The Power of Your Network: Get Connected Women Entrepreneurs Event

Recently, GroundFloor Media hosted a Get Connected event for about 30 local women entrepreneurs. I was joined on a panel by Mindy Gantner from eXplore Communications, Laura Levaas of Yelp, Remy Spreeuw of 5280 and Taylor Woodard of Motive. We spent a few hours in small breakout sessions talking about career experiences, lessons learned and tips for building brands and communicating with media and other key stakeholders. The participants represented owners of multiple businesses including Eat (delicious catering, BTW), MaxLife Therapies, United Martial Arts and Fitness Center, Sticky Fingers Cooking, Studio R Designs and many, many more.

I was inspired by the stories I heard and the willingness of the women to share all of their ‘growth pain’ stories with the larger group– the good, the bad and the ugly. Since I started GroundFloor Media in April 2001, I have relied on my network of women to help guide me and serve as my informal ‘kitchen cabinet’ on issues that face many entrepreneurs – woman or man. How do you juggle work and family life? How do you know when to take on an employee that isn’t billable to a client? How do you purchase real estate and structure contracts with sub tenants? How do you manage the complexities and struggles of a divorce while building a business and raising a young child? While I am grateful to the male advisors I have surrounded myself with primarily through my involvement with EO Colorado, it is generally the women in my life that offer the necessary story telling and the fact giving that provide those coveted words of wisdom. In my experience, women have never been afraid to mix business and personal lives because they tend to know that – for an entrepreneur – the two can’t exist without one another. And women aren’t afraid to tell you just how hard – and rewarding – this life we have chosen can be.

This ability to view situations from both a personal and professional lens is a critical component to owning a business. The grey areas are vast and the inability to recognize that aspect can take down a company. I wonder if this is one of the many reasons that the growth of women-owned firms outpaces those for men – according to a new Department of Commerce survey . In fact, the number of women-owned businesses increased 44% from 1977 to 2007 and added 500,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the number of man-owned businesses increased 22% and lost 2 million jobs. Why? Well, there are probably many reasons. However, if the Get Connected event was any indication, I believe it is because women inspire one other to take chances. Thanks to all of the women in my kitchen cabinet who have inspired me to take a chance or two. It has all been worth it.

~ Laura Love-Aden

Do good. Do well.

One of my favorite concepts is “doing well by doing good.” So it’s inspiring to me to see that cause-related marketing appears to be thriving despite the tough economy we’ve all experienced this year (check out this AdAge article for more on this).

It makes sense. Americans are much more likely to purchase brands that support causes. We feel good about working for companies that support charitable causes. We want to do our part – no matter how large or how small – to make our world a better place. Cause-related marketing makes this possible.

And… companies who undertake cause-marketing programs tend to see the financial benefits, as well. This study by Cone validated that cause-related marketing can drive consumer choice. So why NOT embrace cause marketing? You can do well by doing good.

You don’t have to take on a full-blown cause-marketing program, however, to make a difference. I’m proud that GroundFloor Media embraces Tennyson Center for Children as our pro bono client and that beyond our PR work for Tennyson Center our team members commit personal time to brighten the lives of the children served by Tennyson Center. Whether it’s taking the kids bowling, decorating Christmas trees with them, purchasing holiday gifts and school clothes, or painting the bedrooms in their cottages, GroundFloor Media team members volunteer countless hours at Tennyson Center and a variety of nonprofit organizations throughout our communities. This holiday season, we are encouraging all of our clients, partners and employees to give back by participating in Tennyson Center’s Operation Santa program. This program allows for families in need to have a Christmas that they wouldn’t normally experience. My family adopts families each year, and for less than $400, we provide families in need with gifts from their wish list. If you are interested in helping through Operation Santa, please let me know.

It feels great to support charitable organizations, and we all get back so much more than we ever give. I encourage you to spend a few hours as the holiday season approaches to share your talent, encouragement and/or energy with someone or some organization in need. If you need some thought starters in Denver, start with United Way or Metro Volunteers. I promise you won’t regret it!

~Ramonna

Get Connected: Three Speakers - Three Great Points of View

Last week GroundFloor Media hosted the latest in its Get Connected series, this time focused on the emerging world of social media. The three guest speakers included Tara Anderson from Lijit (http://www.lijit.com/), Tiffany Childs from Yelp (http://www.yelp.com/), and James Clark from Room 214 (http://www.room214.com/).

Tara, Tiffany and James provided insight and answered questions about social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook and other technologies that are quickly staking their importance as communications outlets for public relations professionals. The insight shared at the meeting was insightful and had it not been for a necessary stopping point, I think we might still be chatting about best practices, tips and tricks for keeping up with these exciting new outlets! Briefly, here are the top tips given by each of the panelists as parting words for the event attendees:

• Tara suggested that anyone dabbling in social media, particularly those representing a company, don't act robotic. Be yourself!


• Tiffany had two great tips. Since people are talking about you, you might as well listen. And, she suggested that in the case of a negative review or posting or article, you step back, calm down and think your response through before you send it. In the world of social media, a hasty, heated response is likely to be cut and pasted faster than you can say "Whoops!"
  
• James suggested updating your contact book and starting to connect with your friends, family and colleagues through social media. The more you participate in social media on a personal level, the more savvy you'll become and soon it will become a natural part of your business practice.