Entrepreneur Series: Janet Blakemore
I have always been fascinated with entrepreneurs. People who exemplify the courage to launch and maintain a business are inspiring to me. As I brainstormed topics for my blog, I landed on the idea to honor some of these risk takers. Along the way, I have learned quite a bit about leadership, accounting, networking, and other... Continue reading→
Fundraising: Donor-based Strategies
Lessons from Network Marketing Your friends and associates are your most fruitful group of investors. You comfort, ability, and engagement of this group can yield a sustainable funding base. Most of my clients are floored to understand the difference between friends and donors in order to connect with them as a funding source. The similarity... Continue reading→
6 Concerns When Taking Your Business Online
At this point in the history of e-commerce, I have to force myself to remember that some are new to this venture. I decided to write what may be expanded into a series to provide some practical direction for new sellers. The good news is that you do not have to create everything from scratch.... Continue reading→
Building a Brand: Branching Out
Branching out is a phrase meant to encapsulate your need to diversify the product line of the central brand concept. Along with this diversification, you will want to expand the media presence of the brand. Finally, in this second implementation, you will want to develop partnerships that demonstrate the utility of the product line. Diversity:... Continue reading→
Building a Brand: 3 Foundational Components
Ever notice how the “how to build a brand” tutorials never tell you how to build a brand. They begin with esoteric and philosophical perspectives. They end with an explanation of how each brand is different, and must be handled with skill–skills that they neglected to impart. You are in luck. Today, you are reading... Continue reading→
Patents, Trademarks, and Copyright
Apple and Samsung are in court again. Again! But, when you spend the grueling, hard time to come up with something novel, you do not and cannot allow someone to just appropriate it without giving you credit. You also are entitled to payment. Apple and Samsung are disputing patents though. This case and some recent... Continue reading→
Have a Website? Why you should Discontinue Your Newsletter
Obviously, if you do not have a website at this point in your organization’s history, we should talk about that first. More often, I encounter organizational clients who are not sure how to best utilize the resources they have. This includes their website. My first presentation is to let them know that they have been... Continue reading→
Social Media Resistance: The Consultant’s Appeal
In my life as a consultant and my experience as a 40 something, I have experienced the inner conflict. On one hand, innovation tells me to explore and quickly adopt (or figure out how to adapt) new technologies like social media tools. On the other hand, especially when observing how some have misused social media,... Continue reading→
Constructing the Narrative with Balance of Bias
A key for any writer be they novelist, journalist, copywriter, screen writer, or blogger is to construct the narrative. What does it mean to construct the narrative? The narrative is a justification for the state of the world AND a personal explanation for choices made. It is the WHY and the articulated meaning. Depending on... Continue reading→
Writing for Blogs: Expertise as a Lens on Current Events
Expertise is important to the continuous production and posting of content on a blog. You cannot keep up the pace of multi-weekly posts if you do not have a sense of your own expertise. Yet, this is not the only requirement. Expertise also does not alone equal rankings and readership in today’s social media-fueled and... Continue reading→