CCPA

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!

By Laura Sicola, PhD, Sicola Consulting Group

April 20-25, 2009 was “Entrepreneurship Week,” a series of free seminars, networking events and other opportunities organized by the Empowerment Group (EG) (www.empowerment-group.org) to support the needs of budding and established small businesses in Philadelphia. I was fortunate to have the flexibility in my schedule to attend three events: (1) Certifying as a Minority- or Woman-Owned Business; (2) Get Noticed: Creative Marketing Strategies; and (3) An Evening with Philadelphia’s Business Elite. For me, as a sole proprietor and relatively new Philadelphia business, there were a lot of lessons learned – some intended, some probably not – that I’d like to share with you here.

First – certifying as a minority- and/or woman-owned business. The general gist of the lunchtime presentation was that if your business falls under either or both of these categories, you will be given preference for government contracts in your industry – provided your skills competitively match their needs, etc. – because (to put it bluntly) the government is obligated to meet a minimal quota in the diversity of their contractors and subcontractors. Why not take advantage of such an opportunity? For more information, go to http://mbec.phila.gov/home/. That’s the “intended” take-away I learned.

For better or for worse, there were a few snafus the organizers encountered that made a stronger impression. Note: this is not intended as a complaint, but rather as observations and a helpful checklist of “don’ts” next time you need to hold an event of this sort. The problem was that the original venue was still under construction, and far from completion. I don’t know at what point they realized it would not be ready for use, but it wasn’t until I arrived that an EG representative standing on the corner saw my confusion and told me – and another confused attendee – about the relocation, handing me a bus token so I could head 10 blocks back in the direction from which I had come. The new venue must have been a last resort: it was a crowded Rittenhouse bar, and ill equipped to handle the event. We were packed so tightly in rows of chairs in our little corner to the point that I could not even take notes or reach under the chair when something fell, the din was so loud that the presenters were barely audible, the PowerPoint was projected onto a brown brick and cement cellar-like wall, making it partially illegible, and there were not have enough handouts so there was virtually no way to catch everything they were saying. At the end the speakers promised to send electronic copies of the PPT slides and handouts to anyone who sent an e-mail request. Sadly, what should have been a redeeming opportunity became a final disappointment to punctuate the event, as I e-mailed the two presenters (city officials) who had personally handed me business cards and invited my e-mail correspondence, but to date have neither responded nor alternatively provided the promised documents. I think you can gather your own lessons from this. Needless to say, it was a rather inauspicious start to Entrepreneurship Week. The good news is that thing got much better as the week – and even the day – went on!

That evening I attended a panel discussion entitled Creative Marketing Solutions panel at the Helium Club, with Sharon MacWilliams from Philadelphia’s City Paper, Adam Cohan from Brio Solutions, specializing in internet marketing, and Darrell Williams from NBC 10. For me, they really drove home the need to not only explicitly define my niche, but to even more explicitly define the niche customers I seek and establish a budget – no matter how big or small – to reach that specific market. Another important discussion topic pertained to measurement of the return on investment from any initiative, which can never be fully measured, but a variety of options were discussed, ranging from experimenting with a bunch of different “landing pages” for your website to see which gets the best result, to simply asking every person who calls, writes or visits you how they heard of you in the first place, and tally the results. The best part is that most of these ideas are free!

The panel also gave a very nice and succinct explanation of the difference between branding, marketing and advertising, three terms which many of us are familiar with but have a hard time clearly distinguishing. In a nutshell (in case you are wondering,) branding defines who you are, your image, and what you stand for, so consistency is a crucial factor in raising brand awareness! Marketing is how you get involved in the community you want to support, often through non-paying efforts, and advertising is simply how you try to reach your customers.

In the end, they all agreed on a few other key points. First, if you’re targeting the 20-30-year-old market, you must advertise on the Internet. Second, when possible speak to an account manager, ask for the medium’s marketing reports, and don’t let yourself get “pushed into” anything you are not comfortable doing, no matter what. Overall a very interesting and enlightening evening, and got my enthusiasm back up for future events.

Wednesday I went to “An evening with Philadelphia’s Business Elite” at World Café Live with Hal Real, owner of the World Café Live itself; Susan Ellman, co-owner of FruitFlowers; and Bill Decker, co-founder of The Hub. As a small business owner, I was encouraged by their stories of “building the plane in-flight,” and glad to hear that learn-as-you-go is a common path taken by just about all start-ups. There was a lot of valuable advice for larger companies with more employees as well. One example was reinforcing the need to create a strong system of operation since others will be executing the details when you are not around. Another was to remember to pay your employees first, no matter how much other “creative bill paying” you need to orchestrate to get through leaner times; the employee loyalty and trust is the motor that keeps your company wheels turning.

So there’s a rather lengthy description of the three Entrepreneurship Week events I attended, and lessons learned. Whether you are looking to get your business off the ground, or get a new boost to one that’s already established, I would recommend looking at the Empowerment Group’s website. They have a variety of resources and tons of contacts, so you will inevitably find something that suits your needs.

Good luck!

By Ursula Augustine, Ursula’s About Phace

There are some folk (in the world) fortunate enough to have their makeup applied by a professional everyday… but for the rest of us, it’s every wo[man] for herself!

Spring/Summer 2009 – It’s all about the lips: They are shaded in fresh tones & are well defined. Well d.e.f.i.n.e.d is not code for re-invent the wheel, there’s  nothing worse than seeing lips that are lined well past their natural lip line. Or maybe there is: the ones [over] lined with a dark pencil and light to clear lip color:  major pout faux-pas!

For that polished, professional pout use a lip pencil of:

• Nude /flesh tones for light shades of lip color.
• Similar to matching tones for bolder (deeper) shades of lip color.

Photo Credit: Rahn Ceriano Photography

By Brendon Shank

Every week or so, I get emails from CCPA about the events they put together. And every time I read them, I come up with the same reasons for why I can’t go.
But the reality is, I usually can go. Moreover, I should go. They rarely disappoint and many of the events have been a part of my business success over the last few years. And, just as importantly, I’ve made some great friends along the way.
So in the spirit of encouraging myself – and you – to come to CCPA events, I’m posting my five lame excuses I tell myself every time I hear event that I should go to:

“I’m too busy.”
I’m always busy. And taking two hours out of my day to attend a CCPA event usually doesn’t make me any more busy than I already was. Plus, CCPA and its members are often one of the reasons that I continue to be happily busy with client work, so going to CCPA events is a good way to keep the pipeline full and keep me busy in the months and years to come.

“I’m not interested.”
Okay, I’ll admit it. There are some topics I’m just not that into. Trends in disability insurance? Not so much. Drafting a better contract? Meh.
But here’s the thing: the topics I’m not interested in are precisely the topics I should know more about. Even if they don’t get me fired up, they probably have an impact on my business. And that does get me fired up.

“I already know all about it.”
This is the polar opposite of “I’m not interested” and it’s a bonehead excuse for two reasons. First, I never know all about a topic, so I’m bound to learn something. Second, the people who attend these events are – by definition – good client prospects for me, so it’s a prime networking opportunity.

“I already know everybody”
What’s more fun than going to a party where you know everybody already? Just because I know most of the people going to a CCPA event doesn’t mean I can’t deepen relationships, find out about new projects and catch up with friends.

“I won’t know anybody”
I pull this excuse out when I’m feeling shy. But I have yet to go to a CCPA event where I didn’t know one face in the crowd. And the more events I go to, the more people I know.
Plus, CCPA folks are a friendly people. I remember feeling welcome at my first CCPA events, so this excuse is potentially the lamest of all.

So, if you commit to not using these excuses (okay, just using them less), so will I.

by Marlene Talasnik, Simplified Living, LLC

For those of you who weren’t able to attend this Non-CCPA event, here is a front row seat to a panel discussion with four local experts who want to help demystify the financial and emotional aspects of divorce.

The Panel Members:
William H. Donahue, Jr., Esq., APM – Donahue founded Transitions Mediation Center in 1995 to address the growing need for mediation as an alternative to expensive and emotionally draining litigation.  Through Transitions, he mediates a wide range of family disputes, including divorce.  He specializes in the mediation of high conflict cases and cases involving children.
Pam Rosser Thistle – Thistle is a full-time Philadelphia Realtor dedicated to helping buyers and sellers achieve realistic goals.  She currently is currently working with many first-time homebuyers, set to receive their $8,000 tax credit.  She has been with Prudential Fox & Roach since October, 2007.
Mark Lenard – Lenard is a Home Loan Consultant at Countrywide Home Loans.  He has been in the Mortgage financing business for fifteen years, the last two at Countrywide Home Loans.  He works with homeowners and realtors.  His philosophy is to make the process easy and “transparent”… meaning one where there are no surprises at the settlement table.
Dana F. Goode, Psy.D – Dr. Goode is a graduate of the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University.  She is in private practice in Center City Philadelphia.  She specializes in working with families adjusting to divorce and helping parents develop co-parenting skills.  Dr. Goode has worked with divorcing parents and families for ten years.

Why Divorce Mediation
Did you know that almost half of all first marriages and more than half of all second marriages will end in divorce?
The American divorce litigation system ruins lives, bankrupts families and scars children for life.  Millions of people have put up with this antiquated system because of a belief that only divorce lawyers can protect your “rights”.
There is a cost-effective, civilized alternative for couples seeking divorce.  It represents either spouse.  It is called mediation.  With the use of a mediator, couples can understand their legal rights and responsibilities, and then work with them as they create a settlement that will meet their financial and emotional needs far into the future.
While the immediate goal is to get divorced, the long-term goal of mediation is to achieve what mediators call a “good divorce”.  To tell if a divorce is good, you need to look at all the family members several years after the divorce.  They should all be thriving, which means the parents have obtained financial and emotional stability and have developed new relationship, and children have reached their expected development stages.
Mediation is not just for spouses who are friendly or even on speaking terms.  On the contrary, angry, bitter and out for blood couples will benefit most from its use.  Without it, they will most likely tear each other apart in court and have thousands or even tens of thousand of dollars in legal, court and expert fees to show for it!  If it doesn’t work, couples can always litigate!
Mediation can be used at any point in the divorce process.  Donahue believes that earlier the better (i.e., when one decides they want to divorce and especially when one of the parties doesn’t want the divorce)!  But, he also sees the benefits thereof when the parties have been battling in court for months or even years.  By calling a truce during this period, mediators can open up a dialogue that encourages the parties to separate their immediate emotions and demands from real long term interests and needs.

Figures
Couples earning less than $100,000 per year are more likely to use mediation.
Cost/Time Involved in the Process: The average cost for mediation is $35,000.  (A traditional divorce usually costs three to four times as much.)  The average mediator makes $300/per hour.  But costs can run as high as $600/per hour.
The process usually consists of six one hour sessions…but they can run as high as ten one hour sessions.  Sessions do not have to run consecutively.

The Process
Once the parties have worked out their differences in mediation, they will take the agreement to their respective attorneys who will examine its terms.  If there are no contractual issues, the attorneys will present the agreement to the court who will issue a decree of divorce.

Mediator Qualifications
Mediators come from all walks of life!  In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the pre-requisite to receipt of an APM accreditation is completion of a forty hour divorce mediation course; a practicum under an established mediator and four – five years of work experience.

Other Considerations in the Divorce Process

• Marital property is usually the single most discussed topic in divorce.  Options traditionally have been one party buys the other out or the property is sold and the proceeds split amongst the parties.  The economy has made for some interesting alternatives.  Realtors are seeing more rentals in lieu of out right sales.  In this situation, appraisals are becoming the single most problematic area for divorcing couples.  Their conservativeness is at odds with the housing boom valuations.
• Mortgage guidelines have reverted back to the thirty year fixed conventional or FHA mortgage.  Interest rates are presently at 4.78% with no points.  The purpose of the loan is essential to its rate.  Another crucial factor is credit scores. Hurdles due to divorce are seen mostly in the area of alimony and child support.  There are no longer any side agreements; it must be part of the agreement of sale.   To qualify, the mortgage company requires the recipient must be receiving alimony (or child support) for a period of three years and the starting period begins after the first years has elapsed.  HUD has added an additional guideline designed to circumvent the one year requirement. Under its guidelines, there can be no escrowing of funds to meet the one year alimony and/or child support rule.

Psychological Reactions to Divorce

• Dependent Spouse: A dependent spouses’ focus is financial survival.
• Initiating Spouse: An initiating spouse suffers most from guilt, especially when children are involved.  The focus is what their interactions will look like post-divorce.

Children
Psychologists see lots of behavioral changes due to the separation/divorce.  It is the spouses’ job when working out custodial arrangements to put aside “fairness” and do what is best for the child!

by Joan Silverstein, Center City Concierge

Some benefits can make an impact in the lives of employers and employees alike…  In today’s economy, how do you offer a more creative and cost cutting benefit that will:

• Improve Productivity
• Enhance Workplace Satisfaction
• Boost Employee Commitment
• Reduce Absenteeism

A concierge service is one such benefit. You might not think about concierge services other that those offered in hotels however, corporate concierge services are becoming more commonplace since work/life balance affects everyone.

A corporate concierge can plan meetings, help employees during relocation, do web research, assist in cost effective employee appreciation programs, perform personal shopping, plan special events, and find a pet sitter, house cleaner or plumber

“10 percent of the workday can be spent on personal tasks. Add to that the absenteeism resulting from the need to attend to life’s necessities and you can see how these factors have a major impact on productivity and efficiency”— the American Institute of Stress

Ultimately, by offering concierge services to employees you’re acknowledging their commitment by providing them with a very valuable resource….TIME!

by Kimberly Neff, Perna-Frederick

Recently a New York Times article referred to 2009 as the “golden year of networking.” I would also like to call it, “The Year when Humans Got so Scared of the Shrinking Economy That They Starting Talking to Each Other.” Networking events have seen attendance grow exponentially this year, as people search not only for their next client project, or career, but for new experiences.

This updated form networking is fueled with optimism, the hope for just about any form of fulfillment that can occur from these chance encounters. Whether it be a new client, or a good laugh, the economic downturn of 2009 demands a new perspective. With many Americans out of work and the threat of layoffs permeating into almost every industry, people are exploring new ways to reach out. This is not a new concept – it’s actually just the reincarnation of a very old, very effective, and timeless tradition. Conversation. Two human beings exchanging thoughts – It’s the oldest communication channel out there and it works.

Savvy networkers understand that relationships can develop and change over time, offer different benefits, and that meeting people should never be just an exchange of business cards. We are not our business cards, our company brochures, or power point presentations – people want a more genuine connection than that of networking’s past.

Whether in person, or online, it’s imperative that anyone growing a business or advancing their career in the 21st century utilize effective networking as part of your overall marketing plan. Our words are our most genuine voice – and the best marketing tool you can afford. Without a presence, one that continues to evolve and serve market needs, you and your business will lack an identity in the public lexicon and will soon be forgotten.

Use all the features on LinkedIn, chat on Facebook, or even Twitter a bit with friends. Webster’s defines networking as a “supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest,” meaning your networking can revolve around your gardening hobby – not necessarily just your profession. Check out these innovative groups in Philly that are grabbing attention such as Bloblive, and The Entrepreneurs Forum, check out groups that align with your interests on Meetup.com , or look into the Alumni programs offered at your alma mater.

Photo credit: Ideablob

By Audrey Julienne, Raison d’Etre

What LinkedIn can do for you…
There are four ways, LinkedIn will add value to your professional life:

• Take control of your online identity – prior to you blog or company website, your LinkedIn profile is the first result on searches
• Find a dream job / client / business partner
• Maintain & foster relationships with colleagues (past, present & future), peers you meet at events, etc…
• Provide value to your professional network by recommending peers, answering their questions (LinkedIn Answers), giving introductions…

Developing a Business Headline or Tagline
To stand out from other vendors, you need a unique market position. It should send a message as to why the public should employ you & your services. It should be interesting and should include value statements that attract the person to you and your profile:

• Define your unique market position
• Define your target audience
• Define the goals for your LinkedIn page

The Importance of Adding a Photograph
Whether your target audience is restaurant owners, buyers, or managers, it’s important to add a photograph. Anonymous profiles do little or nothing to project a professional image or to instill confidence in the person who is viewing your profile. Remember that LinkedIn is a professional business networking site. Accordingly, leave the family, pet… photos offline or on other social networking sites.

Why and How to Enter Your Education and Employment Information

• Enter all work positions. The public enjoys those “janitor” to “owner” stories.
• Enter the complete company name. If the name of the company has changed, include the former companies name (formerly…)
• Be open and honest with the information you provide. Do not exaggerate the position or your duties.
• When preparing the description, describe your duties accurately. Even if the job is not relevant, the skills learned may be.

The Importance of Keywords
Whether it’s Google, Yahoo or LinkedIn, search engines love good keywords. Before you enter your description, define your keywords.

• Identify your keywords.
• Expand your keywords looking for synonyms
• Analyze your keywords

Testing the Effectiveness of Using Your Keywords
Before you complete your description, test your keywords by searching for people on LinkedIn.

Setting Up and Driving Traffic to Your Website
Do not use the LinkedIn tags like “My website” or “My blog”. Instead, use “Other” and write your own description. If you desire more traffic to your website, use less of a description and more of a call to action. Even if you don’t have a blog or three different websites, send prospects to three different landing pages.

Setting Up Your Summary and Other Interest Sections
The Summary section allows you to restate your background, skills, experience, areas of expertise… Again, it should be a description that is keyword laden and consistent with your profile.
The Other section is the only area where you should disclose personal information such as interests, hobbies. It allows a more personal connection and your viewers to get a better sense of who you are.

by Keith Scandone, 03 World

Also commonly referred to as a CMS, a Content Management System is a software application that is hooked into the back end of your website that allows you to make updates to your site without the need to know HTML, CSS or any web programming languages. It automatically turns content you update through an editor into HTML and posts it on the site, maintaining the site’s design. It also crops your images, and formats any updates you make, in addition to handling many other tasks that turn you into an instant designer. More or less…

A CMS is great for businesses because it allows you to make real time updates to your site, without incurring ongoing costs from a web designer or development team. So, now that it’s clear how super easy, friendly and useful it is, comes down to whether YOU need it. Whether or not you need a CMS comes down to the type of business you have, the scope of your website, and how much marketing you plan on doing through your website. If you are looking to have an E commerce site, yes you should have a CMS. If you are running a publication, magazine or newspaper online, yes you should have a CMS. If you are updating many areas of your site, such as menus, news, events, photos…than yes, you should have a CMS.  There are many other examples of where and why to have a CMS, but those are some general guidelines.

The next big thing is how do I choose a CMS provider. And the answer is….oh boy. For the sake of keeping this blog within blog guidelines, I’ll keep this really, really simple, because you basically have 3 options. Use off the shelf free software, like Wordpress, Drupal, Magento…although be prepared to deal with their one size fits all scenario. Option 2: Use those platforms, but hire a developer, or team of developers to customize it for your needs. Or Option 3: Hire a web development company that has their own CMS software that is customized for YOUR needs. Our company has our own software…and many others do as well. It comes down to how cool the interface and functionality is and what you want to pay….because this can vary….by 100’s of thousands of dollars. You’d be surprised how much CMS power a company can give you.

Ok, I’m already over my word limit, but hope that helps. For more regarding CMS options, feel free to reach out me at keith@o3world.com. Also, I am writing a 4 part series on Content Management Systems that started this week on our blog at www.o3world.com. Feel free to head there for a more in depth overview.