Back-To-Business Networking Mingler (Sept 16)
September 2, 2010 by Master-User
Filed under PFW Events
Bring your passion – and your business cards – to our September mingler and to start your fall with some luscious inspiration!
Please join us for an evening of connections & networking and a fire-you-up speaker to help you get back to your business and support you in meeting your goals for 2010 with special guest speaker Pat Mussieux who will talk about the 7 Steps to Growing Your Business By Getting Out of Your Own Way. Well-known as “The Queen of Networking,” Pat has x-ray vision for seeing relationship-building opportunities and the creativity to convert them into clients! (please see full bio below).
- Complimentary hors d’oeuvres
- Please bring your business cards, positive attitude and desire to contribute!
In this presentation, Pat Mussieux will share with you the powerful mindset and marketing techniques that she has mastered over the past few years – that have taken her from ‘hell to happy’! You will come away with tangible, relevant, meaningful, easy-to-apply steps that you can use TODAY to help you:
- understand the No. 1 barrier to entrepreneurial success
- learn 3 easy ways to find money on the table, and
- learn the one thing you are NOT doing now, that you must begin today……in order to grow your business!
Pat will help to make it easy for you – so you can get out of your own way and grow your business, starting today!
About Pat Mussieux:
After 15 years of training executives at companies like Stantec, The Westin Hotel, Sherritt International and other private sector organizations, she left the corporate world and put her skills to the test as an entrepreneur. Having stepped in and out of her business for the past 20 years, Pat contracted with a millionaire business coach in 2009 to help make quantum leaps in her business.
In just 1 short year, Pat created a six-figure home-based business after having moved across the country, leaving her 22-year marriage with virtually nothing – and starting life over in a new city across the country. She is an undisputed expert on mindset and marketing, and how to make BIG money doing what you love!
Pat is the author of “The 7-Step Guide To Growing Your Business by Building Confidence and Courage”, teaching women entrepreneurs how to get their message out and enjoy massive results, removing the self-imposed barriers of habits, attitudes, beliefs and expectations! Recently, Pat was nominated for the 2010 RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Through her coaching programs and products, Pat shows her clients how to experience freedom inside and out and create the life they truly want to live, now! It’s a ‘no-excuses’ approach!
For more about Pat, please visit: http://www.confidenceandcourage.com/
Back to Business Networking Mingler
Date: Thursday September 16, 2010
Time: 7:30 pm-9:30 pm
Location: Mirage Bistro & Lounge; 117 Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto
Please note that this event is open to all women (you do not need to be a member to attend).
GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!
Early-Bird Tickets by Sept 9th: $20
Regular Pre-Payment: $25
Cash at the door: $30
Daily Biz Tips
June 21, 2010 by Master-User
Filed under Daily Biz Tips, Your Fab Biz
Positive Fabulous Women is thrilled to have teamed up with Silver Lining Limited to help keep you inspired, motivated and taking action with your business! You can find daily tips, weekly videos and monthly articles here which discuss business topics relevant to anyone who wants their business to thrive and succeed. Check back daily to make sure you don’t miss a thing!
Six Surefire Strategies to Build Your Brand Online for More Impact and Income in 2010
December 1, 2009 by Master-User
Filed under Your Fab Biz
In this age of new media and new marketing, the rules for marketing professional service businesses have changed dramatically. Yet, many women in service-based businesses are not keeping up with the times and may fall behind the leaders in their marketplace who are embracing the new media models to build their brand online.
Having a strong brand reputation is the key to making sales in the new economy. It’s never been so important for your brand to be highly relevant. Your brand is the one competitive edge you can offer that no one else can copy or duplicate.
Brand marketing trends for 2010 indicate that you need to have something highly interesting and relevant to say to build a brand that people will notice. You need to engage your community, build your platform, and include social media in your marketing mix.
Here are my six surefire strategies to build your brand online for more impact and income in 2010:
1. Publish a Blog That Positions You as a Leader in Your Niche
Publishing a blog is a great way to expand your visibility and attract a community of followers. And, it’s very easy and low cost to publish a blog. Starting a blog is a great way to find your voice as well as start to cultivate an audience base. Put the focus on your readers instead of on you. Offer solutions to your audiences’ biggest challenges and you’ll never be at a loss for content. Writing valuable and relevant information at your blog can position you as the go-to person in your area of expertise. You will be easily referable and people will line up to buy from you. To remain relevant, your message must be interesting and timely, communicate authority and an authentic personality, and indicate that you are connected and in the know.
2. Brand Your Brilliance and Your Purpose
Personality and purpose-driven marketing can be highly effective these days when it has become so hard to get people’s attention. The most effective personal brands are built around your strengths, expertise, passion, personality, and life purpose. A strong brand based on your unique brilliance can differentiate your offerings and create value-added client relationships which lead to sustainable client loyalty. What people want now is relevance, simplicity, authentic personality, honesty, imagination and inspiration. If you’ve been holding back on following your true purpose or heart’s desire in your business, or not saying what you really think and feel, now’s the time to get real.
3. Leverage Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is one of the easiest ways to effectively expand your reputation. You can use social media to position yourself as an expert, build your credibility, build relationships, and extend your reach. Social media can be a very powerful tool for business growth if you know how to use it wisely to build relationships and not just to promote yourself. To successfully leverage social media, become highly active at a few sites like Facebook and Twitter, or LinkedIn, rather than trying to keep up with multiple networks. Get to know and get known by your online community and virtual neighbors. Become a superstar, must read resource and source of inspiration on Twitter.
4. Build a Purposeful Platform to Amplify Your Brand and Your Message
Your brand platform is the image or impression you make in the marketplace. It’s the set of associations that clients make when they think of you and your services. It’s both what you stand for and what your marketplace perceives as valuable. It’s how you create distinctive value through the unique combination of your expertise, values, vision, passion, purpose and message. By following your passion and purpose, you can build a purposeful platform that feeds both your pocketbook and your soul. A powerful online presence is one that builds and extends your platform and positions you to become well know for your message. There are many ways you can do this: article and blog marketing, social media marketing, signature presentations and programs, press releases, and developing a line of information products, to name a few. The first important step of course is to choose a highly targeted niche m arket that is looking for solutions to problems that you have answers to.
5. Take Your Brand Viral with Video Marketing
Video marketing is hot. It’s the big key secret method to extending your reach globally and attracting more interested, pre-qualified leads quickly. A picture really is worth a thousand words! You can easily create short two minute video tips for your target audience to post at your blog, or a video of you outlining the benefits of your new program at your sales page, or record testimonials from satisfied clients. Upload your videos to a free video-sharing site such as YouTube. Video can quickly raise your visibility and exposure and spread your message virally across the internet.
6. Create Raving Brand Fans
People have so many complex brand choices today that they get overwhelmed and confused. You need to get a community of people really engaged to build a loyal following. Develop a marketing strategy that will give your target audience exactly what they want so you can attract a community of followers and “raving brand fans”. Find out where your community is. Find out what they like to read and who they follow. Build your connections, strategic alliances and audience base. Over time, people will start to trust your expertise and enjoy your style and will buy your services and products without you having to put a lot of effort into selling.
Times have changed in the web 2.0 world. The internet has leveled the playing field in vying for people’s attention. Online branding will give you an edge in the marketplace that will cause clients to think of you first when they need your type of services.
© by Jan Marie Dore of Femalepreneurs.com.
Jan Marie Dore mentors professional women to deliver their service, expertise and message in more leveraged ways so they can work fewer hours, impact more people and make more money. Get your free “Professional Women’s Success Kit” and other marketing resources at www.FemalePreneurs.com
THRIVE Mingler ( Jan 13)
November 8, 2009 by Master-User
Filed under Past PFW Events
As we head into the new year, many of us are looking at ways we can move our businesses & our lives forward to create real breakthroughs and explore new possibilities.
Would you like to thrive in 2010?
Carolyn Ellis, Certified Money, Marketing & Soul coach and founder of BrillianceMastery.com, will offer us her insights on how to unleash your brilliance — professionally and personally. She’ll lead us through some lively discussion and fun interactive activity where you’ll be able to breakthrough to a more powerful and confident You!
- Complimentary hors d’oeuvres
- Fabulous door prizes
Don’t miss out on this fun social evening that combines some great tips, tons of inspiration, fabulous networking and extra-ordinary connections!
About Carolyn Ellis
Success Strategist, coach and award-winning author, Carolyn B. Ellis, is the Founder of BrillianceMastery.com and ThrivePrinciples.com. Her Brilliance Mastery program supports women entrepreneurs to own their brilliance so the mission of their business can be communicated clearly, powerfully and profitably. She is the creator of the Unleash Your Brilliance Summit and a certified Money, Marketing & Soul Coach. She publishes “Bits of Brilliance”, a weekly e-newsletter that offers inspiration, wisdom and support for the woman entrepreneur or business owner who is committed to living her brilliance. For more information and to get a copy of her special report “The 7 Secrets to Unlocking Your Brilliance as a Woman Entrepreneur”, visit www.BrillianceMastery.com
THRIVE Mingler
When: December 9, 2009 7:30 PM
Where: Kokkino Resto-Lounge; 414 Danforth Ave.
Pre-Payment: $25.00 per person (Registered PFW Business Members: $20)
Cash at the door: $30
Get Your Tickets Today!
The 5 Key Secrets Every Woman Entrepreneur Needs to Know to Accelerate Business Growth and Thrive in This Changing Economy!
November 6, 2009 by Master-User
Filed under Past Community Events
A Breakfast Seminar Presented by Carolyn Ellis, BrillianceMastery.com & Jan Marie Dore, Femalepreneurs.com
The economic landscape is changing fast. The speed and scale of change is unprecedented. New responses are required to keep up as old style business strategies just don’t cut it any longer. Change is here to stay, and it will likely get more rapid and dramatic. The speed at which you make decisions is critical.
What are the keys to success that you as a women business owner need to have so you can thrive in this changing economy? Join us at the Verity Club, Toronto on Thursday, November 12th to find out!
In this seminar, you’ll learn important secrets and techniques so you can accelerate your business growth and not just survive, but thrive in this challenging, changing economy. You’ll understand how to redesign your business thinking, marketing strategies and daily activities so that you can emerge stronger and more profitable than ever.
You’ll leave this seminar knowing:
- The six principles to adopt a THRIVE mindset to change any situation of challenge or adversity into one of opportunity
- The one key change to make so you attract 100% of the right client
- Ways to really leverage your brilliance so you’ll have the freedom and income to live the lifestyle you really want.
- How to consistently turn more leads into clients, and more clients into lifetime customers.
- Powerful skills and techniques to convert “No” and “Let me think about it” into “Yes, when can I get started.”
A continental breakfast with coffee/tea will be served.
Space is limited. Advance registration is required.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Location: The Verity Club, Downtown Toronto, Ontario
9:00am: Registration & continental breakfast with coffee/tea
Seminar: 9:30 to 11:30 am
Your Investment: $35US + GST
For complete details and to reserve your space please go to: http://www.femalepreneurs.com/seminar
About Carolyn Ellis
Carolyn Ellis is the founder of Brilliance Mastery™, a program that helps women entrepreneurs own their brilliance so the mission of their business can be communicated clearly, powerfully and profitably. Carolyn is the creator of the THRIVE Principles ™, founder of Thrive After Divorce, and the award-winning author of The 7 Pitfalls of Single Parenting: What to Avoid to Help Your Children Thrive after Divorce. Her free bi-weekly ezine, The THRIVE Guide, which offers practical and effective tools for living your greatest life is read by thousands of subscribers from around the world. Carolyn has a graduate degree from Harvard University, and is a Master Integrative Coach and Advanced PSYCH-K Facilitator. She lives in Toronto, ON with her 3 children. Her websites are BrillianceMastery.com and ThriveAfterDivorce.com
About Jan Marie Dore
Jan Marie Dore is The Women Entrepreneurs’ Success Coach and the Founder of Femalepreneurs.com, an online community for entrepreneurial women worldwide who want to create a more profitable business and live a high-quality life. Jan Marie is an authority on small business whose passion is inspiring women to new levels of success and fulfillment through her coaching programs, teleseminars, workshops and retreats. She has made it her mission to teach women simple, effective modern marketing strategies to attract more customers and grow their business and profits substantially with much less effort. She offers the free report “The Eight Insider Marketing Secrets of Wealthy Women Entrepreneurs” and the ezine “Success Secrets for Women Entrepreneurs” full of valuable ideas and resources for women to grow their business, their income and their life at FemalePreneurs.com
Practical advice (from a woman who’s screwed up again and again) for getting a website you love
October 2, 2009 by Master-User
Filed under Your Fab Biz
by Carrie Garbas
One super-expensive team missed my must-not-miss deadline by months. A small firm cashed my deposit cheque and ran, after one mock-up but not a lick of code. A freelancer met all my deadlines (hallelujah!) but the website was, well, ugly. I was beginning to take it personally. Now that I’m on the other side of the fence (I run my own marketing communications boutique), I see where I went wrong with my hiring decisions as well as my direction. Learn from my mistakes, positive, fabulous women! I’ll tell you everything I know.
Step 1: Figure out what you need
Before googling “web designers Toronto”, sit down at your kitchen table, pour yourself a glass of cab-merlot or mug of green tea, and figure out what work your website needs to do for you. You’re going to use this figuring when you contact web designers so make sure it’s thorough. Write down each of the subheads below and then answer the questions that go with each and you’ll be well on your way to an excellent briefing document.
Project name:
Project description: Is this a brand new website, an add-on or change to an existing site, or a redesign?
Current situation: Why are you starting this project? Are you a new business in need of web presence? Is something not working about a current site? What do you hope this website project will do for you and your business?
Audience: Who do you hope to have visit your site? Picture your dream customers and then describe them in detail.
Definition of success: How will you know if your website is successful? Lots of traffic? People calling after they’ve been to the site (building business)? Lots of user-generated content? Sales made on the website? People telling you it’s beautiful? Feeling proud?
Must-haves: Contact form? Map? A new logo? A place for visitors to upload content or download photography? E-commerce? Integration with Facebook and/or Twitter? Ability to update content yourself? Embedded video? Copywriting or proofreading? Web hosting? (where your site lives) Domain registration? (purchasing your website address) Search engine optimization? (yes, always!) List all the basics and bells and whistles on your wish list. If you need some inspiration, look at other websites in your industry and see what they’ve got.
Content: You don’t have to have it written at this point but you do need to know the subheadings (About Us, Services, etc). How many pages will your website be in total?
Timing: When do you need the website launched?
Budget: What amount is your business willing to invest?
Step 2: Finding your designer
Know someone with a great website? Ask them who did it and how it went. Check for referrals on GigPark (www.gigpark.com). Check the footers of websites you really like – often a designer will include a link to his or her own site. When you’re looking at a designer’s site, you’re allowed to be judgmental. Do their links work? Is the site cared for? Do they demonstrate attention to detail? Is it easy to find your way around? Now have a look at their portfolio. Does everything look the same? If you love their style, this could be a good thing. Often, though, the mark of a strong firm is an ability to create effective design that looks good and suits individual tastes (of their clients, not just their own).
In web design, like anything, you do get what you pay for. Your nephew may do beautiful work but if you’re not paying full rates, you may not get the site finished as quickly as you hoped. Friends and favours and websites make poor bedfellows. (Trust me on this!) A too-good-to-be-true deal of a freelancer may not have the experience or training to produce a sophisticated site. And a budget-friendly DIY Flash site may look pretty but be slow-loading and difficult to find with a search engine. On the other end, expensive agencies aren’t necessarily more talented – they just have higher overhead. Imagine your website is a dress you’re going to wear every day. It should feel good and fit and look stunning. It doesn’t need to be Gucci but you should spend as much as you possibly can for sumptuous fabric that drapes over your hips just right, shouldn’t you?
You’ve picked out the designers with style you like, now make contact. Many have online forms that will prompt you with questions about your project. Some just have an e-mail address to contact. Share with them the brief you’ve made, including budget. This is a quick way to see if there’s a fit. When you get a response, make a date to meet. It’s one thing to see a portfolio online and it’s another to hear someone talk about the thinking that went into it.
On top of getting a feel for their style, you also need to gauge chemistry. This is a person you’re going to speak with nearly every day for the duration of your project. You’re going to share with her your concerns about your business. You’re going to trust him to help you. You’re going to feel vulnerable. You want to make sure this is someone who “gets” you and someone you like. Frankly, life is just way too short to work with anyone who doesn’t make you glad to know them. Do NOT underestimate the importance of your gut.
Step 3: Checking references
Please, please, please do not skip this step. Ask for at least three references and, before signing anything, call all three. Ask how they enjoyed working with the designer. “Can you describe a time you didn’t see eye-to-eye and tell me how it was resolved?” “Were all your deadlines met?” “Did the project go over budget?” “Was there a lot of back-and-forth to get the finished project?” “Are you getting the results from your website you hoped for?” This can give you great insight into how your project might go.
Step 4: Getting started
In your brief, you’ve already told your designer what you need. The creative brief is where you get to tell them how you want it. And this stuff is no less important. The way your website looks and feels will play a significant role in whether a customer or client feels they can relate to you – a key to business success.
Finish these sentences for your designer:
- When they come to my site, the first thing a visitor will feel is… (excited, calm, efficient, sexy,…)
- Before leaving my site, I want visitors to… (buy something, sign up for a class, sign up for a newsletter, have spent 3 minutes on the site, bookmark it, read 2 pages, contact me…)
- Three websites I really like are: __, ___, ___ because… (these sites do not need to be in your industry.. they just have to reflect your tastes)
- My website must match…(provide any samples of marketing creative you’re already using and happy with – brochures, business cards, etc)
- My website should stand out from these competitors: ___, ___, ___. (provide links to websites)
Step 5: Getting it done
You’ve given your designer excellent direction. (Nice job, lady!) Now you need to hold you both accountable. Set out a reasonable timeline together that includes milestones along the way so you know when to expect the first creative options, for instance, and when to provide your feedback. If necessary, schedule weekly check-in phone calls so you can’t forget about each other (or miss an e-mail). Meet all the deadlines your designer sets for you. If you’re providing content, make sure it’s ready when he needs it or expect the timeline to shift accordingly.
When you provide feedback, be clear and straightforward. What do you like and what isn’t working as you hoped? Don’t feel you have to give specific instructions (“Make that box red and use this photo I found”) but instead tell the designer what you hope to achieve (“I’d like the feeling to be warmer. Can you think of ways we can address that with colour or photography? What are your ideas?”) Be open to your designer’s opinion – you hired her for her expertise. If you are really unhappy and aren’t getting what you want, don’t be afraid to be direct and firm. Remember, this is your hot dress.
—
Carrie Garbas is a Toronto-based writer, secret poet, novelist-in-progress and president of Pink Elephant Communications www.pinkelephantcommunications.com
Claim Your Niche Market for Guaranteed Business Growth
September 1, 2009 by FabKat
Filed under Your Fab Biz
by Serena Carcasole
You get a little business from each marketing technique, but not enough to write home about. Besides, after a short while in business, you quickly learn that you most enjoy chatting with eager brides who are as enthusiastic about their wedding flowers as you are, and you love putting together mind-blowing bridal bouquets and breathtaking centerpieces. In fact, you’re much more excited about wedding flowers than any of your other work, so you finally decide to focus on brides as your niche market, dedicating your marketing efforts on them and their needs. Before you know it, business is booming with ideal clients willing to pay top dollar for your top-notch wedding floral services. The best part is that your clients sense your passion and enthusiasm for your work, which makes their experience with you ten times better. As a result, they’re quick to drop your name to anyone sporting an engagement ring. You become the go-to expert for all newly-engaged couples in your area.
Okay, so this jump in business may not happen immediately after you claim a niche market, but you’ll be surprised at how quickly it can bring success to your business.
Finding a niche market can be much easier than you might think. Take a look at your current product or service offerings. Are they across the board? As in, are you a photographer who specializes in family portraits but also sells high-tech photography equipment out of your studio? Chances are, the families you serve aren’t interested in the equipment, so it just sits around collecting dust. Your best bet is to pick a specialty and stick with it. That’s not to say that you have to turn down lucrative senior portraits because your specialty is family pictures; you can have a menu of related services or products, but try to keep your focus as narrow as possible to avoid spreading yourself too thin.
