutions
Nathan Archer - Cintas
Keith Duncan - CitiSmith Barney
Caity Lovett - Shades of Shamrock
When it was my turn, I talked about being a real estate consultant, and that I focus on giving information. I told how my website is set up to allow visitors to search all the active listings so they can find out what is going on in their neighborhood in terms of recent sales. I said, "Use me for information, to get questions and concerns answered, not just when you need to sell." Of course, I talked about Active Rain and the importance of blogging.
After lunch and networking, our speaker was Monyka Berrocosa, CEO of MyCity4Her.com™. Monyka talked about "Effective Marketing in Tough Times: Use your common "cents"! She gave us a lot of good ideas and pointers, including knowing what your marketing budget is, identifying your ideal customer and targeting that customer with your advertising and marketing, and taking stock as you go through the year on what's working and what's not. She talked about using new media including social networking, blogging, podcasting, and YouTube.
And she had suggestions to improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts such as:
- Connect with someone who provides complimentary service and advertising together.
- Talk and listen to the competition – you can learn what's not working for them and avoid a costly experiment.
- Look at your marketing pieces – if they haven't changed in five years, no matter how much you like them, you probably need a marketing makeover.
- Look at yourself, too – the truth is that you need to present yourself as a professional. If you need a wardrobe makeover, take some of your marketing budget and see NAWBO member Salli Ward of Wonderful Wardrobes.
- If you are running around looking for new clients, don't forget to spend time cultivating your existing clients too.
- Talk to your clients, ask them why they chose you. Be your own walking billboard, and become identified as an authority and industry leader.
- If you speak to groups gratis, make sure you get the promised visibility in terms of publicity and recognition.
With more than 100 women (and some men!) in attendance, including many prospective members, it was a great start to the NAWBO year. I love having a chance to meet other women in business, and though many events I go to are real estate related, I think it's important to reach beyond to other businesses. I meet interesting people and learn something new every time!
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