Gloria Bell-Owner Red Stapler Consulting

Hajj Flemings-Founder, Brand Camp University,  Author of Brand YU Life

Melinda Emerson- CEO MFE Consulting Author, Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months released in early 2010

Highlights of opening remarks -

Gloria Bell:

-Is what you are passionate about really monetizable? You have to be really honest with yourself.

-Listen to the people who are your support system and what they tell you you’re the best at

-Rely on the people you know you can trust

-You have to pay attention to when that right moment is

-Have distinct goals & vision and clear, definable objectives

-Why you shouldn’t monetize creative passion-sometimes it’s not monetizable

-Be true to knowing who you are and what you can make out of it

-You have to be willing to take a lot of risks and face failure

-Once you take the step to monetize your creative passion, your life will change

Hajj:

-Grustle is revolutionizing how creatives look at work

-Best time to start a business is when you’re already working for someone else

-Grustle = Grind + Hustle – Grind is your job or primary source of income

-We learn by working for someone else and being faithful to someone else

-Hustle: is your passion, what you would love to do full time

-we are all “preneurs”

-Entrepreneur-Someone who has made the decision that they are going to assume the risk of going into business for themselves

-Intrapreneur-Someone who works for someone else and are highly successful. they thrive working in a structured system

-There is a genius inside of everyone- you just have to unlock it. How do we find that genius and unlock it? It is not based on IQ, GPA, the school you went to, because regardless of that you can be successful

-Operating in your genius-an intersection of passion, problem and process.when you can connect your passion to someone else passion or problem, that means there is an opportunity. monetize your hobby.

-Process- There has to be business model behind it. Then it goes fromm being hobby to something that is monetizable.

-The social web is an amplifier. It proliferates whatever you are at a higher level. If you can define your voice properly, what happens when you put it in social media, More people will see a refined product and it will help you live your dreams

Melinda Emerson:

-Become your own boss in 12months-keeping your job and working your side hustle. develop a system to make the transition from full time to your own business.

-Before you ever write a business plan you need a life plan

-You can develop a good business that might not be a good business for you. The problem is not the ideas,the problem is the business of running a business.

-Are you financially positioned to start a business. A lot of that 12month period is financially repositioning yourself

-Your support system – kitchen cabinet of advisers

-Once you’re clear about your skills, figure out what additional skills you need. Because running your own business you are doing about 12 jobs.

-You just need to understand what your strengths are and hire for your weaknesses-or build strategic alliance with your weaknesses.

-If you don’t know who is buying and why they should buy from you, you shouldn’t waste your time writing a business plan. If you’re clear about market opportunity and how you’re going to be different, then that’s when you should write your biz plan.

-The first money to fund your business will come from your right or left pocket

-Are you ready to sell everything you own for your passion?

-The timing has to be right.

-A lot of it starts with your personal savings

-Passion and dreams take money. that money is going to come from your right and left pocket.

-If you plan for success it will happen, but if you do not plan you will plan to fail. Be clear about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it and whether or not it will make money

Q & A:

What do I need to know before I get started?

Melinda: Steps to take before you make the jump. save money. can you hang in there long enough to make it big.  You need a kitchen cabinet of advisers-one of which should be an entrepreneur. Get yourself a personal theme song “living my life like it’s golden”-Jill Scott  Celebrate small victories-the day you get your first website up, if you don’t celebrate the small things you could crash and burn out before your big success.

Melinda: Isolation is the enemy of entrepreneurship. Your mindset has to be right, because that’s when your insecurities. Evict your inner obnoxious roommate. Evict that inner voice in your head about mistakes you made. You can’t have negativity around you.

Gloria: I work harder now then I ever have. I am happier in the last year than in the 43 years that came before that. What I have now is so different, and I work harder, longer faster than I ever did and you have to be prepared for that.

Hajj: Owning the idea is important. something about this being my idea. I am the captain of the ship and this will go as far as I take it.

How not to undervalue rates and charging for goods or services?

Gloria-plan and research.

Melinda: Ask your client what budget is.

Hajj: once you state your price and hold firm

How do I monetize my passion?

Hajj: Know your business model. If i sell books, I make money on the books that I sell. You have to know what are the elements that are a part of your business and what are you worth.

Melinda: 6 real steps. uUnderstand basic project management/capacity. Pick a niche. Use a professional contract and spell out deliverables and payment. Avoiding unpaid rework (have a kick off meeting and send off client creative brief to be clear about goals and deliverables). Limit drafts and revisions. Make sure your contract states they have to pay you even if they don’t give timely approval. Make sure you take multiple forms of payments. Follow up when people say they’re interested in your work. Be organized. Communicate. Take responsibility.

How do you continue to grow your business?

Gloria: Build relationships. Don’t look for clients. People want to do business with people that they trust and like. I talked about it to everybody. Be active on social media. Go to networking events. Talk to people. Build relationship.

Hajj: We’re all in the business of people. There have been time when I have done stuff for free because great opportunities can come from it. We have to reinvent ourselves. We have to learn how to become relevant. Understand how your customer likes to digest information. Never dismiss people, you never know who somebody else knows.

Melinda: Social media is putting your roledex on steroids. Think about exactly who you want to talk to. When you present yourself in the right way talking to the specific audience they come find you.

What is the importance of having a mentor as a part of your business?

Hajj: Mentorship is accelerated wisdom. Get a mentor who has been there before-in success and failure. Many of us are one failure away from our greatest success. You can have virtual mentors-follow their blogs and tweets.

Melinda: Contact the writers of the books you read. Mentors come in all shapes and sizes. They can be virtual. The important thing to know is that you have to grow yourself to grow your business. The way to do that is to seek out other people in your industry. I want to look at what they did so they can teach me. You might not have direct interaction, but it’s out there thanks to social media. Clients as mentors, they teach you about their industry

Gloria: Don’t ignore your accidental mentors. Mentors are not only the people you went searching for. Sometimes it is as simple as seeing a tweet that came from somebody else and I realize these people have a lot to teach me. The best way to find a mentor is to be one-you will be amazed at what that person will teach you.

What you do to make yourself stand out?

Hajj: Everybody becomes an expert. Stay in your lane and become a specialist. It becomes important to understand what you’re created for. Look like your brand. When people see you-do you undo everything you do online because you can’t hide behind a screen. Present yourself and be true to who you are. Have character. Be who you are and stand behind your product.

Melinda: Niche to get rich. You need to be known for something. You have to have a signature move-it can be anything – from uniforms for your employees, I send my clients Valentines Day cards because I want them to know that I love them. Be specific about who you do your best for.

Gloria: Pay attention to your competition, but don’t worry about them. Be transparent and do good work. Your reputation is all you have. Doing the right thing for the right reason.  If you are doing good work, you are  being real, you are being honest, fair and transparent then the business  will come.

Can you start small and go big?

Melinda: Your first customers will come from your personal network.

Hajj: It’s important for your business to be scalable so that it can grow. Understand and know who your competition is. Put their name and yours in google alerts and be notified when things happen online.

Gloria: Before you make your biz plan you have to have a life plan. Knowing what it is you want, knowing how it will fit into your life. Are you going to be able to deliver on what you say.  There is a time frame for ideas. You might need to shelf some. Creativity spawns creativity.

A few closing words of wisdom:

Gloria: Traits of an entrepreneur 1. Have the fortitude to face your fear. nothing wrong with failing. just pick yourself up  2. Plan, plan, plan  not always going to succeed. 3. Be risk taker. Be willing to say it’s ok that I am going to take this leap 4. Have drive. Be willing to hustle, but hustle responsibly. 5. Be a visionary and a dreamer. You have to be able to see what it is you want. 6. Be passionate.  You can’t be passionate about one thing. You must be passionate about everything. If you’re not living a life of passion, you’re living a life that’s ordinary.

Hajj: If your memory is bigger than your dreams, then you’re living in the past. You need to be thinking forward. Be a forward thinker. Do It. Put feet to your idea. You might fail but you’ll learn something. It is not how many times you fall, but how many times you get up. Own the idea. Own something specific. Be a true expert. There is a difference between confidence and confirmation. The people you serve give you the confirmation.

Melinda: Becoming an entrepreneur is a spiritual journey. You can’t grow your biz if you don’t grow yourself. Grow your knowledge about the business of running a business. A goal is a dream set to a timeline. You need to be a self starter but you also need to be a self finisher. Start something and finish it. Get yourself a personal theme song. It will always make you feel better. Develop a signature move for your brand and business.

Some of the other interesting moments were from the lecture by Jason Schupbach, Creative Economy Industry Director, Massachusettes Department of Business Development. His presentation introduced the audience to the successful initiatives in Massachusetts, which show that the requirements for successful creative economy support strategies require unity and consensus between all parties involved – public and private, profit and non-profit, as well as courage to execute a decision or plan without delay.

Background: started first company 1997, was previously a lawyer at a law firm. MarketSpan – court docket information, parceled out data, built research and notification services. Sold company in 2000.  People thought he was insane to leave successful firm/partnership to start a business.

DreamIt Ventures, co-founded in 2007. DreamIt is a 3 month camp that helps entrepreneurs and small businesses get to the next level. First class in 2008. Blake Jennelle is an alum. The entrepreneurs are given a little money, legal services, etc. After the 3rd month, whether they are either up and running or not, they are out.

Monetate, co-founded 2 years ago. Help online retailers use segmentation to personalize shopping experience. QVC is a client.

Highlights: Different niches have different reasons for failure. Common element is under-capitalization. Small businesses can (and should) bootstrap when they can. Build organically. Get it to market as fast as you can. The market will tell you if it’s good or not. Push. Iterate. Don’t be afraid to be embarrassed. Just be willing to LISTEN and adjust.

Blake Jennelle, Entrepreneur, Director of Marketing of TicketLeap

Background: started first company in 2007 called Anthillz. It was a website for freelancers to find work. Anthillz did not work, though. It was impossible to raise money in the economy. From then he started the Philly Start Up Leaders. A community for people starting up. He is currently working for TicketLeap (self-service box office) which was previously a startup, but is now growing & working. (”Learning how to take this company from 20 miles an hour to 60 miles an hour”)

Highlights: Get traction! Focus 80% of energies on getting customers. Don’t only release product, but sell a product! Get everybody involved to sell it if you need to. If you’re not comfortable selling then find someone who is!

Skip Shuda, Serial Entrepreneur, CEO of Team and a Dream

Background: Serial entrepreneur since 1983. Destiny Websolutions, was a software company that created e-commerce platforms for financial institutions. Team and a Dream, is a growing marketing company providing Internet marketing and Social Media solutions for small and growth-minded businesses, as well as market testing and competitive market analysis to well-funded startups.

Highlights: Create a business model with a monetization strategy or something close to it. Also: understand yourself. Understand what you’re naturally good at. Know what you’re passionate about. Know your “sweet spot”.  Understand what role you might want to play.

Lessons learned:

1. What’s in a name? Pick a name that people will remember.
2. Follow the market. Listen to the market. Adjust to the marketplace.
3. Make sure you have a market. If you have a great product, but no market, it won’t work.
4. Don’t think too small. Think big!
5. Stay on top of marketplace developments. Be prepared to respond.
6. A niche focus can serve you well.
7. Test your market!

GET HELP! There are services in your community that can help. Use them!

Moderator Question: Worse attributes you’ve seen in others starting a business.

Blake: First time entrepreneurs have no idea what they are doing. That’s actually OK. A fork in the road eventually does happen… they either figure it out or never do. Overconfidence or being too arrogant is a bad trait. Humility, coachability, and curiosity are good attributes to have.

Skip: Thinking you don’t have any competition. Entrepreneurs need to understand their marketplace in a deep way. Which includes their direct and in-direct (or perceived) competition.

David: Worrying about failure too much. Don’t spend a lot of time and worry on “worse case scenario”. Know you will live through it. Once you accept that, you can get through it and it won’t block you from success.

Philadelphia as a Creative Center

There are vibrant differences in the types of creativity being fostered in Philadelphia.  The various sub conversations among the participants is evident.  Philadelphia is unique as a creative center.  The environment  that is born of the history from Ben Franklin and the founding fathers binds the Philadelphia creative community in a method solely unique to the city.  The participants were impressed by the sheer volume of creative events born from the creative community in Philadelphia.   The creative community extends to the innovation occurring in the technology field.    One of the things that makes Philadelphia such a vibrant creative community is the affordable cost of living.  It allows the people in the creative community to be able to afford to pursue their passions.   The diversity and intersection of the industries, charities, education, culture and creative communities drive the economy in Philadelphia.    There is a strong interest by the general public in the cultivation of the creative community in Philadelphia.

Nurturing Creativity

You always have to find a way to attract the right audience whether that is a demographic or a culture.  You have to be creative on ways to nurture creativity.  The participants presented several different examples of creative ways different organizations are attracting new organizations.   Breaking down the stereotype of who is your audience becomes a necessary function of nurturing your creativity.   There has to be an exploration of new business models to allow greater flexibility, especially in the non-profit creative ventures.

Executing Your Big Idea

The participants were sharing their ideas and challenges getting their ideas executed.  Multiple discussions on how to get your big idea executed.  Various viewpoints on whether education and industry are supportive of execution.   How to use education and industry.  Biggest hurdle is funding.    Second biggest is fine tuning your idea.   Who have to know who your target audience/consumer is.  You have to know your goals.  The goals need to be defined and concrete.  You have to define your vision.   But you also have to be willing to be flexible and adaptable.   You have to manage your fear of failure in so that you are prepared to succeed.  A healthy fear of failure keeps you in check and focused.

Creative Economy and the Global Marketplace

Appreciation for the attention, positive attitude and funding for the creative economy. Groups like Innovation Philadelphia work to advocate for the local creative economy on a national and global level.  The creative economy is the future of most global  Improving and embracing our creative skills are the key to building a new economic culture.  We need to move our workforce into more avenues of the creative economy.  Innovation is the high octane fuel that drives the information economy.  Collaboration on both an individual and organizational level is a necessity to build the creative economy on a global level.    There has to be a cross-pollination of the creative movements across industries – for profits, non-profits, arts, education, technology, etc.   We all have different definitions of what creative economy means.  DCMS is an example to be followed.

Moderator: Ginny Simon – President, Project Marketing

Speakers: Rachel Downey – Principal and Founder, Studio Graphique / Barbara Raphael – President, Raphael Webscapes, LLC

Rachel Downey

started Studio Graphique 12 years ago. Her company is helping people understanding branding, wayfinding, and placemaking.

What are these?

Branding is a symbolic embodiment of all the information conected to a product, company or palces, and serves to create assocations and expectations

Placemaking is the effort and results of the community of people coming together to build a destination for sharing, communication and enjoying each other and their environment

Wayfinding is literally, helping people find their way, through signaage and other visual clues – public landmarks, arts, etc

Case Studies:
(for a small community, medium community, and large community all based in Cleveland, OH)

1. Small Community – Shaker Square

Shaker Square is the oldest planned shopping center in the country founded by 2 brothers, completed in 1920, has a rich history. This history has created an emotional attachment to the community; people are concerned about the future of it. New owners took over in 2004 because the community was failing. Retailers were not doing well, there was a 35% vacancy rate. There were many perceptions about the community (such as not enough parking) that hindered it.

Shaker Square is a true town square. It is surrounded by a very diverse neighborhood, socio-economic. between affluent and not-so-affluent. some were catering to one side more than the other. only high-end retailers. so they wanted to appeal to everybody, they re-branded.

New theme: “Shaker Square: Night and Day” – Studio Graphique created new identity for the community.

The challenge was to create a contemporary element. They added more color; pedestrian kiosks, outdoor tables, etc.

Economic Impact: Immense. It has become a hot spot in the area. A travel destination, too. There’s now 65-95% occupancy: 10 restaurants, a theater, grocery stores, drug store, and creative business community (architects & designers) is thriving. In fact, Studio Graphique is located there.

2. Large Community – University Circle

University Circle is a few miles from downtown Cleveland and is 1 square mile in radius. People were afraid to come in because they would get lost. In all of Cleveland it is the densest square mile – there is an art museum, orchestra, many cutural events, the Cleveland clinic, and University Hospital. The fact is people needed to come here and often got frustrated. The goal was to help people so they didn’t get lost or feared going there.

New theme: “Find Yourself in the Circle” – Studio Graphique created a new identity and wayfinding program. Nnot only so you don’t feel lost, but also find yourself – opportunties to expand your knowledge!

Other initiatives include: “Greater Circle Living” incentives to live near work – which included tax breaks & incentives for people.

It took a lot of funding to make it a premier destination including building a Visitors Center. But now there are lots of reasons to come to the circle.

By using a website it “sells” the circle, promotes the brand, help people understand it.

Economic Impact: 1000 new homes, 10,000 new jobs, new hotel, new retail, public transportation, and green spaces.

3. Medium Community: Gordon Square (close to lake erie)

History: neighborhood was struggling, not a lot going for it, except the theaters. So the theaters brought in 3 non-profits that had a common goal of wanting to change the neighborhood. They wanted to create a desireable neighborhood, attract and retain workforce, and offer programs for economic growth. Funding came from theaters, business community, and the city.

New theme: “Gordon Square Arts District”

They hired an artist to design an identity and concept which included turning the environment into art: planters, kiosks, trashcans, sidewalks, etc. Everything all has opportunity to be art. They also brought in a variety of independent business owners to set up shop. Now people are proud of their community. It took about 5 years, just cut ribbon last week.

Economic impact: ($20 million capital created $30 million in revitalization), leveraging half a billion in economic development

Ginny Simon

Public Relations for Project Marketing

Case Study:
Collegville, PA – “Main Street Program”. Project Marketing developed website, newsletter, media list, press releases, and a celebration event. They invited and included local politicians, government reps, businesses, local colleges, residents, and press.

Ginny says, “Letting people know what you are doing is vital.” They can rally around it so you can get funding. It’s hard when you haven’t established credibility, though. Getting press helped with that effort. It also attracted a lot of volunteers. Volunteers are key to growth.

Get interactive! “Places that Matter!” – a photo contest where the community couple submit photos to win a digital camera. This got the word out in the press.

Methods:

• Newsletters are good – target consumers, ecouraging them to to shop Main Street (new openings, ribbon cuttings, coupons, sales anouncments, events “First Friday”, etc)

• PR Content – use media outreach to spread the news – grants/awards, events, new board members, volunteer recognition, new business.

• Use Media Outlets – local papers, mags, shoppers, cable, radio, corporations, colleges. Note: know HOW people want the content (paper, email, etc.)

• Social Media – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube – important to have & monitor & give it time (Become fan of others and see what they are doing)

• Get lists! Use the lists (via newsletters)

Barbara Raphael

Challenge: Connecting a traditional town to 21st century. How do keep people coming to your town when there is a lot of development going on around you. How do you continue to be vital to the community?

Case Study:
Haddonfield, NJ

The internet is crucial. Raphael Webscapes, LLC developed three new websites: haddonfieldnj.com (for town info), shophaddonfieldnj.com (retail site), and haddonfieldprofessionals.org (for town professionals). They also developed new logo & branding.

Other methods for community marketing and community building:

• Use Social Media (bulletin boards, Facebook fan pages, and sometimes Twitter)
• Offer gift certificates and incentives (coupons) to the community via the website
• Newsletters so people can sign up for more info
• Professional website offers micro-sites/profiles for community businesses and professionals

Alicia Agnew – Small Business Development Consultant, African American Chamber of Commerce

Jennifer Gleeson Blue – Founder, GenEdge

Ken Haycook – Owner, Kendel Group

Nicole Lipkin – Co-Author, Y in the Workplace, Managing the “Me First” Generation

Jennifer Gleeson Blue -  The generation gap boils down to 2 things – prejudice and power.  When we do not work from the position of an open mind, we are unable reconcile our differences.  The solution is results based collaboration.  Stay focused on the end results.  Collaboration is based in two things – ownership & alignment.

Ken Haycook – Age defines a demographic not a person.  We have to remember that generalizations about the generations are just generalizations. We have to pay attention to personalities not age.  We have to understand the different way each generation thinks and what their expectations are.

Nicole Lipkin – Every generation does great things & every generation messes things up.  We just have to learn to understand and manage the differences in each generation.  We have to remember that each generation only reacts and acts based on how they were raised.  The attitudes and expectations that we complain about with Gen Y were the attitudes and expectations that we instilled in them through our cultural, societal and education shifts.  Every generation has comparable experiences, it is how we learn to react to it and how it is relayed to us (think instant news due to technology) that form how our generational attitudes.  We need to bring management & leadership back – Hands off does not equal Empowerment.

Alicia Agnew – We have to learn the norms, attitudes, culture and language of Gen Y if we want to attract and retain the best talent.  We have to be willing to be flexible.  We have to be creative and innovative in how we attract this generation and their talent.

Each generation is negatively viewed by the generations before it – if we fail to remember that, we will fail to lead them.

Bottom line – Manage to the individual – not the group, not the age.  The way to bring all generations to the table is drop the egos & communicate! Get out of the struggle for power.  Find or create a common ground to bring all your generations together.

Next, Worth discussed some demographic statistics, that contrary to the common expectations state that the average gamer age is 35 years old and that 43% of the gamers are females. But why should a city need to develop game industry. Worth arguments were that the reasons are:

1. The industry will establish itself because of the community that supports it. Worth used the term sticky to describe the extremely tribal nature of the industry and the way game design studios or game store owners network with gamers all over the place.

2. It employes the expanding technology.

3. It becomes a drive and platform for innovation and fore-front technology creation (Drexel’s Lazybrains, Project NATAL)

4. It creates a community of diverse and educated professionals.

The Q&A section was focus on money matters and activities related to executing a project in real life. Hardik Bhatt, Developer at Comcast, Frank Lee, Professor, Department of COmputer Science, Drexel University, Dennis Manning, Scindocs, LLC, Lou Tranchella, 3D Artist, and Grant Shonker, Game Programmer and Designer at MegaTouch, talked briefly about issues like necessary factors for a game studio do start, current state of the industry in Philadelphia, and preparation of young professionals.

2. Having relevance to your audience and the relationships between the connections. According to Shankman that is one of the most important principle. He made an analogy using the lava lamp as an example. He compared the oil as the people in your network, and the heat as the relevance. The way to keep yourself relevant to your audience is by asking them what they need, provide customer service to win points for yourself. Keep communication and creating connections under control. In ages in which , according to Shankman, there is going to be only one network, the way people within a network link to each other matter and these links need to be nurtured because they are interconnected with keeping honesty and trust.

3. Brevity. In times, when the standard text message has become 160 symbols it is unforgivable to be verbose. Technology is teaching people to be less patient and more concise in presenting the information they are trying to communicate. According to Shankman the right way to communicate using Social Media is to be short and precise, and learn to appreciate time.

4. Top of the mind. This principle Shankman explained as the routine to be constantly active in doing little things that mean a lot to other people. For example, say “Hi” to all of the people in your network, use its speed and language of short messages to demonstrate attention and care. Be at the place of a meeting 30 minutes earlier than the time you are supposed to be there. Take advantage of the things Social Media can do. Use technology to create connections in a limited amount of time.