Just as you got used to LinkedIn.com, settled down with Facebook, and maybe chirped up a bit on Twitter, in comes the next iteration of Web 2.0 tools for tablets. Yes, a tablet is different than a laptop. It naturally engenders the grand visual image and the really big message.  It doesn’t deliver detail but it is memorable and useful much like an over-sized multicolor business card.

 Come for breakfast and take a visual journey through the newest form of social branding and marketing. 

The tablet has enabled the appreciation of beautiful videos and visuals using several types of cloud applications that focus on the image rather than the word (some use the word as image with kinetic words). Join us for, “Beyond LinkedIn to IPad” by Patti Wilson, presented by the Midpeninsula Professional Association at the Bay Cafe in Palo Alto, CA on Tuesday, June 19th. See how you can apply these tools a business cards, moving resumes, and interactive unique product presentations.

 Believe it or not, everything you will see is simple to construct, easy and fast to implement and low to no cost to execute. As with all new Interweb tools the hard part is the imagination that you bring to it. Once again this proves that content is still king…good content.

Our time will be filled with lots of examples as well as simple instructions for the three most interesting and unique cloud presentation platforms that are perfect for tablets today. You will have to attend to find out what they are.

You can register for one of the limited spots (breakfast or no breakfast) at www.mppaevent.com

Bio of Speaker

My expertise is in creating and extending thought leadership online, utilizing social media to extend networks, and making solid career and business moves across continents, cultures and industry verticals.

With a Masters in Career Development, my experience encompasses organizational structure and cultural nuance for companies of all sizes and the successful functioning of the high value talent within them. I spent time in corporate human resources at Sun, Apple and AMD before founding the Career Company in 1999.

In the past ten years, I have written articles and delivered seminars/webinars on employment topics for organizations and universities such as the India Post, BlueSteps.com, UCLA’s Anderson School, Stanford GBS and School of Engineering, UC Berkeley’s Haas School and London Business School.  

Consulting to the founder of LinkedIn.com in 2003, I have always been an early adopter of technology apps, tools and services. I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn.com/in/pattiwilson, Facebook.com/pattiwilson, Twitter@pattiwilson or email me at patti@pattiwilson.com.

A brand is not a name or logo. And it is definitely not advertising. If done properly, it involves and enhances every facet of your company and all product, support and marketing decisions. In fact it helps you quickly focus and plan any project or department, even if you are only a mini brand in a small niche market.

A former systems analyst, Athol was very pleased to discover that branding is not an esoteric or instinctive feeling about a company or product line, even though some people are intuitively more brand centric than others. More importantly, he has proven it is not about spending money, but about the consistent and practical directed use of existing communications funds. Plus, of course, properly managing your outside agencies and advisors so that every customer of yours gets the same message about the brand promise.

Athol will be speaking to the MPPA on March 20, 2012 in Palo Alto. Sign up now for a seat at www.mppaevent.com.

Come see why branding is not just for big consumer companies. Learn how to find, preserve and promote your brand values, as well as how to properly document, evaluate and score all your brand touch points. Using charts and figures from his book, Athol will show you how to systematically do these exercises, as well as your own professional brand analysis.

All attendees will receive a free print copy of Athol Foden’s book Brighter Branding: Best Practices for the Smaller Business. And don’t forget, a brand is the most important search engine optimization technique in the world.

Bio: Athol Foden is a former computer science propeller head who became a high tech sales and marketing executive. Along the way his fascination with marketing, branding and naming turned into a new career as a branding consultant. Today he is even more specialized as the  president of Brighter Naming, Silicon Valley’s full service professional naming agency. For many years he was a popular lecturer for UC Extension because of his unique aptitude for making complex soft skills systematic, fun and easy to comprehend. Other titles by Athol include Brighter Names and Brighter SEO.

As business owners we are forced to take on roles in our companies that might be outside our comfort zone. More than one business owner has complained about the unexpected demands of sales person, delivery person, and janitor — and felt a little worried about measuring up to the challenge.

Now noted trainer Michael Luckman has written a book designed to help all of us banish that uncertainty and fear from our businesses and our lives.

Can you imagine overpowering the only thing that stands between you and the life of your dreams? What could you accomplish? What would you enjoy? How would you feel if you never let fear, uncertainty and doubt stand in your way? Learn how to live, really live! Michael Luckman opens up about his own struggles in corporate America and small business – and tells the truth about getting past a lifetime of blame, shame and mistakes to emerge as a powerful, positive and successful role-model. Don’t miss the exercises at the end of the book, that customizes this topic just for you. No matter what your profession: sales, management, administration, technology or more, you will find your best life with Overpowering Fear.

Attend MPPA lecture and breakfast meeting on Tuesday, Feb 21st at 7:30AM in Palo Alto, CA and hear Michael talk about his book, his ideas for banishing fear, and explain how you can leverage his learning. Copy of Book included in admission.  PreRegister now for a discounted rate off door price at www.mppaevent.com. Venue info sent with confirmation.

 

When I was growing up in Connecticut, I would always know when my family was about to take a trip: My dad would announce that he had received the TripTik^R. This customized set of maps from AAA, still used today, had been assembled in a package of easily “flipable  pages” to guide our auto travel. These maps would keep us on the right road, help us choose excellent stopping points, and help us avoid hazards like road construction and speed traps. To Dad, it was unthinkable to take a long road trip without his TripTik.

Tom Pencek of Service for Profit, will be speaking on Marketing Plans at the January 2012 MPPA meeting

 

Your business needs a TripTik, too. Your thoughtfully prepared marketing plan fills the same function for your business. Just as a TripTik links your starting point with your destination, your marketing plan requires identifying your specific business goals for the year.  The process of creating a marketing plan then fills in the blanks by answering these questions: how will you get there? What strategies and techniques will you employ? How will you spend your resources” Who will assist you?  If you want to achieve your objectives—and you do!–It is just smart business to invest in your own success by spending giving some time and thought to how your marketing plan for next year will enable you to achieve them.

Start by asking and answering questions.

Identify your goals. Goal setting can be hard, especially if they required that you must reach a consensus with others. Professional facilitators frequently use a technique called “back casting” to surface ideas from groups that have trouble formulating goals. Here’s how it might work:

 Imagine it is Thanksgiving Day 2014. A full 2 years have passed!  We’re all a little greyer or a little wider in all the wrong places. We’re going around the table talking about what has gone well and how much we appreciate the breaks we’ve had. When it is your turn, you rise and begin describing the specifics in your life, particularly in your business. How have things improved? What has changed for the good? What new challenges are you convinced you can surmount?

Psychologists tell us that we always underestimate how fast things can change and that the more we can use our imagination; the easier it is for us to come up with new ideas.  By focusing on a future date that seems far into the future, we allow out imagination to seek out-of-the-box ideas. Yet the reality is that, once unleashed, our businesses are capable of moving quickly to achieve new goals and dreams: A goal for 2014 frequently becomes a plan for 2012.

Goals are important, as are the traditional Who, What, When and Where – and “how much” questions. A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis (http://tompencekblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/swot-analysis-bit-of-james-bond-for.html) is always part of the marketing plan that I develop for clients. This is also where competitive research can be helpful. Are other companies serving similar markets or making a similar product? What do their offerings look like? How are they priced? Is their marketing working for them?  It used to be very difficult to get this information, but the Internet makes collecting this info easier. What about data that you can’t get on the nternet or by interviewing customers?  There are still ways to collect and use competitive information that are affordable and practical for small businesses. I recommend the Entrepreneurs Guide to Market Research by Anne Wenzel, which will be available in January 2012.

Giving thought to where you want to end up—your business goals—will inform the next steps, which determine how you make your journey – that is, how you execute your marketing plan. Planning obviously involves more than just setting direction. It also is the time to decide to focus on one or more target markets, the strategy to be employed, and the techniques that you will use to carry out that strategy.  By “strategies” I mean, given a particular target market, how you will implement your goals.  Typical strategies include Thought leadership, Pricing adjustment (Impact Pricing), or service “productization.” Once you have developed a working strategy, typically it is important to plan for a variety of techniques to realize your goal; these can include trade shows, websites, telemarketing, and email, to name a few. It is important to employ a mix a techniques since not all customers respond well to the same technique .

“How Much” can only be answered once you know the “where,” “who,” and  “what.” Understanding the value of a new customer and the underlying cost of what you are selling (in labor or materials) will allow you to judge what you should “pay” to acquire a new customer.

Finally, it is important to build into your marketing plan certain “check-in” points.  These represent opportunities to correct mistakes, revise assumptions, and correct for drift away from your objective. My dad’s TripTik consisted of specific pre-printed pages. Although it, too, is your guide to achieving your business destination, your marketing plan is a living document and will need to change with events that affect your market and the lives your customers are living.

Sign up for my presentation to the Midpeninsula Professional Alliance on January 17, 2012 at 7:30 here.

This may be the season for Turkey and Shopping and Gifts. But it is also the season for PLANNING. Everyone should be taking some time out to plan for next year’s marketing efforts, and that planning process needs to be proceeded by some research – some data collection.

According to Ann Wenzel, Economist and author, analyzing the competition and our customers’ choices is the key to developing pricing and marketing strategies for a profitable business. All companies have competition, and long term business success requires small business owners to determine how they are best able meet their customers’ needs, and communicate this “competitive advantage” to potential customers.  We know we are different from other vendors out there, but are we truly better able to meet our customers’ needs?

We also need to examine other markets, products and services (indirect competition) that potential customers can turn to fulfill their needs.  Understanding the alternatives our customers have for fulfilling their needs further allows us to develop our competitive advantage.

Finally, do your potential customers really understand your “competitive advantage” so that they’ll want to choose you as their vendor?  You may know how you are different, but do your potential customers?  Developing effective marketing and sales campaigns requires that you know your customers well and communicate to them in a way that they understand.

The December 20^th presentation from MPPA will provide some answers to these questions. Largely based on material from Ms. Wenzel’s past workshops and also presented in her upcoming book, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Market Research, the Three Key Steps to Determining Your Competitive Advantage, will provide

The Entrepreneur's Guide to Market Research

small business owners with new ways to think about their markets so that they can develop products, pricing strategies and marketing campaigns to more easily grow sales and profits.

You can sign up at   https://www.123signup.com/register?id=cbdzc

About Anne Wenzel

Anne Ramstetter Wenzel, Principal of Econosystems, is an economist and market research consultant specializing in researching small and home based business’s customers, market trends and competition.  Ms. Wenzel writes market analyses and business plans that demonstrate the business’s profit potential for her customers to present to lenders, investors or potential partners.  Econosystems also provides market survey assistance to small businesses.  Prior to founding Econosystems in 1999, Ms. Anne Wenzel was the economist for the Chemical Economics Handbook program in the Chemical Marketing Research Center at SRI International, Menlo Park, California.  She received her Master’s degree in Economics from San Francisco State University, and teaches Managerial Economics at Menlo College (Atherton, California).  Ms. Wenzel is President of the Silicon Valley chapter of the National Association for Business Economics, has served on the Home Based Business Roundtable for the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C., and is a Certified Business Advisor for the Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center.

Mark Stiving, author of Impact Pricing.

Every business, whether large corporations or small start-ups has the same wish list…building revenues and increasing profits, the ultimate proof of a successful venture. But ask a business person to explain “pricing”, the catalyst for those profits, and you’ll get a smorgasbord of answers. How you can capture the true worth of  your company’s product or service—and learn to price it correctly—is an exciting but elusive subject, yet it’s crucial to CEO or small proprietor alike. Instead of the easy, cost-plus-some-more structure, Mark examines value-based pricing, breaks down critical growth components and clarifies concepts that answer the question, “Am I pricing right?”  As your most powerful marketing tool—and the least understood—accurate pricing can make the greatest impact on your business, lead to measurable success, and no matter the economy, profit both company and customer.

Mark will present to the MPPA on November 15, 2011 and seats are still available for the meeting. Registrants have the option of prepaying for breakfast, or beverage only, and all attendees will receive a copy of Mark’s recent book, Impact Pricing: your Blueprint for Driving Profits.  Register NOW before all seats are taken!

As a recognized pricing expert, Mark loves making money for companies. He especially thrives helping small businesses and entrepreneurs untangle any confusion about their real value with his creative but pragmatic approach to optimal pricing techniques, segmentation and visionary pricing. He will draw examples from his highly readable and well-received book, Impact Pricing, Your Blueprint to Driving Profits, and show how specific strategies deftly steer a company toward increased efficiency—and an enhanced bottom line. Sampling Walmart, Burger King, Ikea, etc., this back to basics discussion will empower your decisions, telescope your focus and most likely generate some “light bulb” ideas.

An award winning speaker, coach and consultant, Mark Stiving, PhD, MBA has addressed pricing professionals and executives at major conferences. He has worked with such esteemed companies as Cisco, Procter and Gamble, Grimes Aerospace, Rogers Corp., National Semiconductor, and tackles pricing problems full time at Maxim Integrated Products, a $2 Billion semiconductor company. Along with the book, Mark shares his expertise on his popular blog, www.PragmaticPricing.com  and “hits the mark” with his pithy insights on twitter- @MarkStiving.

Heidi Sloss

Don’t miss this interesting presentation on October 18th at the Bay Cafe Restaurant, Palo Alto, CA  at 7:30AM. Learn powerful strategies to take your business to the next level of success—even in a crappy economy! In today’s confusing economic environment, small business owners are being told conflicting advice from everyone. But not all the latest and greatest marketing tools are right for every business. Join us as Heidi BK Sloss presents her business “back-to-basics” from her new book, Fortune is in the Follow Up.

Heidi Sloss is a national sales expert who provides savvy sales strategies for independent sales professionals that tend to focus on their craft but neglect their close. All attendees will receive a copy of her new book,  Fortune is in the Follow-up. 

Register now to reserve your spot at this location.

My office tends to get a little “disarrayed” from time to time.  I wish I was more proactive in keeping it organized. Instead I put up with the clutter until, in a burst of activity, I put things right – taking a full afternoon to right the mess.  Does this sound familiar?

If this describes your response to clutter in the workplace, don’t miss our September 20^th MPPA breakfast at Scott’s Seafood Restaurant in Palo Alto, at 7:30AM-9:00AM.  Personal Organizer and Time Management Consultant, Lori Krolik (www.moretimeforyou.net) will present a talk on strategies and specific techniques for keeping your work environment organized and productive:

Your ability to accomplish any task or goal is directly related to your ability to find what you need when you need it.  If you keep too much, you can’t find anything!

A recent OfficeMax survey found 46% of employees admit having difficulty prioritizing what they should throw away.  A Brother International study says collective messy desks and time spent looking for misplaced items costs corporate America $177 billion annually.  AND, 80% of what you file away is never looked at again!

Specific areas that will be covered include:

• The Art of Wastebasketry® and the File-Act-Toss System™ – Because Clutter is Postponed Decisions®, you need a system to help you make a decision sooner rather than later.
• The Magic 6™ – The tools you need to create a Productive Environment in your office and for your business.

Don’t miss this presentation. Sign up at www.mppaevent.com

Monday morning in Silicon Valley starts the same way it does everywhere—with a blank slate. Last week’s leads and successful engagements can’t fill tomorrow’s coffers.  Where are your leads coming from this week?  According to Tiago Moules, many of them could come from published sources—for example, from The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.

“Each week most businesses can find many leads that can be converted into customers by careful reading of The Journal,”  says Moules, who leads a workshop on this topic for the MPPA group on June 21st.  Similar in scope to lead-generation seminars sponsored by local Chambers of Commerce, the 1- hr program identifies key sections of the paper that offer rich sources of leads and explains how you can scan the paper with leads in mind.

To test this proposition, I looked at the latest issue of The Journal. On the front page of the June 10th issue were the following “sectional” headlines:

•  Focus: Construction
• Mountain View fast tracks tech growth
• Tesla zones in on trade
• Pau gets a new shot on Sunnyvale Project
• Small Business:  SnapLogic

When I scanned these articles, I found good leads for a variety of professional services—everything from commercial real estate representation to facility improvement to marketing and interior design.  And that was only off the front page!

Certain sections of the paper compile public records that contain data for which you would have to pay to obtain from other sources.  For instance, you can quickly learn what new business licenses and new building/remodeling permits have been granted. Some of those new businesses may require such professional services as those provided by accountants, lawyers, marketers, and caterers. Owners of new of remodeled buildings may be receptive to hearing from interior designers, purveyors of office equipment, telecommunications providers, etc.

The good news is that every subscriber to The Journal gets access to the electronic edition at no additional cost. I used tools like E-grabber (www.egrabber.com) to select potential leads and contacts and import them directly into my contact management tool.

Tiago promises to give us a great workshop.

How to identify new prospects and pull qualitative leads

• Tips for more powerful networking

• Resources for seeking out new networking opportunities

• How to utilize social networking(LinkedIn) for your business

• How to identify and benefit from growth indicators

• Unique techniques for warming up cold leads

• How you can create new opportunities by thinking outside the box

Come and learn some short cuts to lead generation, be introduced to the best-of-breed tools for small business marketing, and network with other small business owners and sales managers. Join us for breakfast at 7:30AM at Scott’s Seafood Restaurant in Palo Alto,  on June 21, 2011 by pre-registering at www.mppaevent.com.

As a special offer to MPPA readers, here is a specialeventoffer reduced rate subscription offer to the Business Journal.

Heidi Sloss

Do you have a stack of business cards sitting on your desk collecting dust?

Want to learn how to make the contact information on those cards work for you?

Do you attend networking events but don’t feel that you are get enough out of them?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you will want to learn how to put together a follow up system that works for you. Learn the in’s and out’s of an effective follow up system as Heidi BK Sloss, business coach and motivational speaker, shares her tips, tools and techniques that every business owner need to know for making the most of the contacts they have now and for the future.

Many of us know what we ‘should’ do with the leads and referrals we receive, so what prevents us from following up? For some it is having a system in place, and for others it is about the time, money and fear factors that get in our way. Heidi’s presentation will show you how to overcome your barriers and employ the benefits of a follow up plan that will lead you to a higher prospect to client conversion rate.

I asked Heidi for just ONE hint that would help our readers now. Here’s what she said:

“People don’t buy when you want them to buy, they buy when they are ready. And they buy from someone they feel a connection to.

The purpose of following up is to be that person and be there when they are ready.If you have been consistent with your follow-up, then when your prospects are ready to take action, you will get the sale.”

A follow up system that connects you to your prospects meaningfully will make the difference between “knowing someone” and becoming their service provider. Learn how at our next breakfast meeting.

Register NOW for one of the few remaining seats at:

https://www.123signup.com/register?id=vhpzp

See you on Tuesday,  May 17th, at 7:30AM in Palo Alto, CA. We meet at Scott’s Restaurant at Town and Country Village on El Camino Real.

About our Speaker

Heidi BK Sloss has been leading and inspiring people for more years than she would like to admit. As a serial entrepreneur, Heidi has run successful businesses in the fields of marketing, manufacturing, direct sales, real estate and more. Heidi specializes in helping business professionals think entrepreneurially so that they can achieve more powerful results. Heidi’s focus is on helping entrepreneurs create marketing and sales strategies that lead to success.

Heidi is the author of the soon-to-be-released book; Fortune is in the Follow Up, 5 POWER Strategies to Grow Your Business.