I forgot!

I forgot about this blog!  Wow!  I'm bringing it back.

Let's meet Wednesday the 25th!  I've got some awesome girls that are interested so let's make this happen.  Bring your appetizer, magazines, and dreams.  It's time to talk about 2012, and make our new vision boards!

xoxo

Meeting Minutes for July

30 and Driven Meeting Notes 7/28/10

Meeting Attendees: Allison (Allison Carenza Photography), Karren (Write Brained Learning), Valerie (Hippie Chow), Kim (Girly Girl Vintage Purses), Amy (Blue Springs Art Council), Valerie (Valerie Preston Jewelry).

There is a networking group at Mimi’s café if anyone is interested. You can contact Allison about it.

Event: Independence Events center is having an art show. It looks like it’s happening in March of next year? http://independenceeventscenter.com/events-tickets/events-list.html

Next meeting: We will be discussing our target markets and how to reach them.


Successes and Goals

I) Valerie-Hippie Chow
A) Success-Dean and Deluca will be carrying Hippie Chow in their stores starting September 1st.
B) Goal-Get everything delivered and happening for Dean and Deluca by September 1st.
II) Kim-Girly Girl Vintage Purses
A) Success and Goal-Kim wants to have a haunted house at the White Oak Plaza. Saint Robert’s church is going to set it up. She is working on contacts for that right now. Kim tries to do a once a month event with purses.
III) Amy-Blue Springs Art Council
A) Success-Amy is starting a non-profit business for art, called the Blue Springs Art Council. She got her official corporation status.
B) Goal-Amy needs to get her non-profit status. She is going to start the council before that though so it will be easier to get grants and funding once the non-profit status comes in.
IV) Erin-Caring Touch Massage LLC
A) Success-Mary came in and started working. She is working out well.
B) Goal-She is working to save money to get a bigger space so she can bring more therapists into the business.
V) Allison-Allison Carenza Photography
A) Success-Allison Established a fan base on facebook, and she has been very successful at establishing an online persona.
B) Goal-She wants to get her workshop ready and be booked through August.
VI) Valerie-Valerie Preston Jewelry
A) Successes-Valerie quit her job to pursue jewelry full time. She sent a beautiful engagement ring to her cousin.
B) Goal-She is going to work on getting more customers and getting her jewelry into shops.
VII) Karren-Write Brained Learning
A) Success-Karren is already booked through December. She is also presenting at the KRA conference.
B) Goal-Karren wants to get in on the Kauffman foundation’s small business study. They will give 6 months of free intense marketing and mentoring for businesses related to education. It’s 6 months of full-time commitment, but she thinks it would be worth it. Karren also wants to work towards reaching out beyond the school district she used to work with, offering her programs to other districts.



Other Meeting Topics

I) Everyone shared their promotional calendars and promotional ideas.
II) Social Networking
A) We talked more about how to establish an online persona that will get you fans.
B) Valerie-Hippie Chow-said she went to a social media class and they said the best way to develop a social media strategy is to pick out 4 or 5 themes that are consistent with your business image and blog/write about those themes.
C) Allison-Allison Carenza Photography-suggested to genuinely be yourself and let your personality show through your writing.
D) Karren said a good tactic is to post a competition where the first 3 people that respond get something. Creating a sense of urgency on your page and in your selling is good.
III) Advertising ideas for our newest member, Valerie.
A) 435 South Magazine. Uptown Boutique in Independence, MO. Halls does trunk sales, you may look into that. Market Boutique in Prairie Village.

Marketing books

Hey ladies, I was thinking that it would be great if we each posted a book that has helped us with our business. I'd love to get some reading ideas. Mine was "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie. What's yours?

Iphone and Droid Apps

I saw an app on a droid the other day called MyCoupons. For $20.00 per month, you can advertise within a 20 mile radius of your business. I am going to try it this month and see how it does. I am assuming iphone has something similar, but I haven't checked it out yet. Just another advertising idea for any of you who are looking for something different. It's likely to draw in a young to middle aged technology oriented crowd.

Next meeting!

I was looking through the notes, and we all forgot to bring our jump drives last meeting to get that good to great thing from Allison. Also, we could discuss SEO next time if anyone's interested.

April Meeting Minutes!

We had a great meeting in April! Can't wait to see everyone in May!

30 and Driven Meeting 4/15/2010

Members present: Allison Carenza, Karren Colbert, Valerie , Erin Parish

I) Questions, Information Randomly brought up in the meeting:
A) How did Allison get the review tab on her facebook page? Allison was not sure. However, Erin checked into this. If you search for applications you can find it. The application is called reviews. Just click add to my page, and add it to your business page. Simple! (=
B) A man named Seth Godin has a marketing blog that is really good. Everyone should check it out.
C) When writing your blog, you want to write it as if you’re trying to attract someone of the opposite sex. Make it interesting and short.
D) We should all do videos for utube and add social acceptance (testimonials) to our websites.
E) When bringing in an employee or other people to help you, it always helps to write a list of what qualities that ideal applicant should have. You should also write a list of the qualities of your ideal client so you can know what market you’re targeting.

II) Successes
A) Allison
1) Allison will have a gallery opening at first Fridays in August.
B) Valerie
1) The Hippie Chow Bag design is done, and it is cool!
C) Karren
1) Karren got a large group of people who regularly comment on her blog. It is making her experience much more enjoyable. Karren is getting a lot of traffic to her website.
2) 2 Kids signed up for Karren’s writing camp.
3) Jon is working on Karren’s logos.
D) Erin
1) Had a $3500.00 month. Is well on her way to bringing someone else into her office.

III) Head Trash-What things are holding us back or have held us back from being better business owners.
A) Allison
1) Allison always saw herself as a teacher and not as a photographer. She is transitioning to seeing herself as a photographer. She had a scarcity mentality when it came to teaching other photographers what she knows. She feels like she needs to make a certain amount of money, but she keeps telling herself happiness is more important than money.
B) Valerie
1) Had a misconception that you have to have a unique product and be super intelligent to be a business owner.
C) Karren
1) Karren has problems with ideas that keep coming. They never seem to stop, and one idea leads to another which creates difficulty focusing (we all agreed on having this problem). Karren has a fear of failure. She also fears rejection when it comes to selling her business. She has problems just walking into a place and asking for business.
D) Erin
1) Erin fears losing control of her business/business name. Erin doesn’t feel like she is an authority on her business, and she doesn’t feel like she would have anything to tell others if she were to speak about her business in front of them.

HEAD TRASH!!!

  It's those invisible barriers that tell us we aren't good enough to achieve our dreams.   Or worse that we don't deserve it.  I constantly catch myself with head trash in the form of excuses, doubts, or fear.  What's your head trash?  Post as many as you can think of in the comments below.