CCPA

CCPA recently mandated Linda Rink, from Rink Consulting, to conduct a member’s survey to understand better how its members see the association, what benefit they draw from it and what our areas of improvement are. Here are the results:

Snapshot of Respondents ( Total = 154)
(Note: these results reflect only the respondent sample, not total CCPA membership.)

64% are business or professional services.

• Retail and restaurants only 5%.

They are small businesses:

• 78% have less than 20 employees.
• 44% are sole proprietors.
• 55% have annual revenues of < $500,000.

Most are well established:  71% have been in business more than 10 years.

41% are women-owned; 17% are minority-owned.

Only half are located in Center City proper (east or west of Broad Street).

• 42% come from outside our area (e.g., suburbs and NJ)
• Our new areas of Old City, University City and South St./Queen Village were barely represented ( 1 or 2 respondents each)

Their customer base, however, is in Center City or Greater Philadelphia (62%).

Respondents belong to a wide range of other business and professional organizations.

• Out of 76 write-in responses, 19 (25%) mentioned GPCC.

CCPA Membership & Events
Most respondents heard of CCPA through another member or networking (60%).

• 10% learned of CCPA from its website.
• Less than 2% heard about CCPA through social networking.
  (Note: 85% of respondents use Linked-In; 70% use Facebook.)

“Networking” and “business development” are the most common reasons for joining, followed closely by “information about the city”.

However, over half of the respondents have not attended an event in the past 6 months.

• 25% attended 1 -2 events; another 21% attended 3 – 6 events.
• The single most common reason for not attending more events is schedule conflicts (53%), not inconvenient times or locations.

After work and midday are the most preferred times for events.

Of the suggested general event topics, marketing and sales tips were ranked highest, along with regional economic information

Write-in suggestions for topics included (in no particular order):

• Retirement plan benefits for small business
• Business incentive proposals
• Regional events/developments/politics
• Trends on different industries
• Revenue Management and Price Optimization
• Import/export, in-depth soc net series for biz, national economic forecast, national best practices, authors
• Contracting opportunities for small business and independent contractors in media / creative services
• Practical and affordable methods of energy conservation that increase productivity
• Collaborative presentations with regional groups; things pertaining to sustainability; regional networking opportunities
• Increasing Philadelphia as a business friendly city, Partnerships to increase city commerce
• City government
• Green business development, triple bottom line and sustainable business modeling
• Tax conditions and outlook
• Public relations
• Business taxes, support of business related issues
• Small Business working capital sources…sources when banks won’t provide business loan

Regarding event formats, speakers and panel discussions were rated highly, along with networking events with other organizations.

• Interestingly, the “Lunch with the City Leaders” series received top mentions for favorite event (write-ins); several mentioned “Speed Biz” and the Breakfast Club.

Other Services, Comments

• Only 18% of respondents receive health benefits through CCPA.
• About one-third were aware of the Blog.
• 41% were aware of the Ambassador program.
• 27% were aware of the recent membership contest, but lack of time (and perhaps of interest) was the cause of non-participation.
• 61% feel that CCPA has helped their business.

Selected write-ins about how CCPA has benefited them include (in no particular order):

• Networking and information about new activities in the Philadelphia market.
• Growing personal and business relationships
• Opportunity to meet many other business owners and colleagues; increase my resources.
• Given me strategic alliance and personal relationships.
• I know what the economic environment is like in the city.
• Save Money and time plus get my name out to people
• Invaluable opportunity to meet City Leaders, dine on great food, and meet energetic, vital peers in the business community. It has been terrific!
• Providing insurance benefits.
• I just feel that it is a good group of people and they have a good, honest network. While I have not gotten any new business, I have met some good people and attended some useful events.
• Helped me meet very interesting people, helped me find my voice in the city, helped me find new clients!
• The first three years were lonely because it was only me on staff.  Meeting other business owners then was important so I didn’t feel so alone.
• I can’t say that I have received additional business but I it has helped me with just keeping in touch with the city leaders and networking opportunities.
• I think it can help me get more “plugged in” to Phila, if I could attend more events.
• CCPA has brought greater awareness to my business in the Center City Community as well as the many City Leaders it has hosted at its “Lunch with City Leaders” events.
• It is great to meet other business owners in a neutral setting.
• Professional development, networking, speaking opportunities, visibility for me and my company
• Helped me grow my contacts and relationships with business and government
• As a social service business, helped me to be aware of issues and benefits affecting all small businesses.

But only 35% stated that they actually have received business from another CCPA member.

Nevertheless, 62% respondents are very likely to recommend CCPA to someone else.

Other selected comment / suggestions included (in no particular order):

• Partner more with other organizations.
• Keep the focus on being current.
• More focus on programs of interest to professional service providers (rather than retailers or restaurateurs).
• More issues-oriented panels (e.g., how to reduce cost of doing business in CC).

Last Tuesday, a few CCPA representatives: staff, board, committee and members gathered together in the office of vice-president David Carter to brainstorm on the association’s brand promise.

As everyone is working together to make CCPA a better resource to all its members, it seemed that the association definition got more and more diluted. Who is CCPA? What makes it different from other business association? What’s our “30-sec elevator speech”?

CCPA’s mission is clearly defined: “To foster communications, cooperation, education and services among the small businesses of Center City Philadelphia; and to maintain, promote and improve the commercial vitality of Center City Philadelphia.” But…

What is our Brand Promise?

Immediately, the consensus was that CCPA meets a need for smaller businesses that other business association don’t, because CCPA is about:

• Small business
• Making the right connections (accessible, approachable)
• Variety (members, functions, series…)
• Community (Greater Center City Philadelphia)
• Culture
• Networking to make your company grow
• Value (small investment)
• Involvement
• Intimacy

In summary: we promise small business owners and representative a community for growth; a place to know people instead of meet people; a place where small business is made easy.

If you want to make a cool keywords cloud like ours above, check out Wordle in CCPA’s toolbox!

Each week, CCPA will salute an article of interest found by one of the bloggers.  “Trending generations: The Pew Research Center” by Richard Becker – Copywrite, Ink.

Richard Becker is an accredited business communicator and president of Copywrite, Ink., a writing services and strategic communication firm with experience on more than 1,000 accounts.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project, an independent public opinion survey research project that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues, posted the results of its Generations Online in 2009. The comparative study evaluates data between 2005 and 2008.

In keeping pace with Harris Interactive’s poll in 2007 and the Universal McCann study in 2008, Internet users range from the very young to the young at heart. Right on. The Internet is for everybody. Read more.

by Keith Scandone, 03 World

I was recently forwarded a hysterical video from one of the members of my staff, that takes the “bargaining,” “negotiating” and “compromising” that occurs every day in our world of client requests, and puts them into real world scenarios. The video is funny…obviously….because it is so damn true. The people in the video seem ridiculous in their requests. But the problem is, these are just the kind of ridiculous requests we get every day, and are expected to accommodate on a regular basis. So, with knowing that you are often lowering company morale by saying yes to the client’s constant and sometimes unrealistic demands, at what point do you say, I’ve had enough?This is certainly no easy answer to this question, especially in a service oriented business, but I feel there is at least a path you can create that makes it a little easier. And it entails standing up for yourself. This may sound pretty easy, but in my experience, it is a rare, rare thing that companies stand up for themselves. Especially in economic times like these where clients like to dangle the unspoken threat, “you should accommodate my requests, because if you don’t someone else will…” Or at least it sounds that way when you wake up in the middle of the night and think about it.

Our way of standing up for ourselves has been to create a 51%/49% partnership with our clients, where they of course are the 51% (assuming they’re paying). This scenario, in theory, creates a relationship that is supposed to be balanced and rational,  and where we are expected to be mutually respectful of one another.  We look at them as partners, not clients, and they in turn look at us like partners, not vendors. This philosophy is definitely still in beta mode, and certainly not without flaws and setbacks. But, more often than not, you’ll find that most people (since clients are people too) respect you more if you stand up for your work, your staff and for yourself. And we do quite often stand up for ourselves, quite emphatically and passionately at times when necessary.

There is certainly no clear cut solution for dealing with this, but there is one thing I know for sure. Spoiling anyone or anything too much is a bad thing. Children…spouses….plants! Even Phillies lead-off man Jimmy Rollins got put in the 6th spot in the lineup and then benched for 4 days, and he’s a former MVP! So be like Charlie Manuel…and set expectations with your players/clients, and you too may just win a World Series…in a business sense.

Please support a good cause. www.SeeO3Run.com Read the rest of this entry »

Each week, CCPA will salute an article of interest found by one of the bloggers. This week, presented by Audrey Julienne from Raison d’Etre, “LinkedIn: 40 Million can’t be wrong” by Robert Clay – Marketing Wizdom.

Robert Clay has been growing businesses since age 19. He started his first business with no capital, reaching #3 in his field in the U.K. within 7 years. His second business reached #3 in Europe after 3 years. After selling both businesses to one of the largest company in Europe, he played a major part to taking his business unit to #1 in the world in its field, over 4 years.

“It seems that a lot of people join LinkedIn but really don’t know why. I’ve come accross many people who poke around the site every so often and accept occasional requests to link with other members and that’s about it. It’s clear that most people don’t really understand what LinkedIn is for; how to use it; what it’s good for; or how to leverage it.” Read more.

By Marlene Talasnik, Simplified Living, LLC

The Center City Proprietors Association (hereinafter known as “CCPA”) sponsored a wonderful presentation entitled “Create a Positive Lasting Impression” as part of its wellness-related brown bag series.
It was presented by Karen Kaufman, Co-Founding Principal of The Kaufman Partnership, Ltd. (hereinafter known as “The Kaufman Partnership”).

With her husband Don, The Kaufman Partnership has trained and coached thousands of managers and executives who are committed to increasing their organizational value by creating a more accurate impression of their ability to communicate and influence others.

As leaders in their field, they have identified and organized impression factors into the “Kaufman Impression Management System” (hereinafter known as the “System”)

The Box of Items

The presentation started with a box of items …some commonly used items (i.e., paper clips; scotch tape) and others unusual such as a slinky and an egg timer.  Karen’s instructions were “pick the one item that would assist in creating an impression of yourself and your business”.

As we went around the room, each participant crafted a very interesting impression of themselves and their businesses using the item they had chosen.  When it was my turn, I showed that I have a tendency to bend the rules a bit because I used three items to weave the story of Marlene Talasnik and Simplified Living, LLC.

Since Simplified Living, LLC was conceived to keep people on track by providing solutions to their monetary; legal; communicative; spatial; time management and infra-structure needs (i.e. paperwork and computer inboxes) , my props were a box of paper clips; an egg timer and a bottle of Purell.  This is why I picked these items and why they express Marlene Talasnik and Simplified Living, LLC:

• As a Personal Business Provider, paper clips are never far away.  They are a necessary item to have if you wish to de-clutter a cluttered area.
• An egg timer can express the finiteness of time with such visual clarity when time management is the issue at hand.
• And, what can I say about Purell…it is my savior…since most of my work environments would never pass a “white glove” inspection!

The exercise accomplished its goal …a playful way of learning who each of were and what they did.  Although some impressions were more favorable than others…everyone had an identity!

The System

Next each of us completed an assessment.  Then we briefly compared our assessments with partners of our choosing.  When we were finished, each of us clearly sensed the following information:

• You are always making an impression;
• Success is determined by the perception created in the mind of yourself and others;
• Impressions can be learned through goal-directed Impression Management activities;
• Impression Management is a pre-requisite for meaningful business relationships;
• By managing your impression, you manage your relationships; and
• When you alter your impression, you alter your relationships.

Personal Note

I want to thank Karen for one the best presentations that I have had the pleasure of attending in a long time.

Upcoming Events Sponsored by The Kaufman Partnership

The Kaufman Partnership is conducting a one day program called Impression Management for Leaders.  It is designed for individuals who have been identified as key organizational talent with the goal of supporting their success through combining their strong technical experience with an increased ability to relate well with their colleagues; staff and clients.

If you or someone you know would be interested in attending the program on July 22, 2009, call 215.592.9709 or register online at www.kpartners.com.

By Audrey Julienne, Raison d’Etre

The principal of networking

Networking is only as effective as the network you have, so you need to grow that set of contacts as much as possible. The larger your net, the more fish you can catch.

Your network stats

• Check out your network stats to get an idea how many people are in your network out of the overall LinkedIn population which is currently over 40 Million.
• If your network is less than 1M you have some work to do.

People You Already Know: Webmail Contacts

• LinkedIn’s Webmail Contacts Importer can automatically check 15+ webmail providers for potential connections.
• The webmail contacts importer works well. Look to the right of each contact name for a small LinkedIn logo icon, which signifies they are already registered members. Deselect the ones that don’t have this icon unless you want to send them a message asking them to join.

People You Should Know: Colleagues and Classmates

• On the bottom of the home page is a section devoted to people you may know from companies you used to work or schools you’ve attended. This is a great way to pick up 5-10 connections per week.
• You can also do a search on your past companies and school names

People You Should Meet: Open Networker

• An Open Networker is a person who uses professional networking sites not just to keep in touch with contacts they already know, but also to create new contacts, connections, and new business opportunities. Open Networkers therefore gravitate towards professional networking sites to take advantage of the speed and efficiency the internet has enabled them to make new business connections.
• Sounds fine and dandy right? Well, almost. According to LinkedIn’s user agreement, it is against terms of use to, “invite people with whom you have no prior relationship to join your network.” What that means in practice is up to you to decide.
• In practice, connecting with someone is equivalent to exchanging business cards, and sharing partial visibility to the names and titles of people in your rolodex. It doesn’t imply you trust them with your life, or you’ll turn around and write them a recommendation.
• There are hundreds of LinkedIn groups that have popped up to support the needs of LinkedIn Open Networkers (a.k.a. LIONs). Joining these groups gives you access to discussion boards where people post what type of people they’d like to connect with, specific business projects they might be working on, or questions for the Open Networker community.
• The third way to increase your connection count and grow your network is to join these LinkedIn Open Networker groups and find new connections. Once accepted to a group, you can start a new discussion thread introducing yourself and other members will send you invites to connect.

Nourish your network

Your LinkedIn network is a living and growing entity that needs to be nourish regularly.

Take a moment at the end of the day or once a week to run through the LinkedIn search box the new people you met along the way. 9 out of 10 times you’ll find them and you’ll both increase each other’s network.

By Ursula Augustine, Ursula’s About Phace

Have you have ever wondered how celebrities got their makeup to look so flawlessly natural?  Wonder no more – Airbrush Makeup! Once the closely guarded secret of professional makeup artist in Hollywood, it is quickly becoming the makeup application of choice for women who want that “real skin” finish.

The precision application offered by Airbrush makeup has two major benefits:

• Full Coverage, Sheer Texture: Airbrush finishes are opaque, yet thin in texture, giving you full coverage that is weightless.
• Refined Finish: Because the 6-8 tear drops of foundation are sprayed onto the skin, from the Airbrush Spray Gun, the application closely resembles the way a camera reads textures – in pixels. The finish: Seamless! None of the trace marks that brushes and sponges can leave behind. The result is perfect looking skin achieved with a minimum of product, that lasts for a minimum of 18 hours!

Airbrush makeover shown includes; Airshadow, and Airblush!

Model: Mrs. Wendy Rosen

By Phyllis Mufson, Catalyst for Personal & Professional Growth

 Are you creative?

Once upon a time, long ago and far away – when the Russians were launching Sputnik satellites into space, there was a giant Fortune 500 company headquartered in the United States. This firm was investing millions upon millions of dollars of research and development money into beating the Russians in the ‘Space Wars.’

They hired the best scientists and engineers and gave them the best equipment and absolutely anything they could think of to help the scientists to generate creative ideas and innovative products. And the results were – disappointing.

A few scientists were innovating, but the majority were not.

What to do?? Thus began some of the earliest research into creativity. Researchers were hired to survey what the scientists read, what they ate for breakfast, their relationships with their mothers – the list goes on and on and on – and they found – - – nothing. No correlation at all connecting the questions they were investigating and who was producing results.

Until the researchers asked the following question, “are you creative?”

It turned out that the scientists who answered “yes” were producing creative, innovative, groundbreaking work, and the scientists who answered “no” were not.

This was the breakthrough. With further investigation the researchers found out more. The scientists who considered themselves creative turned out to be better at tolerating ambiguity. This tolerance allowed them to keep going when the outcome was unclear, when the data didn’t make sense, and when they ran into information that seemed to be a paradox, to contradict itself. These traits allowed the creative scientists to persist until they finally reached success.

How about you? How might your life be different if you had faith in your creativity, in your ability to venture into the unknown and persist until you reached success?

What would you begin if you had that confidence?

Are you creative? Are you willing to consider the possibility that you are?

By Laura Sicola, PhD, Sicola Consulting Group

In the midst of Entrepreneurship Week here in Philadelphia, on April 23, 2009 the CCPA very generously held a half-day workshop entitled “Marketing for Tough Times: Strategies for Future Growth” at the Radisson Warwick Hotel. All three key presenters (CCPA members themselves) had valuable insights, suggestions and strategies to offer and I, for one, am very glad to have attended. Allow me to share a few highlights:

First off, Rick Simmons (President, Dinkum Interactive) addressed the increasingly hot topic of social media. Rick demystified a lot of the terms and purposes of social media marketing – e.g. blogs, Twitter, etc. – as it differs from other more traditional forms of communication, and very fairly offered suggestions for how to tailor a marketing plan to meet any budget, even a virtually non-existent one! A key point for me was the sobering realization that, as Rick said, online, the consumer is “in charge,” and the best we can aim for is to be visible. Then, once you’ve got their attention and they have clicked over to your website, you have a paltry two seconds to convince them to stay there and read more or click other links, otherwise they back out and try somewhere else that seems like it might be more immediately relevant to their needs. There’s a reason for SEO (search engine optimization) if I ever heard one!

Second, Steve Bauer (Co-founder, The Three Marketeers; Founder & Instructor, The Referral Academy) clarified the nature of referral relationships and how to position yourself to make the most of them, no matter what your role – buyer, seller or referrer. Ultimately, as Steve put it, referrers accelerate the process of finding the “fit” between the buyer and seller. After all, who wants to waste time and resources with lots of trial and error? Thus, it’s important to know enough about both parties to give a good referral that will fit the needs and values of both, thereby strengthening your own reputation and the three-way relationship. And of course, we all want to get referrals from others as well, so it was good to be reminded that we need to carefully consider the ideal referral profile, i.e. not only the market in general but the specific type of people in that market with whom we want to interact, e.g. an end user vs. company decision-maker. Then, the question becomes what you do with a referral once you have the contact information; having a clear system for follow-up builds credibility and trust for you as seller or referrer alike, and that’s where everything begins.

Finally, Bill Ringle (Founder, MyBusinessGym.com) offered a condensed workshop, Developing New Business: When the Economy won’t Co-operate. The overriding theme to Bill’s piece was “the universe rewards action,” which he professed and behaviorally reinforced throughout the session. Bill brought a variety of worksheets and handouts from his Business Gym, some of which we did there and then, and others that were for later independent use, ranging from Likert-style scale ranked concepts to open ended questions, with short term and long term analysis. In the end, all of the take-aways were very practical and thought-provoking. I left with lists of concrete issues to address and next steps to take, specifically relating to my own business.

Overall, this CCPA workshop not only gave me a clearer picture of where my business is, and in what ways I need to continue to clarify my vision, but it left a great impression regarding the caliber of professionals we have among us – as demonstrated by the quality of the presentations as well as the discussions among the participants! I look forward to the next CCPA opportunity of this sort, and whole-heartedly encourage everyone else to attend as well. Trust me – you’ll be glad you did!