BusinessAdvising.org hosted brand storyteller Deb Doyle for a free small business webinar on strategies and practices to define, find, and engage with your core customers. In this free webinar, Deb covered sales and marketing related to: Defining Your Core Customer Finding Your Core Customer Engaging Your Core Customer Deb Doyle, Brand Storyteller/Founder, Stage2 Marketing, shows clients how to find their voices, clarify their messages and create marketing materials that inspire customers to act. Her work has benefited clients such as Varian Medical Systems, Tastes on the Fly Restaurant Group, University of San Francisco, Solar City and numerous start-ups. Deb teaches advertising and social media at UC Berkeley Extension and San Francisco State University Extension. Prior to launching Stage2 Marketing, Deb was an account director at Publicis & Hal Riney where she introduced the first US camera phone and McCann Erickson where she led Stanford Hospital’s first brand campaign. She managed McDonald’s regional … Read More
What’s It Like To Volunteer On BusinessAdvising.org? Catching Up With Diana Mills of Union Bank
It’s no secret that volunteering as a business advisor on BusinessAdvising.org is a convenient way to make a big difference in an entrepreneur’s life. You can create your advisor profile online, you’re matched with a small business owner based on your expertise, you can volunteer in person or through email, phone, or Skype, and you’re only asked to commit 5 hours per month! But what is it really like to be a business advisor? We caught up with Diana Mills of Union Bank to find out. Diana is currently advising Kim Neush of Get Fresh (check out her company’s case study!). Through Diana’s help with strategic thinking and financial guidance, the outlook for Get Fresh has never been brighter. Read on to get Diana’s perspective on what it’s like to volunteer on BusinessAdvising.org. Who knows? It may be the perfect opportunity for you to give back too. — Business Advising … Read More
How Food Businesses Can Improve Their Margins
BusinessAdvising.org was joined by culinary business consultant Heather McCarthy for a webinar on strategies and practices to improve your food business’ profits and margins In this free webinar, Heather covered: Where does the money go? Understanding cost of goods sold (COGS) and other high-impact margin influencers. How do I know where to make changes? Setting benchmarks and evaluating options. When will I see results? Implementing change and tracking impact. Heather currently works as a culinary business consultant identifying areas of opportunity for young food businesses to improve their internal structures to create stability while supporting growth. Her experiences in corporate sales and culinary education have created a unique foundation for her consulting practice. Her specific background combines a key understanding of business benchmarks and how to utilize food as a medium through which to connect individuals in a business setting to improve company productivity and employee satisfaction. Heather is also an … Read More
#ThankYourMentor
Mentoring helps drive small business success, and we at BusinessAdvising.org are happy to be a part of your company’s growth. According to the Small Business Association, 70 percent of small businesses that receive mentoring survive to their ten-year mark — that’s more than double the rate for a non-mentored small businesses. But, the support provided by programs such as BusinessAdvising.org wouldn’t be here at all, were it not for the hundreds of advisors who volunteer their time each and every month. In the spirit of quality mentorship, and as a way to showcase your continued appreciation, we invite you to join us in the national #ThankYourMentor campaign taking place right now through LinkedIn. Consider contributing to LinkedIn’s “Thank Your Mentor” blog series. In this series, professionals and business owners like you thank those who helped them reach where they are today. If you’re interested, you can read the posts here, then write … Read More
Free Webinar On September 25 — Finding New Customers to Increase Sales
Join us on Friday, September 25 for a free small business webinar on strategies and practices to define, find, and engage with your core customers. BusinessAdvising.org will host brand storyteller Deb Doyle. In this free webinar, we’ll cover sales and marketing related to: Defining Your Core Customer Finding Your Core Customer Engaging Your Core Customer Click here to sign up. Friday, September 25, 2015 from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM (PDT) The presentation will be followed by a Q&A, where you can ask your questions and get advice. Deb Doyle, Brand Storyteller/Founder, Stage2 Marketing, shows clients how to find their voices, clarify their messages and create marketing materials that inspire customers to act. Her work has benefited clients such as Varian Medical Systems, Tastes on the Fly Restaurant Group, University of San Francisco, Solar City and numerous start-ups. Deb teaches advertising and social media at UC Berkeley Extension and San Francisco State University … Read More
You Can Empower A Small Business
We’re recruiting new business mentors and advisors to work with our network of small business owners. As a business advisor, you’ll have the opportunity to donate your time and talent to mentor small business owners and help create and retain jobs for people in low-income communities. In the last 5 years, BusinessAdvising.org advisors have helped almost 1,000 companies create more than 1,200 jobs and maintain another 13,000. Advisors are needed with skills in: Accounting/Budgeting Finance Investment Preparation Leadership Marketing Manufacturing Operations Project Management Procurement Sales Advisors are needed with the industry experience in: Banking Financial Services Human Resources Consumer Products Law/Legal Services Packaged Foods Restaurant Retail Social Media Venture Capital/Investment With our national network of small business owners you’ll be able to meet in person and/or virtually (over the phone, or on Skype, Facetime, etc) with your advising match. Advisors are asked to spend, on average, 5 hours per month volunteering. If you … Read More
4 Pillars of a Successful Small Business Brand
BusinessAdvising.org hosted brand manager and advisor Christina Barea for a free webinar on strategies and practices to establish your company’s brand identity and use your brand to support your growth. Launching and growing a small business and brand is a formidable task. With an infinite amount of details to be addressed — and all of them seemingly equally important — it’s easy to get lost in the details and distracted from the core definition and values of your new business. Fortunately, with a little time spent on preparing a clearly defined reference point, it’s possible to build a brand that can stand the test of time. You’ll learn four essential keys to developing, launching and sustaining a successful brand. This free webinar covered Vision/Mission Statements – Where are you going and how are you getting there? Brand Definition – Identify your brands’ personality Marketing Plan – Get your thoughts on paper!! Consistency – Set … Read More
Free Webinar On August 28 — How Food Businesses Can Improve Their Margins
Join us on Friday, August 28 for a free webinar on strategies and practices to improve your food business’ profits and margins. BusinessAdvising.org will host culinary business consultant Heather McCarthy. In this free webinar, we’ll cover: Where does the money go? Understanding cost of goods sold (COGS) and other high-impact margin influencers. How do I know where to make changes? Setting benchmarks and evaluating options. When will I see results? Implementing change and tracking impact. Click here to sign up. Friday, August 28, 2015 from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM (PDT) The presentation will be followed by a Q&A, where you can ask your questions and get advice. Heather currently works as a culinary business consultant identifying areas of opportunity for young food businesses to improve their internal structures to create stability while supporting growth. Her experiences in corporate sales and culinary education have created a unique foundation for her consulting practice. Her … Read More
Free Webinar On July 24 — 4 Pillars of a Successful Brand
Join us on Friday, July 24 for a free webinar on strategies and practices to establish your company’s brand identity and use your brand to support your growth. BusinessAdvising.org will host high-profile brand manager and advisor Christina Barea. Launching and growing a small business and brand is a formidable task. With an infinite amount of details to be addressed — and all of them seemingly equally important — it’s easy to get lost in the details and distracted from the core definition and values of your new business. Fortunately, with a little time spent on preparing a clearly defined reference point, it’s possible to build a brand that can stand the test of time. You’ll learn four essential keys to developing, launching and sustaining a successful brand. In this free webinar, we’ll cover: Vision/Mission Statements – Where are you going and how are you getting there? Brand Definition – Identify your brands’ personality Marketing … Read More
Mentoring and Advising: Crucial To Small Business Success
Seventeen years ago, we saw venture capital firms doing something to drive startups to greater success: pairing an entrepreneur not just with working capital, but an expert business advisor as well. Our founder Bud Colligan connected the dots: small businesses are the engine of job creation in America, but more of them fail then they should. His innovation in founding our organization was to bring the tools that empowered tech companies to brick-and-mortar businesses around the country. That lesson is more true today than it was even twenty years ago. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, half of all non-mentored small businesses fail within their first five years. And even then, only 30% of them make it to the ten-year mark. But for small business owners with an advisor or mentor, the difference is striking: 70% of those small businesses that work with an advisor survive: double the rate … Read More