Tag Archives: success

Permalink to SwitchPitch Start-Up Event Made These Two Things Apparent

SwitchPitch Start-Up Event Made These Two Things Apparent

by Angie Sanders|on March 24, 2013 |in Just good business, Social Media |tagged , , , , , |Leave a comment

switchpitch credit @startupamericaLast Thursday, I attended SwitchPitch, hosted by start-up hub 1776 at their unfinished 12th floor office space on 15th Street in the District. The event’s premise turns the traditional start-up pitch gathering on its head. Instead of entrepreneurs pitching groups of venture capitalists for funding, local companies like Motley Fool and LivingSocial pitched projects to qualified treps who are more than capable of getting the work done.

Not only was it fun to get better acquainted with the DC tech scene and infiltrate all-male clusters of entrepreneurs networking and flexing their self-employment prowess, but I enjoyed hearing America Online co-founder and former CEO/chairman Steve Case’s keynote moderated by serial entrepreneur and SwitchPitch brain-father Michael Goldstein.

Sitting smack dab in the middle of DC’s startup movement, (Mayor Vincent Gray told us that there are 420 startups in the city of DC alone.) made me realize two things.

One, large companies—much like the small to midsized communications firms aiellejai talks about in our latest white paper Blindsided!—know that they need the right talent to drive the innovation that’s crucial to these companies’ survival. And when these companies can’t identify that talent in-house, they begin to look for smaller companies to acquire that already have this talent in place. Though entrepreneurs shouldn’t build companies with the sole purpose of selling out big-time to titans like Google, (Steve actually said he prefers to invest in “built to last companies,” not “built to flip.”) large companies are definitely on the lookout for smaller companies with insanely smart staffs/leaders and viable products that can augment large companies’ offerings.

Two, a few hundred attendees at the SwitchPitch event and the Startup America frenzy slowly blanketing the nation are both evidence that people are convinced that running a company is sexy and relatively doable. But it was refreshing to hear Steve tell a different story about his beginnings with AOL. He explained that while everyone saw the company as an overnight success, the company as a whole had been grinding away in anonymity for 10 years.

As a trep (I picked that term up from other articles and blog posts. I’m trying it out for the first time here.) who has been in the game for a minute, I know it’s important to tell newer treps that this game is often lonely, thankless and the furthest thing from sexy imaginable. Of course, that statement will probably prompt new entrepreneurs to ask me, “Well, why do you do it?”

My answer? Because the nagging allure of making a greater impact—and a larger return on my skill set—outside of the 9-5 world just won’t leave me alone.

Seasoned entrepreneurs, what’s your answer?

Photo credit: @startupamerica

Read Blindsided! Why the rapid pace of social media communication and measurement is leaving PR agencies behind

blindsidedIn his Forbes.com article, “PR Agencies’ Lost Year?”, Peter Himler of Flatiron Communications makes the argument that while PR agencies are fixated on the obvious rise of mobile technology and the visual web, they’re missing real opportunities to use creative hybrids of earned, paid and owned media tactics to broadcast client messages to already overloaded audiences. Himler’s article prompted aiellejai to produce this white paper. In it, we explore why the PR industry was blindsided by the emergence of new technology and the choices these professionals will have to make internally and externally to remain valuable players in the midst of the new accelerated pace of communication.

Permalink to Over Lunch: The digital strategy and execution gap

Over Lunch: The digital strategy and execution gap

by Angie Sanders|on March 18, 2013 |in Social Media |tagged , , , , , , |Leave a comment

strategy and execution gapOn Feb. 10, we discussed big brands bringing social media engagement and community management in-house. We applaud this new, increased ownership of digital strategy and execution. But what happens when the company’s needs grow and change? Can they scale the efforts of their digital strategy teams to meet the growing demand? In our latest segment of “Over Lunch,” Chief Content Architect Angie Sanders shares a colleague’s concern about this issue within her organization and points out the obvious gap between digital strategy and actual implementation.

6MythsRead “6 Myths Blocking Your Social Media Engagement”
This paper addresses misconceptions that are keeping your company from investing time into tools that will can help increase two-way communication with your customers—current and potential. Print this report. Read it on the train ride home. Highlight key points. Share it with your colleagues. And please, jump in the social media marketing game and get started.

Permalink to (Over Lunch) Blogging: Reading is Fundamental

(Over Lunch) Blogging: Reading is Fundamental

by Angie Sanders|on February 5, 2013 |in Content marketing, Social Media |tagged , , , , , , |Leave a comment

OL-bloggingReading and consistency are both critical to maintaining an intelligent blog. In this week’s episode of “Over Lunch,” Chief Content Architect Angie Sanders explains how reading industry news and the blogs of other thought-leaders helps her generate ideas for the aiellejai company blog. Check out her “old-school” method for digesting and interacting with the vast amount of online content she consumes.

Permalink to Over Lunch: PR firm vs. Content Creation Consultancy

Over Lunch: PR firm vs. Content Creation Consultancy

by Angie Sanders|on January 24, 2013 |in Content marketing, Just good business |tagged , , , , , , , , , , |Leave a comment

orgin-of-aiellejaiStrong writing is at the core of every strategic communicator’s skill set.

In this episode of “Over Lunch,” aiellejai’s Chief Content Architect Angie Jennings Sanders explains why she decided to launch the company as a content creation consultancy instead of a public relations firm. “That way, we can serve our clients directly or we work with PR firms to lighten their load,” she said.

 

Permalink to How to Use Content to Build Thought Leadership in 6 Steps

How to Use Content to Build Thought Leadership in 6 Steps

by Angie Sanders|on January 21, 2013 |in Content marketing, Just good business, Social Media |tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |Leave a comment

thought leader credit damiencummingsdotblogspotdotcomAt a Washington Network Group entrepreneurs roundtable event last Wednesday night, speaker Angelique Rewers, also known as The Corporate AgentTM used two terms during her talk that caused some audience members to look at her like she’d sprouted eight arms: Content marketing and thought leader.

She explained that content marketing involves creating and distributing relevant and valuable information to attract, acquire, and engage your target audience and lead them to a desired action. “You want to be a thought leader,” she said.

“But the challenge is how do you provide good content without giving away all your strategy, right?” asked an audience member.

You may remember that I wrote a blog post a while back that reassured you that you can afford to give away some of your ideas without fearing that a potential client will run with them and never give you or your business a second thought.

The keys to content marketing and framing yourself and others in your company as thought leaders are to: 1. Give your audience simple information that they can either act on right now or that answers pressing questions and 2. Plant a seed in the audience’s mind that you and your company are the leading authorities on this subject.

Face it. If your audience doesn’t get this information from you, then they’ll perform a Google search and find someone else who’ll give them the answer.

Business owners think that being a thought leader means that you have spout Confucius-like, life-changing tidbits that no one else is close to even thinking about. If you can do this, then congratulations. But there’s not much new under the sun. It just has to be new to your audience.

So here are six steps toward establishing yourself and your team members as thought leaders online.

  1. Think about the pillars on which you operate your business.
    What are your company’s top business offerings? Why do you offer these services? Why should your audience come to you for these services?
  2. Define who you’re serving with those pillars.
    This is an important one. Who is your audience? Who usually buys the services you offer? Be very specific with this description. What do these people do for a living? What do they look like? What do they read? Even better, identify actual points of contact at your client organizations and use them to create a detailed profile of your target audience for each of your services.
  3. Determine what questions your audience asks.
    When potential clients approach you, or your ears perk up after meeting a potential client, what is it that they’re seeking? What problems do they tend to come to your company to solve before they become a client? What are their pain-points?
  4. Consider how you can help your audience answer these questions quickly and the best ways to present the information.
    Now that you’re familiar with your audience’s common questions and pain-points, how can you address these in succinct and interesting ways? Should your company start a blog? Which team members should contribute? Perhaps you should begin shooting short videos? Is there information that could be presented in infographics? Do you have PowerPoint presentations that you can upload to Slideshare?
  5. Create an editorial calendar.
    This step is tricky, but helpful. Determine all the channels through which you’d like to share content (blogging, video, e-books, etc.). Then create a calendar that details when these items will go live and be available to share. For example, you may decide that your company will publish four blog posts and create four short videos per month, release one e-book per quarter, and curate content via social media on a daily basis. Your editorial calendar should provide a brief description of subject matter for each piece of content, estimate when each will be completed/posted, and how all content will be shared.
  6. Be consistent.
    I realize that we live in an instant-results kind of society, but this process takes time. Be consistent with your content creation. Monitor what kinds of content resonate best with your audience and keep giving them what they want.

Share with us: How do you define thought leadership? How are you using content to raise your/your company’s professional profile in your field?


Read 6 Myths Blocking Your Social Media Engagement, our special report that addresses misconceptions that are keeping your company from investing time into tools that will can help increase two-way communication with your customers—current and potential. Print this report. Read it on the train ride home. Highlight key points. Share it with your colleagues. And please, jump in the social media marketing game and get started. 

 

Permalink to Over Lunch: The Origin of “aiellejai”

Over Lunch: The Origin of “aiellejai”

by Angie Sanders|on January 8, 2013 |in Just good business |tagged , , , , , , |1 Comment

orgin-of-aiellejaiWhen people see our company name on our business cards, we can tell by the looks on their faces that they have no idea how it’s pronounced. It’s A.L.J.  Pretty simple, right?

So how did we come up with this name and why is its meaning so important to us? To launch our new, biweekly short video series, “Over Lunch,” our founder and Chief Content Architect Angie Jennings Sanders breaks the name aiellejai down to the syllables. 

 

Permalink to 13 Key Takeaways from Fast Company’s “The Social Media Road Map”

13 Key Takeaways from Fast Company’s “The Social Media Road Map”

by Angie Sanders|on October 3, 2012 |in Social Media |tagged , , , , , , , , , , , |5 Comments

Fast Company published “The Social Media Road Map” in their September 2012 issue—the one with The Office star Mindy Kaling {@mindykaling} on the cover looking like a sexy geek. I curled up in bed with a batch of homemade trail mix (dry roasted almonds and dried banana chips and cranberries) to see where this map would take me. So here are my key takeaways from these 19 interesting yet far from mind-blowing pages that paint the picture of social media’s current landscape:

  1. A YouTube home page, half-page auto-play video ad is $500,000—for one day. This ad reaches more than 26 million unique U.S. visitors, but if you’re paying half a million dollars for that, then what’s your total marketing budget?
  2. Lady Gaga stole the title for most Facebook likes from Skittles, but Big Spaceship CEO Michael Lebowitz says there’s no way to tie this this bragging rights title to a bump in sales.
  3. Fast Company, along with a whole gang of other media outlets, really wants Mindy Kaling and her new show The Mindy Project to win, so I guess we should, too. But will realizing how much of a television industry insider she is make me watch her new show? Unclear.
  4. Let’s just set the record straight that it’s officially uncool and generally frowned upon to refer to yourself or anyone else as a “social media guru.”
  5. The women in the sexy photos used for spam bot profiles on Twitter are real people, and those chicks just might ban together and sue you for using their likenesses. Maybe.
  6. What the hell was Kraft thinking when they asked Klout to refer to their scoring as a “fun score”?
  7. There are already whole books about how to use Pinterest. How does it feel to write a book filled with information that’s probably instantly out-of-date upon publication?
  8. There are at least eight services that help you back up your social media platform archives. Never knew there was a need for this, but I guess it’s always good to keep a record of everything you’ve said or shared for future reference.
  9. “We use the phrase ‘social media’ but they’re really communications services, not media properties,” said Bo Peabody, creator of Tripod (the web’s first social network that debuted in 1992). In actuality, we probably refer to the collection of these platforms this way because each of them serves as a medium through which we communicate. And the plural form of “medium” is…
  10. If you want to see some forward-thinking ways of employing social media, then study the fashion industry.
  11. FourSquare’s first major deal was with BravoTV. Tristan Walker, FourSquare’s former business development executive, said the network had great local content which the digital company used to get people “to get out and explore new things, based on shows like ‘Real Housewives’, which felt very much in line with the product but without a sales pitch.”
  12. To support relief efforts following the Haiti earthquake and the tsunami that struck Japan, social gaming titan Zynga created items within their games for players to buy and donated the proceeds to charity. “In the first 24 hours, we generated $1 million, and it got up to more than $3 million over a week or so,” said Zynga Executive Director Ken Weber. “We had people paying for items in the games, but we also had players who don’t ever pay for anything who got their credit cards out to do something good.”
  13. It’s officially uncool and generally frowned upon to refer to any video you create as viral, unless it truly does become, well, viral. “Rather than ideas propagating for generations, almost everything terminates within one degree of the seed,” said Microsoft Research’s Duncan Watts. “If you want something to spread, generate an enormous number of seeds.”

Share with us: Did you read Fast Company’s “The Social Media Road Map”? Was this truly a road map for you? What new information did you learn from this piece?

This post is the first in a series of five posts discussing ideas presented in Fast Company’s “The Social Media Roadmap” section (September 2012 issue).

Permalink to For Businesses, Social Media Means Nothing Without These 3 Things

For Businesses, Social Media Means Nothing Without These 3 Things

by Angie Sanders|on September 26, 2012 |in Just good business, Social Media |tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |6 Comments

When I tell people about aiellejai and the services we provide, they’re often surprised to see me sitting in the audience at some social media panel discussion sessions. I like to attend these sessions to understand why people come, what they’re hoping to learn and to hear the questions asked. This helps us keep gauge the pulse of our market and develop products and services to best serve them.

I find that people who attend these sessions fall into three camps:

Do I need to set up a Facebook page?
These are the individuals or business owners who are new to social networking and how to use it to their advantages.

Why am I on Facebook or Twitter?
These are the people who are looking for strategy for participating in the social media space.

How do I measure success and how do I ensure results?
These are the people who are already maintaining social media presences in some sort of strategic way and are looking for ways to evaluate the success of their time and effort.

Most of the people I meet fall between camps two and three. But as they ask their questions and get good answers that still leave them scratching their heads, I suspect that these answers would be clearer to them if they had the following three elements in place:

A clear business model: Some of us business owners—especially those with service-based businesses—aren’t totally clear about the services we provide or the value of these services to our clients or customers. For example, aiellejai usually takes the standard, hourly-rate approach to our service offerings. We recently had to take an objective look at our business offerings, what services were most popular and how to create other products that will best serve the needs of our existing and future customers.

A laser-focused description of their ideal client or customer:  When I ask potential clients who their ideal client or customer is, they often say things like, “small businesses,” or “nonprofits.” It’s especially tricky to identify specific demographic information about your ideal client or customer if you run a business-to-business company. However, when you’re marketing your services, most likely there’s one type of person or one point of contact who you’re trying to attract. Work on identifying who that person is, what they look like, what their challenges are and any other information you can think of that will help you see your clients as individual people instead of whole companies. Visualizing your potential clients/customers this way will help you market to them specifically.

An overarching communications/marketing strategy: Some business owners are having a hard time wrapping their brains around social networking because they aren’t clear on how to reach their audiences outside of the social media space. Once you establish clear communications and marketing strategies and goals you’ll then be able to understand how to use social media engagement—along with other tactics—to reach these goals.

Share with us: How does your company’s communications/marketing strategy influence your social media engagement? How do you define and measure success?

 

 

Permalink to Four Reasons Why You Can Afford to Share Your Ideas

Four Reasons Why You Can Afford to Share Your Ideas

by Angie Sanders|on September 24, 2012 |in Content marketing, Just good business, Social Media |tagged , , , , , , , , , , |1 Comment

During a local chamber of commerce networking event, an ambitious and interesting older gentlemen told me that he was looking for an entertainment lawyer to help him pitch a game show to Hollywood gatekeepers.

“Oh really?” I asked. “What’s the premise of the show?”

“Well, I can’t tell you,” he said. He was saving all his ideas for the entertainment lawyer and the bigwig producers to whom he’d one day persuade to give him the green light on this show.

I then joked that if he told me the particulars, then he’d have to shoot me.

This got me thinking about which ideas require such top-secret protection and which ideas should be shared.

Truthfully, there’s nothing new under the sun. And ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s execution that’s rare. Not to mention that executing is hard work. So I believe it’s a good idea to share a good deal of our ideas publicly and strategically.

Now you may be thinking, “My ideas are how I make my living. I get paid for my ideas.” Yes, that’s true. However, when I say ideas, I don’t mean the engineering plans for your new product. Instead, as a communications professional, I’d share best practices for how to communicate the particulars for how your new product works. So by ideas, I really mean information. I could hold my input until I get you to pay me for what I have to say. However, if you don’t get the information from me, you’ll just Google it.

Here are four reasons that I think that as business owners, we should be a bit freer with our information and ideas:

Most people need a sample before buying. Have you ever met a person at a networking event he asks you for quick advice upon learning what you do for a living? What do you say? “You better pay me”? No. Most likely you engage that person in conversation. It’s only natural because you’re an expert and are passionate about what you do. That’s okay. The best part of this situation is that not only do you reinforce in his mind that you know your stuff, but it gives him an incentive to pay you for your services.

It establishes you as an expert. Before social networking, a lengthy client list on your website stood as evidence enough that your business is good at what it does. Now, potential clients expect to see us sharing information online and through seminars and speaking engagements. Sharing information about your craft frames you as an expert. And who do potential clients want to pay to help them through their business challenges? Experts.

It draws people into your sales funnel. People I happen to meet and cultivate into clients don’t just learn that aiellejai creates content and throw money at us. They usually consume our content. Or they’ve heard me speak. Or they’ve liked something I’ve shared via social networking. Sharing information draws people in, much like a fishing hook. We can’t throw out naked hooks and expect the fish to bite. We have to cast out some juicy nuggets to get the fish to school and be intrigued. Not to liken potential clients to fish, but you get the message.

You want to be your audience’s first resource. If potential clients have questions, and I don’t answer them—especially if it’s simple for me to do so—then they’re going to get the answers somewhere else. And by doing so, they’ll most likely jump into someone else’s sales funnel. Even if I share information with someone and they don’t commit to becoming a client right away, the idea that I’m an accessible expert has been planted in their head. When they do decide that they need some paid help, hopefully aiellejai will be the first company they think of.

Share with us: Are you guarded with sharing information about your business or industry online or via social networking? Are you afraid someone will steal your ideas?

Permalink to The Next Time You Attend a Seminar or Info Session, Do This.

The Next Time You Attend a Seminar or Info Session, Do This.

by Angie Sanders|on September 19, 2012 |in Just good business, Social Media |tagged , , , , , , , |4 Comments

How many seminars or other related sessions with classroom-style seating do you attend in which you sit down, listen to the panelists and leave without meeting any of the other attendees in the room.

Perhaps after the session, you rush the front of the room like everyone else to meet the presenters and exchange cards, but do you mingle among the rest of the people who came to get the same information you did?

Classroom-style seating flips a switch in our brain that focuses us only on learning from and meeting the people talking at the front of the room. Although we leave with some valuable information, we may be leaving behind a great chance to network with others in the room who we can potentially work with and partner.

Last Wednesday, I attended the Community Business Partnership event, “Social Media Marketing Made Simple” session at Teqcorner. Like everyone else, I’d visited the refreshments table, grabbed my complementary sesame seed bagel and bottled water and took a seat between two other women.

After a few minutes, Juli Monroe {@1to1discovery} of 1 to 1 Discovery appeared at the front of the room to tell us to get off our butts, move around the room and meet each other. She encouraged us to introduce ourselves to at least two other people in the room and ask the question: “What can I do to help you achieve your goals before the end of the year?”

And what do you know? We all got up and did what Juli said. I just happened to be sitting between two smart business owners. Veronica owns a professional organizing business and wanted to know more about affiliate marketing and publishing an e-book. Elia is launching an online resource for people who are dealing with parents with dementia. She wanted resources for marketing her new business venture. Within a few minutes, I was able to point the women in the direction of information that could help them both. And of course these women are be ideal clients for me.

When the session began to start, Veronica said, “Oh, we didn’t get a chance to ask you how we could help you achieve your goals!” But just by talking to both women, I’d gotten clarity on a few products aiellejai is launching in the coming months.

The next time you attend a seminar and are sitting in a room filled with other smart and motivated people, take Juli’s advice and introduce yourself to at least two of them. Ask them how you can help them achieve their goals. You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised by the conversation’s outcome.

Permalink to 4 Reasons Why You Can Trust a Consultant to be Productive

4 Reasons Why You Can Trust a Consultant to be Productive

by Angie Sanders|on September 17, 2012 |in Just good business |tagged , , , , , , , , , , |Leave a comment

In February 2010, a nor’easter dumped 2-3 feet of snow on the mid-Atlantic and crippled productivity for at least a week. In January 2011, an ice storm left thousands stranded on highways and roads in the Washington, DC area. They all left work early to avoid the impeding storm, but were caught right in the midst of it.

With each storm, the case for teleworking became that much stronger. However, it seems that employers are still slow to adopt this method of work.

The Harvard Business Review released the findings of a study supporting the idea that remote employees are more engaged than those who are in the office.  “The team members who were not in the same location with their leaders were more engaged and committed — and rated the same leader higher — than team members sitting right nearby,” said Scott Edinger, founder of Edinger Consulting Group.

Some employers reject employee requests to work from home, possibly because they believe these employees will somehow be more productive if they’re under the employer’s watchful eye. And even though these same employers may trust the advice of a consultant over their own employees, they still seem to reject the idea of working with a consultant. Perhaps they think she’ll inflate the working hours on her invoice.  Or, again, employers prefer to keep an eye on those who work for and with them. However, here are four reasons why that same consultant has every intention of completing projects on-time and to the best of her ability.

You’re not her only client. Time management is critical for a consultant, especially if she works on an hourly rate. All of her clients want what they want when they want it. And all their projects are urgent. Therefore, goof-off time is nonexistent.

She has less time to get to know you. You and the consultant have agreed on a project plan that dictates that the job will be completed in a finite amount of time. Unlike an employee, this consultant doesn’t get a 90-day trial period to get to know you and how you work. Instead, she probably only has a few billable hours. A good consultant is efficient enough to get the most out of these few hours to get her job done right.

Her reputation is on the line. And even if she had the wacky idea to goof-off on your project, not put her best foot forward, and exceed your expectations? What would that do to her business? What good would it serve her to jeopardize future work by performing shoddy work for you?

She’s a consultant because she works independently and doesn’t need constant supervision. Consultants excel at what they do because they’re able to multitask and identify problems and solutions quickly.  She wouldn’t do her job any better if you were there to look over her shoulder. Most likely, her performance would be worse. And that would be bad for her and you both.

Share with us: How does your company regard working with outside consultants? Consultants: do you sometimes have to work to overcome the misconceptions potential clients have about how you work?

Permalink to The Most Important Lesson I Learned About Self-Publishing

The Most Important Lesson I Learned About Self-Publishing

by Angie Sanders|on September 12, 2012 |in Content marketing, Just good business |tagged , , , , , , , , |Leave a comment

Twist, the novel I self-published in 2008, rattled around in my head for at least three years prior to me even putting pen to paper. The road to publishing became harder with each step but slowly, I took those steps that sometimes seemed impossible to me.

I wrote the first draft. Re-worked the draft, hired an editor to complete the final draft, secured print and design vendors and finally produced the finished piece.

I thought the hard part was over, but I had no idea that the real work was yet to come.

The biggest lesson I learned when I self-published is actually rule number one in product marketing: before introducing a new product, you should have a market that’s ready and willing to buy. By the time I learned that hard lesson, I’d done only a handful of book shows and had run out of marketing dollars.

Seth Godin suggests that we authors begin marketing our titles at least three years before the publication date. Yes. You read correctly. Three years. “Three years to build a reputation, build a permission asset, build a blog, build a following, build credibility and build the connections you’ll need later,” he wrote in his 2006 blog post.

This makes total sense. Your audience is constantly bombarded with messages. It’s your job to get your audience to know you as an author and/or thought-leader well in advance of your publication date. In other words, your audience should be paying attention to you long before you begin selling this final product.

The same principle not only applies to self-published authors, but also the authors with any kind of deal from a publishing house. You can’t depend on your publishing company to invest fully in your marketing—especially if you’re not a top-tier author. Once your book is published, the clock on its shelf life begins to tick.  If you wait until then to market your book, then your book will be old news by the time you start to see an ounce of momentum.

It’s been four years since Twist became available for purchase. Did I sell millions of copies? No. Did I get discouraged? Yes. Did I learn a lot? Absolutely. I’ve just begun to tinker around with my second novel. But this time around, I’m definitely looking for ways to decrease publication costs—I’m considering an e-book over printing—and increase my marketing budget. And before I complete the rough draft, my audience will know that this novel is coming—in the next three years.

Share with us: Are you an author? How soon do you begin marketing your books? If you’re a first-time author, what are some key components to your marketing plan?

Permalink to Are You Really an Entrepreneur? Take this Test to Find Out.

Are You Really an Entrepreneur? Take this Test to Find Out.

by Angie Sanders|on August 8, 2012 |in Just good business |tagged , , , , , , , , |Leave a comment

Shantel, my 16-year-old niece, asked me if I had a job. Why did she ask? Because she noticed that during her visits, I’m usually free to hang out with her on any given weekday.

First, I explained to her that with careful planning, I’m able to get my work done in advance so that I’m free to spend time with her. Then I explained to her that I don’t have a job. I run a company. I’m an entrepreneur. Her uncle—my husband—is too.

We pay life taxes to be able to hang out when family comes to visit, run errands during the middle of a weekday and not have to adhere strictly to the normal 9-5 hours. These life taxes include economic hills and valleys, unrelenting ambition and a willingness to work when everyone else is asleep.

In June, as part of their Startup Month, Forbes.com sponsored a questionnaire from Kauffman FastTrac to test entrepreneurial aptitude. Kauffman FastTrac helps aspiring and established entrepreneurs start and grow companies.

The test, which is by no means scientific, confirmed that I was an entrepreneur. I was pleased. Out of the 22 questions on the questionnaire, five stuck with me the most:

Q: I can prosper in an environment with many questions and few answers.
My Answer: Average
Even when I was a part of the 9-5 world, my career was filled with many questions and few answers. Being an entrepreneur is no different. Although I’m afforded more freedom to find answers to those questions my way, the stakes are a bit higher because I call the shots. I answered “average” because I sometimes get frustrated at first when I don’t have the answers. But I have to remember that it may take a while, but the answers are usually revealed in their own time.

Q: I can hang on in hard times and recover quickly.
My Answer: Needs improvement
This element is especially important, especially given the current economic climate. I answered “needs improvement” because I still work on managing my expectations and realizing what I have control over and what I don’t.

Q: I take responsibility for my own success.
My Answer: Strong
I come from a poor family and from a rural town. So whatever success was coming to me was going to be up to God and me. I’m a firm believer in “God helps those who help themselves,” and I try to do everything I can to help his plan for me along.

Q: I can do the tasks necessary to succeed, whether pleasant or unpleasant.
My Answer: Strong
While I was pregnant with my daughter, I embarked on a cold-calling campaign for aiellejai. I bought a list that didn’t have all the contact information I needed. I performed Google searches to update the entire list—more than 2,000 entries—and locate the communications and marketing staff I needed to reach.

Q: I provide for my own needs with little support from others.
My Answer: Strong     
Although I answered this question with “strong,” aiellejai reaches out to outside content creators and other vendors as our client needs dictate. My answer pertains to the day-to-day operations and client-facing activities.

Take the test and let me know how you fare. Are you an entrepreneur?

Permalink to President Obama’s Right: You Didn’t Build That (Alone)

President Obama’s Right: You Didn’t Build That (Alone)

by Angie Sanders|on August 6, 2012 |in Just good business |tagged , , |Leave a comment

Watch one episode of Current TV’s Deadliest Journeys and you’ll appreciate all our nation’s roadways—from the rough but definitely passable dirt country road to the interstate highway.

Risking life and limb on the most treacherous of roadways just to get from point A to point B is everyday life for people in various parts of the world. The episode I caught was set in Papua New Guinea, about 1,500 miles north of Australia. Kevin, a delivery man, is tasked with hauling a load to Kongo, a town 140 miles away from his home.

This drive sounds simple enough. But on an island that’s 178,703 sq. mi. with more than six million inhabitants, there are only three poorly constructed roads. Kevin drives his double trailer truck over unpaved, steep and painfully uneven roads—in icy and muddy conditions—to reach his destination. In addition to dealing with the elements, Kevin must be on the lookout for thieves and looters. An accident makes him a prime candidate for robbery. Throughout the trip, Kevin chews betel root—a carcinogen—to stay awake.

A trip that would take roughly two hours for us here in America, takes Kevin 10 hours. After he drops off his load, he hops back in his truck and immediately begins the trip back home.

What if you were Kevin and had to risk your life every day to make deliveries, simply because your country doesn’t invest in roadways that could make your job safer and easier? What if you owned a delivery company in Papua New Guinea? How could you make a profit when it’s hard to predict how long it will take to complete simple deliveries?

When I think of President Obama’s recent remarks about how government investments in roads and bridges help businesses succeed, I can’t help but agree.

“Somebody invested in roads and bridges,” the President said. “If you’ve got a business—you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

Although infrastructure isn’t the bulk of what government does, it’s certainly an important part. And aside from roads and bridges, how could we possibly expect to see the level of entrepreneurship in this country without some standard of education, health care, and government support of business?

Mitt Romney’s campaign recently launched the “These Hands” ad featuring Jack Gilchrist, owner of Gilchrist Metal Fabricating in Hudson, New Hampshire. In the ad, he asks, “Through hard work and a little bit of luck, we built this business. Why are you demonizing us for it?” Over the years, Gilchrist Metal has received $800,000 in tax-exempt revenue bonds, government contracts of close to $100,000, and a $500,000 SBA loan.

It wasn’t the President’s aim to demonize those who are in business or to insinuate that they didn’t work hard to make these businesses successful. His remarks were meant to get business owners to realize and admit that no one travels the road to success alone.

Education provides the critical thinking needed to generate new ideas and grow business. Higher education fosters our social skills and gives us the opportunity to make the connections that will open doors for us. And infrastructure makes it possible for us to conduct business on time and predictably on budget.

Give credit where credit is due.

Do you think we’d have the level of successful entrepreneurship if it wasn’t for our infrastructure?

I was unable to find a clip of the “Deadliest Journeys” Papua New Guinea episode, but check out a clip from the Pakistan episode. This was probably one of the most intense drives documented on television.

Permalink to Perception is Reality, so Don’t F*ck it Up.

Perception is Reality, so Don’t F*ck it Up.

by Angie Sanders|on April 30, 2012 |in Social Media, What's on TV |tagged , , , , , |1 Comment

RuPaul’s Drag Race is exactly what it sounds like. Glamazons clawing and scratching to be named supreme queen by one of the world’s original queens herself. They put their personal issues aside and present their fiercest and most flamboyant selves in weekly challenges. And if they don’t bring it during that episode, they’ll be forced to lip sync for their lives.

Make no mistake: the contestants in this competition are men. But when they don their baddest dresses, biggest hair, and most over-the-top makeup, their job is to defy anatomy and defy the odds.

The show’s challenges remind me a lot of the hoops we jump through as entrepreneurs. Running a company is hard, dammit. Those clients we were counting on to come through decide not to commit at this time. A few of the clients we have act like they don’t want to pay. {Stealing from the corner retail store is a travesty, but clients somehow justify stealing services from a consultant.} Today just isn’t the day to mess with us, but somehow we muster up the energy to put on a smile—and decent slacks—to attend yet another networking event.

So why do we do this to ourselves? Because this business and the freedom it brings is our dream, we can’t think of any better way to spend our days, and cubicle life just ain’t our bag. Just like the queens running RuPaul’s Drag Race, we know that the perception we give the public is accepted as reality. We have to manage that perception as best we can.

If you’re a new business owner, or you’ve been playing the part for a while, here are a few tips to manage that perception and survive your own race to success:

Say what you do and don’t stutter.
At the end of an episode, RuPaul calls out two queens that haven’t been performing to the best of their abilities that week. As they stand on the stage facing her and her celebrity panel, she demands that they lip sync in a final duel to the finish. “And don’t f*ck it up!” she warns.

As a new entrepreneur, you may feel a bit weird when someone asks, “What do you do?” Probably for the first time, you don’t have a big corporate name to drop.  But don’t be afraid. Don’t reference your old job. Don’t give out the business card to your current job when you need to be repping your side-hustle. Tell people who you really are and what you really do.

When I’m asked about my profession, I say: “I’m Angie Sanders, and I run a boutique copywriting firm. We write the words that make your audiences do what you want them to.”

Have the basics in place.
You don’t have a big corporate machine behind you. So what? No one knows that immediately but you. But looking corporate always helps. Pay a great designer for a nice looking website/blog and business cards. Get an email address with your domain name. {These things DO NOT come free. I repeat, these things DO NOT come free.} Make sure you identify your business/title in your email signature and voice mail.  Owning a company is now your new job, so enjoy all the accoutrements you had at your last job in your new one.

Play with social media.
If you don’t use social media already, play around with it. And I’m talking about doing more than just setting up your profiles. Get some friends, likes, followers, circles—whatever. Just get them. Make a conscious effort to get in there, talk to these people, and learn as much as you can about social media platforms every day for the next three months. After that, is it should become somewhat clear to you how you can use these platforms to market yourself and your business. If it doesn’t, ask someone for help.

Attend networking events.
Whoever told you that networking events are dead is a liar. Social media engagement is great and you can successfully make connections that way. But you still need to get out there and meet people in your own city—people who you can engage even further in social media spaces, via email and over the phone.

Find quality events to attend and make the most out of your attendance. Take plenty of business cards. Set push goals for how many people you’d like to meet/how many business cards you’d like to hand out/receive. Be nice and engaging. Pretend you’re the most beautiful and interesting person in the room. Tweet about the event. And when you get home, reach out to your new connections on LinkedIn, Google+, or Twitter.

Ask for help.
If you have questions or need services, ask someone for help. That’s one of the beauties of social media. There’s a whole sea of people out there that are willing to have their brains picked for a bit of advice.

Permalink to 7 Lessons on Success and Life from RHOA’s @Kandi Burruss

7 Lessons on Success and Life from RHOA’s @Kandi Burruss

by Angie Sanders|on April 23, 2012 |in RHOA |tagged , , , , , , |1 Comment

NeNe Leakes made the bold statement to her Real Housewives of Atlanta co-star Sheree Whitfield that she is “very rich.” But during their Miami trip, who paid the bell hop once he’d lugged their expensive luggage to their rooms?

Kandi Burruss.

When Sheree competed in the Dancing Stars of Atlanta event to raise money for an Alzheimer’s charity, she secured a table for all her cast mates. But who made a sizable donation to Sheree’s cause?

Kandi Burruss.

Most reality stars are only famous for the sake of being famous. But with real talent, platinum records, and royalty checks to boot, Kandi Burruss {@Kandi} teaches us all a thing or two about actual success and how to conduct ourselves when it’s truly earned:

Flashy doesn’t mean successful.
In the show’s opening, Kandi tells viewers: “I have fame and fortune, and I’ve earned it!” And she certainly has. But that doesn’t mean she has grab people by their necks like puppies and rub their noses in her money. Of course she owns a nice home, drives fabulous cars, and has a vicious closet, but her possessions are never the topic of dinner conversation.

Always put your best foot forward.
She could’ve given Kim Zolciak some throw-away tracks she and her team had toyed with previously. Instead, Kandi and her team produced songs that fit Kim’s personality and skill. Although she complained all the way, “Tardy for the Party” was a modest hit for the chanteuse. Kim went on to tinker with “The Ring Don’t Mean a Thing,” and released a country single, “Love Me First” last month.

Venture outside your comfort zone.
We loved seeing Kandi and her team flex their production chops while producing music for Kim Zolciak and Lawrence Washington. However, she pushed herself to work with country music star Jo Dee Messina {@jodeemessina}. This step taught us that we should all continue to challenge ourselves personally and professionally.

Work hard for results.
Kandi told us her mother always said: “If you can perceive it, you can achieve it.” Ms. Burruss isn’t scared of the hard work it takes to make things happen. Just reference episode 11 (season four) when she endures a tough outdoor workout with her trainer. She could afford to take the easy way out with extensive cosmetic surgery or other strange treatments, but Kandi knows that the reward is sweeter when you sweat a little for it.

Say it with your chest.
Although Kandi doesn’t shy away from the typical RHOA confrontations, she doesn’t invite it either. If she has something to say to her cast mates, she has no problem revealing it in confession and saying the same thing to the woman’s face.  Kandi wasn’t shy about asking Marlo about her source of income. She sure didn’t back down when Sheree lied to Kim about the South Africa trip.

Don’t treat fans/potential customers like “Twitter People.”
When “The Talls” attended the Bedroom Kandi launch party during the show’s season finale, they seemed disgusted to learn the party’s attendees were “Twitter People.” However, Kandi realizes that her fan base puts money in her pocket. Instead of using a phrase akin to “creatures in the night,” Kandi welcomes them with open arms. This attitude will keep Kandi’s money working for her, not vice-versa.

Vulnerability is human.
We appreciate Kandi providing us glimpses into her love life. Her ability to open up and show emotion about her relationships with Riley’s father and her late fiancé AJ shows us she’s more than a music and reality TV star—she’s just like us.