Can you say "slacker?" It's been two whole weeks since my last post. Yikes! The good news is that I've been busy taking care of my wonderful clients and working on getting a few new ones. All the networking I've been doing has definitely started to pay off. Unfortunately, I missed an NYEBN rooftop event on Monday because I was sick, but I'll be back in the saddle soon enough.
Good news - I have officially completed my service to New York County as a juror. Well, sort of. I spent two days watching other suckers get questioned and selected to sit on a civil trial for a labor law case, which was estimated to last ten days. I and my friends in the back row of the selection room managed to dodge that inconvenient bullet. I actually thought it would be kind of interesting to see what goes on in a courtroom in real life (i.e. not Law and Order), but it would have wreaked serious havoc on my schedule (and my ability to take care of my clients) for the next couple weeks. So, I'll take my $80.00 (is that taxable?) and Juror's Proof of Service Certificate and be on my way, thanks!
Finally, it's been a while since I've been to a dentist. When you don't have dental insurance, it's hard to convince yourself that forking over a few hundred dollars to have someone poke and scrape your mouth is a good idea. Enter Groupon.com. This is a site where businesses offer deals that "tip" (go into effect) when a minimum number of people commit to buy the offer. I've been a Groupon member for a while, but this was my first purchase: A dental exam with x-rays for $59 dollars. I'm going on Monday. Perfect timing, they can clean off all that Halloween sugar!
Have a great Halloween weekend...it's sure to be an interesting one here in the Village!
10.30.2009
10.12.2009
Happy Columbus Day! I know plenty of people have the day off from work today, but if you're an entrepreneur, you are probably working. As a matter of fact, you probably worked yesterday and Saturday as well! I wanted to start off the week by sharing the following:
I work with an amazingly creative photographer named Florence Montmare. I recently wrote about Florence for Examiner.com. Here is the article:
Entrepreneur Spotlight: Floressence Photography
If you need a corporate portrait you should definitely consider Floressence Photography. Stand out from the crowd of boring, blah corporate photos with something uniquely you. Or perhaps you need some really cool photographic art for the walls of your office. Trust me, your employees will be much more inspired by something like this than a one of those "motivational" posters! Visit www.florencemontmare.com to see some of her work.
Enjoy and have a great week!
I work with an amazingly creative photographer named Florence Montmare. I recently wrote about Florence for Examiner.com. Here is the article:
Entrepreneur Spotlight: Floressence Photography
If you need a corporate portrait you should definitely consider Floressence Photography. Stand out from the crowd of boring, blah corporate photos with something uniquely you. Or perhaps you need some really cool photographic art for the walls of your office. Trust me, your employees will be much more inspired by something like this than a one of those "motivational" posters! Visit www.florencemontmare.com to see some of her work.
Enjoy and have a great week!
10.06.2009
Pancakes and Pitches
This morning I attended another great event put on by Andrew Ran Wong, organizer of the fantastic NY Entrepreneurs Business Network (NYEBN). The goal of this morning's event was to have breakfast, do a little networking and learn how to develop your elevator pitch. Samuel Liebowitz (The Conscious Consultant) gave us some tips, listened to our pitches and provided constructive feedback.
The elevator pitch is your answer to the "What do you do?" question. It should last 30-60 seconds and should be concise, clear and powerful. If you live in New York, it's extremely useful to have this pitch nailed down for more than just networking. "What do you do?" is usually the first question that gets asked when people meet for the first time. It's funny, I used to hate that, but now that I have my own business, I welcome any opportunity to tell people what I do. You never know who might be a good connection.
My pitch is getting there. It has changed drastically as I've learned more about myself and what I really want to do with my business. I set out to offer both marketing and operations (i.e. bookkeeping) services to small businesses but found that it was a little tough to explain my services and sounding credible with such a broad offering. Not to mention that, although I CAN do bookkeeping and do it well, it's not exactly how I want to spend my days!
I've discovered that what I really love to do is learn the essence of a business and weave that into all the different ways that a company communicates with clients and prospects -web content, social media, newsletters, emails, etc.
Adjusting my pitch to reflect this focus was easy enough. Now I should probably get started on narrowing down the service offering on my website. In the meantime, if someone contacts me for bookkeeping services, I probably won't turn them down ;-)
***Something to think about: What if the questions was "Who are you?" instead of "What do you do?" What would your elevator pitch be then?***
The elevator pitch is your answer to the "What do you do?" question. It should last 30-60 seconds and should be concise, clear and powerful. If you live in New York, it's extremely useful to have this pitch nailed down for more than just networking. "What do you do?" is usually the first question that gets asked when people meet for the first time. It's funny, I used to hate that, but now that I have my own business, I welcome any opportunity to tell people what I do. You never know who might be a good connection.
My pitch is getting there. It has changed drastically as I've learned more about myself and what I really want to do with my business. I set out to offer both marketing and operations (i.e. bookkeeping) services to small businesses but found that it was a little tough to explain my services and sounding credible with such a broad offering. Not to mention that, although I CAN do bookkeeping and do it well, it's not exactly how I want to spend my days!
I've discovered that what I really love to do is learn the essence of a business and weave that into all the different ways that a company communicates with clients and prospects -web content, social media, newsletters, emails, etc.
Adjusting my pitch to reflect this focus was easy enough. Now I should probably get started on narrowing down the service offering on my website. In the meantime, if someone contacts me for bookkeeping services, I probably won't turn them down ;-)
***Something to think about: What if the questions was "Who are you?" instead of "What do you do?" What would your elevator pitch be then?***
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