Showcasing experienced entrepreneurs offers an added marketing communications or social media element to help promote their businesses. In addition, it provides a forum through which they can share solutions to unique business challenges that might be the answer to a similar challenge with which yet another entrepreneur is struggling. This openness of information flows with the following story offered by
Denise Blum Sepos, MA, LMT
A Journey to Health
info@ajthmassage.com
www.ajthmassage.com
847-550-8716
ABOUT MY BUSINESS
I’m a licensed massage therapist, as well as a nationally certified massage therapist, specializing in all forms of massage therapy. I opened A Journey to Health in 2000 which provides clients with the simplest modality of the relaxing Swedish massage to deeper, more therapeutic modalities of myofascial release, sports massage, both
pre- and post-natal massage, Aruyvedic head massage, deep tissue work which incorporates trigger point therapy, foot reflexology, and warm stone massage that delivers deep penetrating heat to the soft tissues. So, literally, I offer full-scale therapy options.
MY UNIQUENESS
Outside of my being a nationally certified massage therapist, which is beyond what is required in the state of Illinois, I originally was a dance movement therapist in Massachusetts before coming to Illinois in 1995. Dance movement therapy is one of the creative arts therapies. I saw many parallels between dance therapy and massage therapy, so it was a very smooth change of career paths. I have always worked with people across many populations which I feel was very valuable in my development as a massage therapist.This diverse background has given me a greater depth of practice than many others in the field, today. I’m better able to know how to work with people, how to treat them and how to determine what their problem is and then to easily communicate that information back to the client.
IDEAL CLIENT
The ideal A Journey to Health client is someone who, as he or she ages, is interested in their own health and wellness and wants to prolong their active lifestyles. Other ideal clients are people who have some acute or chronic pain that they’ve been experiencing and want to get back to functioning to their fullest degree. Other clients would be those who want to take responsibility for and control of their health maintenance or want to step away from busy demands to replenish their energy and de-stress their minds and bodies. And, massage therapy is one way to help them reach these goals.
UNIQUE CHALLENGE
With the increased interest in massage, there are many more facilities that are opening with a lot more therapists coming into the field. While the growing awareness has brought massage more into the mainstream, not all the newer practices are necessarily offering high quality massage therapy. The challenge is educating the public on the differences among them. For example, how do you explain the wide range of pricing – from a discount level to one much higher? All massage therapy practices, today, are not equal – not in experience, value or results. Getting that information out to the public is my challenge.
RESOLUTION
To address this challenge, I am engaging in a lot of networking. This has become my number one way of getting my message of high quality message therapy out to my potential clients. In addition, I do presentations to both the public and to professionals. To further my goal of educating people, I’ve made a 2011 resolution to become involved in social media and use these platforms as a means of reaching more potential clients with the value of massage therapy that is offered at experienced and qualified practices such as A Journey to Health.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Bold decision early on key to entrepreneur's 25 years of success
Showcasing experienced entrepreneurs offers an added marketing communications or social media element to help promote their businesses. In addition, it provides a forum through which they can share solutions to unique business challenges that might be the answer to a similar challenge with which yet another entrepreneur is struggling. This openness of information flows with the following story offered by
Dona Blunt, president
Newport Promotions
A certified WBE (Woman-owned Business Enterprise)
http://www.newportpros.com/
dona.blunt@newportpros.com
phone: 847-389-5500
fax: 888-884-9726
ABOUT MY BUSINESS
I'm in the business of building businesses. What Newport Promotions provides for clients is what will make their phones ring and bring them more sales. We offer promotional product advertising which is a specific form of advertising just as are radio, TV, Internet, and print. Our products range from employee recognition awards and trade show premiums, to custom golf outing prizes and corporate identity pieces designed to enhance marketing programs.
MY UNIQUENESS
What makes Newport Promotions stand out can be attributed to my years of experience, my firsthand knowledge of marketing, and a genuine concern for the success of my clients. We form long-term relationships as opposed to one-time transactional deals. And, because of my experience, I’m able to get my clients the most appropriate products at the most reasonable prices and get them delivered on time.
IDEAL CLIENT PROFILE
The business person who recognizes that there is value in what I bring to our relationship would be my ideal client. These are people who are not just shopping for the lowest price, but those who want to get the best value for what they are spending. They consider me a partner in their marketing programs and look to me to find and furnish the promotional items appropriate for both their plans and their budgets. Ideally, they are companies with annual or on-going promotions built into their marketing strategies. As I would begin to work with the client and come to know their business, they wouldn't need to seek out new vendors for each new marketing or promotional initiative, since I'd already have their past purchasing information on file.
UNIQUE BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Like most new businesses, when I started out in 1985, I was taking any and all clients. As a result, I soon found that I had two distinct client bases. One was that of independent real estate agents who were responsible for the cost of their promotions out of their own pockets. The second group consisted of business owners who knew the value of promotional items and had budgets for ordering them. While I did get a substantial amount of business from the real estate professionals, it was costing me more to market and sell to them than did doing the same to my other client segment. So, my dilemma became – should I let this business go or not. I decided to let it go.
RESOLUTION
After making the decision to let go of the real estate agents' business, I had to figure out a transition that would be in my best interest. I had been working within this industry long enough to came to know many of my competitors by meeting them at various real estate trade shows. I approached on about purchasing my list of agents with whom he was not already doing business and he agreed. As a result, I was able to free up marketing dollars that I could then spend on targeting only businesses and grow that customer base side of Newport Promotions which I have have been doing successfully for the past 25 years.
Dona Blunt, president
Newport Promotions
A certified WBE (Woman-owned Business Enterprise)
http://www.newportpros.com/
dona.blunt@newportpros.com
phone: 847-389-5500
fax: 888-884-9726
ABOUT MY BUSINESS
I'm in the business of building businesses. What Newport Promotions provides for clients is what will make their phones ring and bring them more sales. We offer promotional product advertising which is a specific form of advertising just as are radio, TV, Internet, and print. Our products range from employee recognition awards and trade show premiums, to custom golf outing prizes and corporate identity pieces designed to enhance marketing programs.
MY UNIQUENESS
What makes Newport Promotions stand out can be attributed to my years of experience, my firsthand knowledge of marketing, and a genuine concern for the success of my clients. We form long-term relationships as opposed to one-time transactional deals. And, because of my experience, I’m able to get my clients the most appropriate products at the most reasonable prices and get them delivered on time.
IDEAL CLIENT PROFILE
The business person who recognizes that there is value in what I bring to our relationship would be my ideal client. These are people who are not just shopping for the lowest price, but those who want to get the best value for what they are spending. They consider me a partner in their marketing programs and look to me to find and furnish the promotional items appropriate for both their plans and their budgets. Ideally, they are companies with annual or on-going promotions built into their marketing strategies. As I would begin to work with the client and come to know their business, they wouldn't need to seek out new vendors for each new marketing or promotional initiative, since I'd already have their past purchasing information on file.
UNIQUE BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Like most new businesses, when I started out in 1985, I was taking any and all clients. As a result, I soon found that I had two distinct client bases. One was that of independent real estate agents who were responsible for the cost of their promotions out of their own pockets. The second group consisted of business owners who knew the value of promotional items and had budgets for ordering them. While I did get a substantial amount of business from the real estate professionals, it was costing me more to market and sell to them than did doing the same to my other client segment. So, my dilemma became – should I let this business go or not. I decided to let it go.
RESOLUTION
After making the decision to let go of the real estate agents' business, I had to figure out a transition that would be in my best interest. I had been working within this industry long enough to came to know many of my competitors by meeting them at various real estate trade shows. I approached on about purchasing my list of agents with whom he was not already doing business and he agreed. As a result, I was able to free up marketing dollars that I could then spend on targeting only businesses and grow that customer base side of Newport Promotions which I have have been doing successfully for the past 25 years.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Raising industry awareness opens new client base for professional organizer
Showcasing experienced entrepreneurs offers an added marketing communications or social media element to help promote their businesses. In addition, it provides a forum through which they can share solutions to unique business challenges that might be the answer to a similar challenge with which yet another entrepreneur is struggling. This openness of information flows with the following story offered by
Pooja Gugnani, owner
Organizing With You, Inc.
www.organizingwithyou.com
pooja@organizingwithyou.com
312-282-8280
ABOUT MY BUSINESS
I am an expert professional organizer who offers residential and business organizing services. Simply put, I help people gain control of their environments by eliminating existing chaos and by creating functional organizing systems for them. However, it doesn’t end there. The systems that I develop are customized to the needs of the person so that he or she can easily maintain them after I’ve come and gone.
MY UNIQUENESS
There are many principles loosely applied to organizing projects across the industry, however, what makes me different from those who subscribe to the “one size fits all” theory is,again, that I customize every project. I spend a great deal of time interviewing my clients in order to learn as much about their processes and exactly what their vision is of the space in which they function. Equally unique, is that I realize I am not going to change people, so I actually incorporate some of their bad habits into their newly designed systems in an effort to have them gradually realize that the new process is more efficient. This often leads to their phasing out these inefficient habits on their own.
MY IDEAL CLIENT
Ideal clients for Organizing With You begin with your busy executive who needs to get his or her own space and daily processes in order. Then there are business owners who want to get their employees organized for better productivity which many major corporations across the country are now doing. And, thirdly, there is the busy mom who needs help in establishing better family-management processes for the home.
UNIQUE CHALLENGE
At the beginning of building my business, my biggest challenge was creating awareness of my services and the overall value of professional organizing as a whole. People were always quick to hire professionals in other fields, but at the time, they really didn’t understand what a professional organizer was let alone what benefits they provided. That has changed over the past few years with our profession being featured through various forms of popular media. But, in the beginning, creating awareness and recognition of my business was my greatest challenge.
EFFECTIVE RESOLUTION
To raise awareness, I began attending a number of business events at which I did a lot of networking and connecting with people who could leverage their connections to help me get the right introductions. In addition, I began utilizing social media, offering organizing tips on blog posts, writing articles for local publications which led to being featured in a Chicago-area business publication. As a result of this awareness push, my business began making great strides. As recently as last summer, I started partnering with healthcare professionals who work with both psychologically and physically-challenged people. I work with them to create more organized environments that help to make their patients’ daily lives more stress-free and manageable. I attribute this new client market to the time and effort I spent promoting organizing awareness along with the benefits offered to people in all walks of life by professional organizing companies like Organizing With You.
Pooja Gugnani, owner
Organizing With You, Inc.
www.organizingwithyou.com
pooja@organizingwithyou.com
312-282-8280
ABOUT MY BUSINESS
I am an expert professional organizer who offers residential and business organizing services. Simply put, I help people gain control of their environments by eliminating existing chaos and by creating functional organizing systems for them. However, it doesn’t end there. The systems that I develop are customized to the needs of the person so that he or she can easily maintain them after I’ve come and gone.
MY UNIQUENESS
There are many principles loosely applied to organizing projects across the industry, however, what makes me different from those who subscribe to the “one size fits all” theory is,again, that I customize every project. I spend a great deal of time interviewing my clients in order to learn as much about their processes and exactly what their vision is of the space in which they function. Equally unique, is that I realize I am not going to change people, so I actually incorporate some of their bad habits into their newly designed systems in an effort to have them gradually realize that the new process is more efficient. This often leads to their phasing out these inefficient habits on their own.
MY IDEAL CLIENT
Ideal clients for Organizing With You begin with your busy executive who needs to get his or her own space and daily processes in order. Then there are business owners who want to get their employees organized for better productivity which many major corporations across the country are now doing. And, thirdly, there is the busy mom who needs help in establishing better family-management processes for the home.
UNIQUE CHALLENGE
At the beginning of building my business, my biggest challenge was creating awareness of my services and the overall value of professional organizing as a whole. People were always quick to hire professionals in other fields, but at the time, they really didn’t understand what a professional organizer was let alone what benefits they provided. That has changed over the past few years with our profession being featured through various forms of popular media. But, in the beginning, creating awareness and recognition of my business was my greatest challenge.
EFFECTIVE RESOLUTION
To raise awareness, I began attending a number of business events at which I did a lot of networking and connecting with people who could leverage their connections to help me get the right introductions. In addition, I began utilizing social media, offering organizing tips on blog posts, writing articles for local publications which led to being featured in a Chicago-area business publication. As a result of this awareness push, my business began making great strides. As recently as last summer, I started partnering with healthcare professionals who work with both psychologically and physically-challenged people. I work with them to create more organized environments that help to make their patients’ daily lives more stress-free and manageable. I attribute this new client market to the time and effort I spent promoting organizing awareness along with the benefits offered to people in all walks of life by professional organizing companies like Organizing With You.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Entrepreneur stops future"scope creep" takeovers through careful contract negotiations
Showcasing experienced entrepreneurs offers an added marketing communications or social media element to help promote their businesses. In addition, it provides a forum through which they can share solutions to unique business challenges that might be the answer to a similar challenge with which yet another entrepreneur is struggling. This openness of information flows with the following story offered by
Rose Kostan-Schwartz, owner
Creative Design Solutions
www.creative-dzyne.com
rose@creative-dzyne.com
847-367-9278
ABOUT MY BUSINESS
As a graphic designer, I partner with clients to help them review and evaluate their branding in order to create strong visual solutions that are deliverable to both print and monitor. Often, small businesses begin with no budget or have no training to recognize why they need one. They get their business up and running with some family member or friend creating their identity pieces. Before long, they realize who their competition is and how they need to differentiate themselves from their competitors. This is where I can do my best work for them.
MY UNIQUENESS
My uniqueness lies in my background as creative director for a direct marketing group before the era of digital design. I thoroughly understand the principles of graphic design having successfully moved into the age of electronic web design along with all other aspects of the medium. I realize the need for and have the skills to deliver creative for all communication media. When people talk about the best use of their dollars, most believe a website is all they need. I believe you need a mix of materials to promote your business including print and the electronic medium. A valued graphic designer is able to create promotions that thread image consistency through both media.
MY IDEAL CLIENT
In the small business arena, my ideal client would be those who have been in business at least five years, understand who their competition is, recognize that they need a budget, and will partner with me in determining what elements their long-range marketing programs may require. Beyond that, they must show a desire to work with me in analyzing what we've developed so we can plan future programs accordingly. For those younger start-ups who don’t quite yet fit these criteria, I help connect them with designers who specialize in that new start-up business category.
UNIQUE BUSINESS CHALLENGE
One of the most painful, yet helpful, lessons that I’ve learned was about “scope creep.” In my field, the ability to communicate succinctly with potential clients creates a real challenge. This experience came from one particular job that was the poster child for scope creep. I began working with an inventor who had a start-up business. In the beginning, we didn’t talk about every aspect of developing his product invention and my proposal reflected precisely what we did discuss. When I got more into the project, scope creep began taking over big time. I was providing creative four times beyond what was in the original contract and I wasn’t objecting. It had to stop and I needed professional advice as to how to stop it.
RESOLUTION
I took my dilemma to a business women’s round table whose members helped me understand that both parties needed to be happy. They made me realize that just because the full scope became unclear and that I was not asserting myself properly to say as much, there was still time and room to initiate a renegotiation. Feeling confident in taking this action, I contacted the Chicago Artists Coalition that referred me to the Lawyers for the Creative Arts. They reassured me that the steps I was going to take were not out of line. After my renegotiation, we finished the project to everyone’s satisfaction. And, the client was most enthusiastic in saying that he wanted me in on his next project. The experience made me take a hard look at the content of my basic contract and how I needed to put together future contracts so that scope creep won’t ever, again, run rampant.
Rose Kostan-Schwartz, owner
Creative Design Solutions
www.creative-dzyne.com
rose@creative-dzyne.com
847-367-9278
ABOUT MY BUSINESS
As a graphic designer, I partner with clients to help them review and evaluate their branding in order to create strong visual solutions that are deliverable to both print and monitor. Often, small businesses begin with no budget or have no training to recognize why they need one. They get their business up and running with some family member or friend creating their identity pieces. Before long, they realize who their competition is and how they need to differentiate themselves from their competitors. This is where I can do my best work for them.
MY UNIQUENESS
My uniqueness lies in my background as creative director for a direct marketing group before the era of digital design. I thoroughly understand the principles of graphic design having successfully moved into the age of electronic web design along with all other aspects of the medium. I realize the need for and have the skills to deliver creative for all communication media. When people talk about the best use of their dollars, most believe a website is all they need. I believe you need a mix of materials to promote your business including print and the electronic medium. A valued graphic designer is able to create promotions that thread image consistency through both media.
MY IDEAL CLIENT
In the small business arena, my ideal client would be those who have been in business at least five years, understand who their competition is, recognize that they need a budget, and will partner with me in determining what elements their long-range marketing programs may require. Beyond that, they must show a desire to work with me in analyzing what we've developed so we can plan future programs accordingly. For those younger start-ups who don’t quite yet fit these criteria, I help connect them with designers who specialize in that new start-up business category.
UNIQUE BUSINESS CHALLENGE
One of the most painful, yet helpful, lessons that I’ve learned was about “scope creep.” In my field, the ability to communicate succinctly with potential clients creates a real challenge. This experience came from one particular job that was the poster child for scope creep. I began working with an inventor who had a start-up business. In the beginning, we didn’t talk about every aspect of developing his product invention and my proposal reflected precisely what we did discuss. When I got more into the project, scope creep began taking over big time. I was providing creative four times beyond what was in the original contract and I wasn’t objecting. It had to stop and I needed professional advice as to how to stop it.
RESOLUTION
I took my dilemma to a business women’s round table whose members helped me understand that both parties needed to be happy. They made me realize that just because the full scope became unclear and that I was not asserting myself properly to say as much, there was still time and room to initiate a renegotiation. Feeling confident in taking this action, I contacted the Chicago Artists Coalition that referred me to the Lawyers for the Creative Arts. They reassured me that the steps I was going to take were not out of line. After my renegotiation, we finished the project to everyone’s satisfaction. And, the client was most enthusiastic in saying that he wanted me in on his next project. The experience made me take a hard look at the content of my basic contract and how I needed to put together future contracts so that scope creep won’t ever, again, run rampant.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Recap of 2010 Featured Entrepreneurs' Stories
Throughout 2010, a great number of local businesses were showcased on this blog. I'd like to thank each and every entrepreneur who participated in sharing his or her story of both their
ambitions and anxieties. I hope you were able to glean some wisdom and new approaches to similar challenges facing your own businesses.
Two things surprised me while interviewing these professionals. One was the genuine willingness of each to be open about their concerns, and the other was the thread of similarities found among their stories. TRANSPARENCY will continue to present new and seasoned entrepreneurs in 2011 as long as the high interest and enthusiasm remains the same as that of 2010.
Thanks to all,
Jan Long
Janlong Communications
janice@janlongcommunications.com
BRIEF 2010 RECAP OF ENTREPRENEUR COMMENTS
Reasons for Starting Their Businesses
Many had personal reasons, while others experienced professional circumstances that caused them to venture out on their own. Freedom from the corporate culture was popular, the ability to operate a business from any location was unique, the opportunity to provide a resource for those in need surfaced, and the unexpected and uncontrollable career shift was the reoccurring reason among many for becoming their own boss.
Sampling of Unique Business Challenges
Starting over always presents a challenge as it did among some entrepreneurs. Starting a business just as the economy crashed presented major challenges to several. Knowing how and when to close the sale is something many entrepreneurs struggled with as did finding new ways to increase their number of clients. Getting prospects to realize how they will benefit from the entrepreneur's services, and finding new ways for potential clients to build the entrepreneur's products/services into their budgets challenged a few.
Some Shared Advice
Besides continually researching and constantly re-evaluating your markets, some entrepreneurs recommended working with professionals to outline your goals; don't be surprised if your business takes more time and money than you originally anticipate; find and build a business that you love doing; don't over-analyze everything - just do it; pay no attention to critics; and, just keep focused and you will surely succeed.
If you are interested in having your business showcased, please contact janice@janlongcommunications.com.
ambitions and anxieties. I hope you were able to glean some wisdom and new approaches to similar challenges facing your own businesses.
Two things surprised me while interviewing these professionals. One was the genuine willingness of each to be open about their concerns, and the other was the thread of similarities found among their stories. TRANSPARENCY will continue to present new and seasoned entrepreneurs in 2011 as long as the high interest and enthusiasm remains the same as that of 2010.
Thanks to all,
Jan Long
Janlong Communications
janice@janlongcommunications.com
BRIEF 2010 RECAP OF ENTREPRENEUR COMMENTS
Reasons for Starting Their Businesses
Many had personal reasons, while others experienced professional circumstances that caused them to venture out on their own. Freedom from the corporate culture was popular, the ability to operate a business from any location was unique, the opportunity to provide a resource for those in need surfaced, and the unexpected and uncontrollable career shift was the reoccurring reason among many for becoming their own boss.
Sampling of Unique Business Challenges
Starting over always presents a challenge as it did among some entrepreneurs. Starting a business just as the economy crashed presented major challenges to several. Knowing how and when to close the sale is something many entrepreneurs struggled with as did finding new ways to increase their number of clients. Getting prospects to realize how they will benefit from the entrepreneur's services, and finding new ways for potential clients to build the entrepreneur's products/services into their budgets challenged a few.
Some Shared Advice
Besides continually researching and constantly re-evaluating your markets, some entrepreneurs recommended working with professionals to outline your goals; don't be surprised if your business takes more time and money than you originally anticipate; find and build a business that you love doing; don't over-analyze everything - just do it; pay no attention to critics; and, just keep focused and you will surely succeed.
If you are interested in having your business showcased, please contact janice@janlongcommunications.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
