Today's Quote:
"A leader is one who knows
the way, goes the way,
and shows the way."
-- John C. Maxwell
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In this Issue...
4th Annual SpiritBank / Tulsa Community College Entrepreneurial Spirit Award
Please join us as we kick off the 2010 SpiritBank/Tulsa Community College
Entrepreneurial Spirit Award
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame
111 East 1st Street
5:30 p.m.
The kick-off will provide aspiring entrepreneurs with opportunities to:
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Discover the success factors for winning the Spirit Award from past winners
Meet and network with Tulsa entrepreneurs and small business leaders
Learn details to compete for cash, prizes and services |
To enter the competition, entrepreneurs can submit their executive summaries to
the Spirit Award website from April 6 - May 13. The first place winner will
receive $30,000, second place $5,000 and third place $2,500 all provided by
SpiritBank.
The competition is open to anyone in the City of Tulsa with an existing business
from either a start-up business, a business that has been in operation for up to
five years, or simply an idea for a new business. Entrants need not be based in
Tulsa, but they must agree to establish or expand in Tulsa if they win.
For more information on the award, please visit
www.tulsaspiritaward.com.
RSVP by Thursday, April 1st to Valerie Renz at
vrenz@spiritbank.com.
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Introverts as
Entrepreneurs
By Howard Greenstein
The stereotype startup guy or gal is a high energy, always schmoozing,
hard pitching and hand-shaking go-getter. But since 50 percent of the population
are identified by psychological studies as introverts, that stereotype might
need some examining.
But most people believe there's some sort of stigma about being an introvert,
according to Nancy Ancowitz, author of Self Promotion for Introverts and blogger
for Psychology Today. Ancowitz is a self-proclaimed introvert with a history in
both large companies and her own enterprises. Many introverts, she says, "make
great entrepreneurs." Introvert stereotypes include being more considered,
looking inward for approval and guidance, and researching problems looking for
perfect answers. These same characteristics can make great business leaders.
What advice can help the introvert succeed in a startup? Ancowitz says "When
selling as an introvert, use your abilities as a good researcher to really know
your audience, know what matters to them, and figure out a product match before
you go in. You'll be meeting with people, so rest up before social interactions
with those you are selling to or speaking in front of. Prepare and practice
because as an introvert you will think before you speak - as opposed to
extroverts who speak as they think. So having a few lines ready, or thoughts
composed in advance will be beneficial. Rest, prepare and practice is the magic
formula because of the way introverts are wired."
That seems to work for Adelaide Lancaster, co-founder of In Good Company
Workplaces, a community and workspace for women entrepreneurs in NYC that
provides events, consulting, shared desks and meeting rooms. As a graduate
student in a psychology program, Lancaster found out she was an introvert. In
2003 she formed a consulting practice helping women in professional transition.
It was research and data driven. "As an introvert it was more comfortable being
a resource instead of being in an interpersonal mode all the time. Now I'm in
business now with an off-the-charts extrovert. Our focus is on entrepreneurs,
and our consulting led into creating the workspace."
Lancaster gave me a tip for startup introverts. "While putting your business
model in place, feedback is a critical component, but introverts may close
themselves off to that - it might not occur to them to ask others for advice.
They need opinions and iteration." Lancaster didn't talk to lots and lots of
people, but she strategically chose 5 people to check in with and get advice
from. She also notes "There's an opportunity cost if you're not connected to
other business owners - if you over-emphasize research it can prevent you from
finding easy solutions to your problems right, in your business network."
Lancaster uses Twitter and LinkedIn groups to connect with business resources
and share tips.
This connects well with Ancowitz's advice to "Get known as an expert, and build
deep and meaningful relationships. Introverts do well with deep relationships
and conversations rather than chit-chat. Be generous in introducing people to
each other as well. Then it's easier for you to ask for introductions from your
good contacts." She also notes "if you're an introvert there may be activities
you'll like more than others, like writing or speaking to one person at a time.
There are many ways to market with quiet activities like blogging, using
Twitter, writing for newsletters, and doing guest columns that can help you
promote yourself."
Read this article on
Inc.com
How to Use Surprise to
Generate Word of Mouth
By Lisa Barone, Co-Founder and
Chief Branding Officer of Outspoken Media, Inc.
Your customers live their life in a routine. I mean, we all do. We wake
up at the same time; start our day off completing the same rituals; and then
take the same route to work, switching on autopilot as soon as we get there.
We're creatures of habit. Our job as marketers is to both use and break these
habits, replacing bad ones (not being our customer) with good ones (being our
customer). But to do that, we first have to get their attention. We have to find
a way to wake our customers from their zombie slumber and make them see us. We
have to disrupt their routine.
And that's where surprise marketing comes in.
Surprise breeds word of mouth by attacking the "been there, done that" mentality
of customers and shattering it with something designed to cause a reaction.
Because the only thing to give the person who has everything is to give them something
they've never seen or thought of before.
How Surprise Breeds Worth of Mouth
It's said a lot that if you want people to talk about your business that you
need to
give them something to talk about. Well, that's pretty much
what surprise marketing does. It breaks up your customer's every day and it
gives them something new – tangible or not – to remember and hold onto. It ties
you to an experience. As a small business owner, surprise marketing is perfectly
suited for your business because it requires that you really know the people
that you're targeting. No one knows their audience as well as someone who lives
in it every day. And once you know what they're expecting, it's your job to give
them what they're not.
Oprah utilized surprise marketing when she gave away 276 Pontiac G6s and offered
Pontiac "immediate recognition as the feel-good automaker." But in the real
world (as opposed to Oprah-vision), surprise marketing doesn't have to mean big
dollars. It means creativity.
Surprise marketing works by giving someone something they needed at a time they
weren't expecting it. It's chilled milk and cookies after a long day at Disney.
It's a person hiding in the Coke machine to hand deliver you and your friends a
soda. It's the bottle of water you're handed by the hotel when you come back
from a run.
It's about creating experiences that people are going to want to share with
their friends.
How to Surprise Your Customers
You surprise customers when you create something that is both personal and
valuable to them. Decide what feeling you're trying to inspire (awe, joy,
excitement, disbelief, horror, etc.) and then get creative about how you can
deliver that. And when you're doing it, think small. Don't go for the elaborate
plan. Go as small as you can with it, because it's the little things done better
than someone would ever expect that create the biggest buzz. That's how you get
people talking about you and inspire someone to make that referral – you tie an
emotional response to what you're doing.
How can a small business owner incorporate surprise marketing to inspire
referrals from customers?
Show Up Where They Don't Expect: When you drove to work today,
there were certain things you expected to encounter - traffic, the usual
landmarks, your same parking spot. You weren't expecting to see, say, a
27-foot-long hot dog parked outside your building. And if you did, it would take
a pack of wild dogs to stop you from talking about it. And that's exactly why
Oscar Mayer created the Wienermobile and why they park it in random cities
across the country. Because while you may have heard about it, you'd never
expect it to show up in your hometown. And when it does, you talk about it.
Go Further Than You Have To: Go that extra step to create a WOW
moment. Zappos does this by offering surprise overnight shipping so that
customers unexpectedly receive their order just hours after they placed it. It
creates an experience of "awe" when exactly what they wanted shows up when they
weren't expecting it. Virgin America created its own WOW moment, rescuing 15
Chihuahuas from California. They did more than was required or expected and
people talked.
Give Them Something Different: Lots of businesses offer free
gifts along with a purchase. It's the coupon slipped into the bag at the
register, the free makeup brush someone gets with their purchase, a trial of a
new scent, etc. What about giving them something they wouldn't expect you to?
Like chocolate-covered grasshoppers, perhaps. You don't have to get pricey to
surprise someone, you just have to deliver something they weren't expecting.
Listen When They Think You're Not: A young woman was sitting in
a P.F. Chang's twittering about how much she loves P.F.Chang's chicken lettuce
wraps – a pretty normal occurrence in today's social media-heavy world, right?
What she didn't know was that an employee in the P.F. Chang's Corporate Office
saw the tweet, figured out what restaurant the customer was at and tracked her
down to her specific table with the help of onsite staff. P.F. Chang's then
purchased the woman's dinner for her and bought her dessert to say "thanks for
visiting." The Twitterer was shocked that the restaurant was listening so
closely to customers and the story is now legend. Pretty cool, and not that
difficult to pull off.
Make the Little Things, Big Things: Disney World left milk and
cookies in Scott Stratten's hotel room when he was there with his son so they
could have a snack to enjoy together. The Westin Long Beach hands out water
bottles to guests who walk into the hotel after a run. By getting those tiny,
personal gestures correct you set up those moments that your customers will take
home and want to brag about later. You create an experience and a memory by
making the little things big things in your organization.
Obviously there are many other ways to surprise and capture the attention of
your audience, but those will help get you started. Perhaps it's the child in
me, but I love using surprise marketing as a way to spread word of mouth and
bring in referrals. It challenges you to look inward to change the course of
someone's day in a way that they'll remember and positively associate with your
brand. Not every profession is in the habit of creating memories. It's the power
of the unexpected and it doesn't get much better than that.
Read this article at
DuctTapeMarketing.com
Why Your Business
Needs a Hook
Every business should offer an enticing phrase differentiating it from
competitors
By
Carmine Gallo
CNN (TWX) rarely covers the introduction of a new Internet router, but it did on Tuesday, March 9. I can't remember when a radio station in my area
covered the launch of a router, but it did, too - on the same day. This wasn't just any router, but Cisco's CRS-3
router, capable of handling 322 terabits of data per second. Still not interested? What if I told you the router is
fast enough to stream every movie ever made in less than four minutes? Bet I got your attention. Cisco (CSCO) found
a hook.
I first heard about the new Cisco product from a receptionist in our office. As I walked in, she said: "Did you
hear about Cisco's new router? It can download the entire Library of Congress in one second." What
surprised me was not that Cisco had introduced a phenomenally fast router for service providers. What surprised me
was that our receptionist - who has never mentioned Cisco and probably cares little about router speed - was excited
about it.
I retrieved the Cisco press release and, sure enough, the streamed movies and
Library of Congress hooks were included in the release, word for word. Cisco had
given the public something to talk about, a conversation starter. Cisco's
customers will not buy the router because it can download the entire Library of
Congress collection in one second - it would take a really, really large hard
drive to store it all. But the hook does what it implies - hooks customers and
encourages them to learn more. If Cisco had said the new router offers 12 times
the traffic capacity of the nearest competing system, the story would have been
relegated to only the most technical publications and my receptionist would
never have mentioned it. Consider the following points you can use in your
business communications.
A hook reels you in. Every great song has a great hook, a memorable line created
to catch the listener ear and then repeat throughout the song. As its name
implies, a hook catches your attention and reels you in. My 4-year-old daughter
cannot interpret the nuances of pop songs - in some cases that's a good thing -
but she runs around the house repeating Lady Gaga';s "p-p-p poker face."
Like a catchy a song, your business messaging needs a hook, too. Just as a hook
is repeated in a popular song, yours must be repeated in your marketing channels
- presentations, Web site, press releases, and advertisements.
Why three seconds matter. New York University's Langone Medical Center, a top
academic medical institution in New York, found a hook for its new ad campaign:
the number 3. Billboards were created and full-page ads in The New York Times
featured the numeral 3 prominently at the top. In smaller print, it read: "3
seconds matter. That's why at NYU Langone Medical Center, surgical instruments
are hung on the wall, instead of kept in a drawer." Saving three seconds every
time an instrument is used adds up to a lot of saved time, enhancing
performance, efficiency, and ultimately delivering higher quality care. But the
latter sentence is a mouthful; "3 Seconds Matter" is a hook.
I asked Deborah Loeb Bohren, Langone's vice-president for communications, about
the campaign's hook. She said that hospitals face a challenging environment -
especially in New York - and must differentiate themselves to compete. The
communications team held a meeting at which they put all of their competitors'
ads on a wall and asked themselves how Langone could stand out. They discovered
that the other ads all used the same color (blue), showed stock photos of happy
patients, and contained a lot of text - too much to absorb in a short
conversation.
The Langone ads would be largely black and white, replace stock photos with
action images taken by a professional photojournalist, and contain far less
text. Above all, each would put forth one key idea, a hook that acts as a
conversation starter. The campaign has been so successful Langone has released
11 ads, each with its own hook.
How do you find a hook? Loeb Bohren says it starts by knowing your essence as an
organization. "Be honest about your strengths and differences," she says. "We
are proud of many things at the hospital, but they may not be as important to
people on the outside as they are to us. The key is to match your strengths with
what people care about."
Read this article
BusinessWeek.com
Catching Up with Our Past Spirit Award Winners
2009 1st Place Winner:
Real Time Rehab
Founded by Jeremy Green, Real Time Rehab provides physical therapists and
clinicians with personalized rehabilitation programs for their patients. The
programs are burned onto DVDs, providing the patients with clear, step-by-step
demonstrations of the exercises they need to perform to ensure a speedy and
complete recovery.
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How has winning the award affected your business? It
has drastically improved our business model and opportunities for revenue. When
we started the Tulsa Spirit Award early last year we had two different revenue
sources, after the coaching and presentations we have adapted our product and
now have eight different revenues streams!
- Can you state any growth numbers/projections?
Since we are still developing we do not have any sales yet. We are about to
enter into our beta testing stage. Local and regional physical therapy clinics
will test our product and provide feedback as to things they would like to see.
- Any plans for the future you want to share? Real
Time Rehab has been bootstrapping from day one. Layle Baker and Jason Reed,
Martini Shot Productions, among many others (TOO MANY TO LIST) have been
instrumental in the development of our products. We are now seeking outside
investment that will allow us to finish development, hire key individuals and
most importantly grow sales and marketing.
- Any advice for those looking to enter the awards next year?
When you ask someone a question about your product, business or plan... LISTEN!
Wise advice will come from some of the least expected people.
- Any other updates? We are looking
for people and companies that are interested in investing in
startup companies. We will have a tested and complete product
ready for national sales no later than August 2010.
2009 2nd Place Winner:
Part-Time Pros
Part-Time Pros, founded by Carey and Brett Baker shortly following the birth of
their daughter, connects degreed, experienced professionals with part-time and
contract employment. By doing so, they provide professionals with flexible,
rewarding work and employers with quality personnel at a lower cost.
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How has going through the award process affected your business?
It was wonderful! 2010 started off with a bang and we are projected to have our
1st Quarter be equivalent to half of last year with regards to sales and
revenue.
- Can you state any growth numbers/projections?
We should exceed $1 million in sales this year.
- Any advice for those looking to enter the awards next year?
Be committed and have an open mind and open ears.
2009 3rd Place Winner:
Cog Togs Inc.
Cog Togs Inc.'s founders, siblings Jeff Johnson, Shawna Sims and Melinda Ryan,
are parents as well as professionals, which is why they developed a business
that is safe and fun for children. Kids can trade personalized beads with their
friends, wearing them on bracelets or key chains, and then connect online at the
kid-friendly social site
CogTogs.com. The site offers games, videos, blogs and news in a safe place
impervious to strangers.
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How has going through the award process
affected your business? Going through the award process gave us
some new perspectives. When you get 12 professionals reviewing your business,
you can't help but get some better insight into your business... and yourself.
You will also network with many other companies that may be able to help promote
your business and meet people who can assist you in achieving your goals.
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Can you state any growth numbers/projections? We
recently launched our beta site and are pursuing marketing options. Users on the
site and time spent on the site have been increasing. Many changes have been
made based on our beta test feedback including a new email system, and high
score reporting for games.
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Any plans for the future you want to share? We are
upgrading our site and online store based on consumer feedback, and have reduced
our price.
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Any advice for those looking to enter the awards next year?
Listen to everything suggested, regardless whether it applies to your active
business plan. You will learn something by exploring the option.
2008 1st Place Winner:
Grocio
Founded by Gerald Buckley,
Grocio.com is a comparison-shopping engine for
groceries. With your zip code and grocery list, Grocio will tell which grocer
has the least expensive total checkout while providing valuable coupons matching
the purchases.
Over the past year and a half since winning the contest, Grocio has grown
considerably.
Here are some highlights:
- Gerald is now full-time at Grocio
- Qualified for the OCAST Technology Business Finance Program Award
- Raised their Seed Round
- Launched in 22 markets
- Positioning for another wave, hopefully taking them to near 50 cities within
the next couple of months (primarily the 50 most populous cities in the U.S.)
- Released their first iPhone app for Petty’s Fine Foods
- Writing an update for that app and coordinating with an outside sales force
specializing in the retail grocery space to resell it to other grocery chains
- Writing an iPhone app to compliment the grocery circular emails
- Have a joint marketing agreement in the works with a big name foodie on The
Food Network
- Received a 2010 Oklahoma Innovator of the Year award
- Hope to announce some news with regard to our comparison shopping product
very soon
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To read more about Gerald's milestones in his first year after winning the
award,
click here.
2007 1st Place Winner:
SeekingSitters
SeekingSitters, founded by David and Adrienne Kallweit, is a national network of
locally-based baby sitter referral services that provides in-home childcare
services for families, corporations or individuals who join the service as
members. SeekingSitters specializes in sitter screening, selection and
scheduling based on the members' specific requirements. Members can make a
request for a one-time, part-time or full-time need.
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How much growth has SeekingSitters seen
since their participation in the Spirit Award? We currently have
42 locations in 18 states. Child oriented franchises are projected to have huge
growth in 2010 and we expect our franchise growth to reflect this. We are
currently training a Detroit, MI and Richmond, VA franchise and we recently
opened a Jacksonville, FL and Boston, MA franchise. In the next two months,
we’re looking at new markets in Orlando, FL; Charlotte, NC; Des Moines, IA and
expanding in the Los Angeles, CA area.
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Any plans for the future you want to share? We are
now offering corporate accounts where businesses in any of our locations can
sign up and offer babysitting hours to its employees. We’ve found there is a
huge need for this as employees cannot always find last-minute child care in
case of emergencies, weather or illness. We hope to make this new feature as
common as insurance, retirement or any other type of common benefit businesses
offer its employees.
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Any advice for those looking to enter the awards next year?
Take the resources from the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award and utilize them to
learn all that you can and jump into growing your business to its full
potential. The Spirit Award gives you the opportunity to look at your business
in a way that you wouldn’t normally do and make a plan for the future.
Strategic
Partner in the News: S Design Inc.
The 2010 ADDY® Award Show, presented by the
Oklahoma City Ad Club, was a huge night for S Design Inc. and their clients.
They
won 8 awards, including five gold ADDY®s.
S Design honors all of their clients, and invites
you to check out a few pieces of their award winning work by
clicking here.
View other work on their website/blog at
www.sdesigninc.com.
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