Congratulations Opticians Unlimited

 

The Entrepreneur Circle is pleased to announce that Opticians Unlimited was voted 2009 Best Eyewear Store by The Hartford Advocate.

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Help Me Understand

 

 I thought the idea behind Linkedin was to make connections with folks you already know, and ask for introductions to people you don’t. 

In the past week I have received 5 LinkedIn requests from people I do not know.  This is not a problem; I view the request as an opportunity to meet someone new.  If I attended a business event, I would welcome a strangers request to introduce themselves.   When I receive such a request, I will communicate with that person via phone or email.  I prefer phone that way I can start to get to know the person behind the computer.  Half of the time I get a response, the other half I don’t.  This is what I need help understanding.  Why would a business person want to connect with someone they don’t know, and then not want to actually communicate with that person?  Have I missed something?  What is the point of having 500+ contacts if you don’t actually know any of them? 

If I don’t know you, I am not going to accept your connection request, I will not refer business to you, and I certainly will not introduce you to my other contacts.   

The computer and technology are excellent resources, they allow us to have the world at our fingertips, but it cannot replace human contact.   Or has it?  

Love to hear your perspective on this.

This Economy!!!!

I am so tired of everyone asking me how are you doing in this economy?  Cash is tight due to the economy blah, blah, blah, blah.  Yes it’s true the economy is different than it was a few years back, so what.  Do we stop doing business, to we use our precious time and energy talking about how bad it is?  Or do we figure out a better way?  I vote for a better way.

We let the media scare us that the housing market was dropping and now we are using the “economy” as an excuse to let business drop.  We learn History in school so we don’t repeat the mistakes of our forefathers.  Let’s learn from our own history.  What if the horse and buggy dealerships, decided to carry another line of transportation “The Car”? 

We are living breathing creatures, living on a planet that is constantly changing.  The world changes, we change, that means everything.  Even the stuff we get used to, and enjoy.  We got used to one economy, and knew how to work it, now we need to get used to living in a different economy, until of course that changes as well. 

The inspiration for today’s post came from an an email I received this afternoon from Ari Galper, subject line: Lessons from Pearl – my 96yr old grandmother – the ultimate business guru.  Pearl is a smart woman, see what she had to say. Read More

I would also like to hear what you have to say.

Keiserism of the Day

Networking isn’t an event, it is a way of doing business.

I have met some wonderful people at networking events, but the relationship developed after the fact while we met over coffee or lunch.  The event was the introduction.  Anytime you are talking with or meeting people you are networking. 

Article:  Networking Doesn’t Work

An excellent resource for Business Owners

As business owners, becoming known as an expert is a wonderful way to market yourself.  However, the challenge lies in finding the opportunity to get your story or name in front of the reporters writing the stories.  The truth of the matter is reporters also struggle to find the right person for their articles. 

Peter Shankman has brought chocolate and peanut butter together.  He has created “Help a Reporter Out”.  A  tool that allows reporters, bloggers, and authors to submit their requests (they are the chocolate).   We the peanut butter, can subscribe to “Help a Reporter Out” to get notified of these inquiries, and fill the gaps for these reporters.    Thank you Peter for your brilliant creation.

To subscribe

Please note by subscribing you will receive about 3 emails per day with a variety of inquiries.  You will also agree to use the service for the purpose it was meant to serve.  Peter outlines all this on his site.

Good luck, I look forward to reading about you in the papers (all good of course)

Great video on Marketing during a down economy

Received a link today to John Jantsch (Duct Tape Marketing) video on Building a Booming Business in a Busted Economy.  Thank you Tom Richardell for sharing.

Back in August Jeffrey Fox (Fox & Company) made a presentation to The Entrepreneur Circle “How to Prosper During Tough Economic Times”.  If you missed the presentation the video above provides some good insight as well.  If you attended, this video is a good refresher.

Free high-quality video site for your websites

Hello all Parker Elmore, sent me this link, and I wanted to share it with all of you.  From January’s issue of Entrepreneur magazine  Animoto.com They take your slides and create a 30 second video with music for free. Longer form videos cost $3. Feel free to use or discard at your discretion.

Web 2.0 for Marketing and Market Research

The Secrets of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World 

For marketers, Web 2.0 offers a remarkable new opportunity to engage consumers.

If only they knew how to do it.

That’s where this article aims to help. We interviewed more than 30 executives and managers in both large and small organizations that are at the forefront of experimenting with Web 2.0 tools. From those conversations and further research, we identified a set of emerging principles for marketing. Read More

By SALVATORE PARISE , PATRICIA J. GUINAN and BRUCE D. WEINBERG

Social Media for Small Business

Many of my you have asked how to use social media in your small businesses.

Here is a free guide written by John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing that got great reviews.

It is a great overview for both small business owners just starting out with social marketing and those who have begun their journey but are not quite sure how they measure up to the opportunities available.

Read the article and download the guide here:
Social Media for Small Business – Free Guide | Small Business Trends

The Entrepreneur Circle 2008 Award Recipients

Congratulations to our 2008 Award recipients

Voted in by their peers, these 3 Business Owners will be honored at our annual Holiday party December 16.

The Entrepreneur Circle Entrepreneurial Success Story:  
This award goes to The Entrepreneur Circle Member that has demonstrated the most entrepreneurial spirit.  
1.      Most creative idea
2.      Followed their business/plan
3.      Turned a concept into reality 

Attorney Diana L. Bartolotta began her practice as a solo practitioner in March of 2006, after leaving a large, corporate firm because she realized that she could be more effective at helping the little guy in a smaller practice.  This solo practice evolved into what is now B-Law LLC.

B-Law’s vision is to be the big law firm for the little guy.  Attorney Bartolotta recognized that traditional billing methods of law firms were resulting in clients not hiring attorneys for proper planning in advance, but rather waiting until something went wrong and hiring an attorney to resolve disputes.  B-Law’s client model is designed to encourage clients to hire attorneys for proper planning upfront, thereby saving money by eliminating expensive litigation down the road.

Attorney Bartolotta owes much of the success of the implementation of this vision to her participation in E-Circle, which has given her a network of passionate professionals who challenged her to expand her vision to meet the needs of her clients.  She wants to thank all of those friends and colleagues who supported her in her nontraditional vision of what a law firm could be and challenged her to grow into the successful business B-Law is today.

B-Law, LLC specializes in Real Estate, Estate Planning, and Small Business Law.

The Entrepreneur Circle Member of the Year:
This award goes to The Entrepreneur Circle Member that achieved/exceeded their business goals for 2008.
1.      Demonstrated business growth
2.      Accomplished set goals
3.      Innovative thinker
4.      Persistence/Drive

Chris Meacham is the owner of Now IT Works, a technology management company providing fixed monthly fees and response time guarantees to the healthcare, non-profit and e-commerce customers. With an advanced help desk ticketing system and customized managed service plans, Now IT Works will tailor plans to fit each customer’s needs. This includes budget planning, measurable reporting and planning for future growth. 

By focusing on proactive monitoring, scheduled maintenance, consistency in best practices and an excellent communication path, Now IT Works has been able to expand their services and their customer base in 2008. With this consistent growth, Chris increased business and revenue by 70%, along with doubling the technical team to 5 certified technicians. Also in 2008, Chris was an active member in the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, BCN Networking Group, The Entrepreneur Circle and was nominated for the “40 Under 40″ award through the Hartford Business Journal.

Chris and Now IT Works are looking forward to introducing new products and services to the healthcare, non-profit and e-commerce markets in 2009 as well as growing their technical and sales staff.

The Entrepreneur Circle Champion of the year:  
This award goes to The Entrepreneur Circle Member that went above and beyond the call of duty to help out others.  
1.      Accessibility to members in need of advice
2.      Mentoring
3.      Support

Christopher Swanson is President of BMA Marketing, a marketing and sales organization located in Wolcott, CT. BMA Marketing is an organization that provides small businesses with marketing and sales solutions including the design and daily operation of outbound lead generation and sales pipeline systems.

A big believer in leveraging the power of technology, Chris was able to cut the overhead of his company by 50%.  Chris took this knowledge and applied it to his product line, to create calculated and efficient campaigns.  Since becoming a member of The Entrepreneur Circle he has been a tremendous resource for the organization.  Educating members on utilizing technology to cut costs and create efficiencies.  Chris has been very generous with his time, sharing his knowledge, and helping out his fellow entrepreneur.

Before purchasing BMA in 2007, Chris spent 12 years with a CT engineering software firm, assisting the organization with their climb from a $3m small business into a $20m industry leader who was acquired by the world’s 2^nd largest engineering software developer.

Chris’ past successes include: Creating sales departments / Deploying enterprise level CRM systems / Managing marketing to over 500k+ clients and prospects / Developing automated messaging technology to allow small low-cost marketing and sales departments to deliver one-on-one custom communication to an audience of thousands on a daily basis.

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