There are about six recognized stages to creating Customer loyalty.
These are: Suspect, prospect, first-time customer, repeat customer, client and advocate.
Today I am only talking about two: creating suspects and prospects.
Here is one major way to create suspects: Give them information, after all this is the information age. You can do this with Talkcasts or Podcasts, or Free Webinars, done properly they are all really the same thing.
This is how I use them to educate my suspects, fans, listeners, followers, whatever you want to call them. They are people just like you and they are important to me. Do they make me money? No not directly, but what they, you do is increase my credibility in my field and you, they who are not reading this, spread the information I provide by word of mouth, which, “hello” is hard to get but “FREE.”
So on my Techno Granny Show, I operate as a Talkcast similar to a Talk Show and I find someone who uses the technology that I want people to be more conversant with. My guest gets to advertise their business at the end of the show by giving out their contact information. Here are two people who have used helpful information to get the word out about their business—Techno Granny, me and also my guest for the day.
Now the second type of show or training is a webinar, which is also a community call. That’s what Monday Morning Marketeer is. I talk for fifteen minutes about inexpensive ways to market your business, I try to keep the tips either free to implement or under $100.00. Now when I advertise, “Big Business Marketing for Small Businesses.” Do you think people listen? Of course, by showing that I care about the little things that you can do to market your business all by yourself, I have increased my visibility and created a platform for selling marketing that costs a little more than a hundred dollars. I have given away marketing tips but I have gained two things: visibility and an on-line audio portfolio. If you want to know what I know or think about a particular topic, it is probably on my Monday Morning Marketeer, hosed at www.Talk Shoe.com.
By the way, did I mention that you can do this to, and to record, advertise and host your webinar or talkcast at www.talkshoe.com , it is free, but hurry because I fear that someday soon, it will become so popular that they might start to charge. I have increased my listeners to my shows to 1,000 per week in live and downloaded format because all of my shows are archived at www.talkshoe.com and you can listen to them—whenever, possibly forever, at least as long as the internet lasts.
Now let’s talk about blogs, let’s talk about you and me sharing information and getting reactions. How cool is this. Blog about what you know is of importance to your target audience, blog regularly and post your blog to sites like Technorati and Digg and other blogposting and hosting sites and guess what if you use E-Blogger, which is owned by Google, it really “Gets Your Google On!”
Post tips of the week, post other bloggers that blog on the same subject but please educate your suspects, prospects, friends, fans and followers with useful and entertaining information. Sometimes a little levity goes a long way.
One of my protégé’s on TalkShoe has a show called Gourmet Eater; his business is Smells Like French Fries. Gregg Matthis recycles restaurant cooking oil. His idea was to introduce Pittsburgh Restaurants to the public and he likes to eat. Each week he interviews one of his current customers or finds new restaurants to hi-light. Everyone wants extra exposure, especially on the internet where Talkcasts and podcast are hosted. Now which call as a busy restaurant owner would you rather get a call to be interviewed on the Gourmet Eater or a call to be prospected by Mr. Greg Matthis of Smells Like French Fries? And I know from his results that it is easier for him to get that appointment after he has interviewed them on his show.
Now let’s talk about You-Tube.
You-Tube
Remember that when you are attracting suspects, fans, friends and followers to drive ideas in this information highway world with a microwave mentality, to create “Buzz,” it must be simple, word of mouth friendly and supported by tools to facilitate customer conversation.
Well Talkcasts, Webinars, podcasts, blogs, they all do that easily and so does U-Tube.
This three-step success formula worked exceptionally well for Blendtec, a small, Utah-based maker of high-end home and commercial blenders.
The fledging company needed more business, so executives brainstormed: How do we earn more market awareness on a shoe-string budget? Their answer? Online videos with a simple, word-of-mouth friendly premise: CEO Tom Dickson, dressed in white lab coat and goggles, blending up a host of everyday objects (baseballs, a Tiki Torch, Transformers, an iPod, a video camera) in a light-hearted, don't-try-this-at home presentation schtick.
‘By Week 3, the company had dropped all other search engines from its budget.’
How did Blendtec facilitate online awareness and conversation? By posting the video on YouTube! Within a week, the Will It Blend? Videos became a YouTube hit. Uploads followed on such other sites as Revver.com and Digg.com. At the end of the first seven days, the Will It Blend? Video campaign had six million views. But that's not all. Other product makers, anxious to leverage the campaign's popularity, began paying Blendtec on average $5,000 to film promotions for their firms using the Will It Blend? format. Bottom line, the videos became a revenue producer in their own right. Awareness went way up, along with sales. Blendtec reported a 43 percent sales increase for 2006.
Listen to the archived version of Monday Morning Marketeer at:
http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960
Next week: Episode 39: 9 AM EST: EPISODE39 - How Important is Your Web Logo Style
Listen Live or listen Later.
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
Monday, May 5, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Episode 35: Tips to Enhance the Selling Power of Your Blog
Is your primary reason for using a blog to drive traffic to your website? Is that the real reason for writing a blog and taking the time to spew thoughts and ideas and tips in a word document and then transfer them to the internet. I almost said, put them down on paper? Boy, would I have dated myself. Except for a personal touch, pen and paper for journals and blogs are really passé in the day of people taking their lap tops on vacations with them just to upload their pictures and journal about their trip.
Well, writing a blog, it is still called that, to drive traffic to your website is a good start and a great reason to get motivated. But it’s sort of like having an ice cream sundae with just chocolate syrup when you could have jimmies and walnuts and marshmallow and m and m’s and Reese’s pieces. You have really limited your selling options.
Blogs as marketing media for your website is only the first stage of what business owners can do with a blog to promote their business and increase their selling power. The most powerful use of a blog is a revitalization of Dale Carnegie’s tactics in the much read book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
If you will take your proverbial heads out of the sand for a minute and think like Leonardo Da Vinci instead of an ostrich you will figure out that doing business on line is no longer about telling people about what you do. It’s about customers getting involved and sharing their experience about a product. People do not want to interact with customer service machines with multiple options at the front end or representatives who have no authority to do anything. Savvy customers now want to interact and become part of the decision making process. Debbie Ducic of Gutzy Women discovered the Dove Cream Oil website where internet users could devise their own commercial and other users could see which commercials were viewed the most. What an interactive marketing idea and great way to get customers to interact and find out what needs and benefits would motivate these internet users.
Your blog can do the same thing. If you thought I was going to tell you how to sell on your blog, you were wrong. You can include a friendly low pressure offer and you can also talk about your latest joint venture, but that should not be the theme of your blog.
Your blogs ultimate goal should be to share knowledge, get people comfortable with you, make friends, and better yet—create fans. In other words, increase your credibility. How many times have you told someone about a great restaurant, mechanic, and hair stylist? Do you actually think it’s any different in the internet world? Actually it works faster, because instead of telling one friend over lunch, a fan can send a link or an e-mail or copy of your blog to ten, thirty, one hundred at one time. It’s called viral marketing.
When you refer to that hotel or garage, restaurant or hair salon, you are making a referral because you have intimate knowledge of how the management or owner operates. It’s the same with your blog, that’s the kind of relationship you want to build with your readers.
Okay so maybe you are thinking, “I already do that with my newsletter, and now you want me to do it with my blog also.” Well, e-mail is a wonderful, inexpensive viral marketing to; nothing comes close to it except “SPAM” Just one wrong word in the title and you can be forever relegate to junk mail.
People are wary of scary e-mails about identity theft, self defense tactics in a parking lot, and how many have you gotten attributed to Kris Kristopherson or Art Rooney? Fake emails abound. With a blog, you are not asking for anything, you are not even asking them to react. Your readers can return on a regular basis to read what you have to say about things and never make a commitment, however once they trust you, they will not only give you’re their e-mail, they will give you their business.
So the first goal of your blog, should be to create trust and credibility and to “warm up your prospects.”
So the first thing that I want you to get out of your head is the idea of blogging to sell but realize that you are blogging to make friends and you will make them and friends will become loyal customers.
Okay, next tip, what do I blog about?
If you are like most bloggers, you will start out with writer’s block. Everyone does, but you will eventually wake up in the middle of the night with ideas or want to pull over in your car to write one down. I suggest carrying a digital tape recorder to record your ideas as you get them and then create an editorial calendar for your blog, just like the newspapers have. If you check out my show Positively Pittsburgh Live, another Talk Shoe hosted show; you will discover an editorial calendar for each month with subtopics. That’s what most successful bloggers and talkcasters and radio shows use. Learn from the giants. I did, wasn’t my idea, it was someone else’s. Please don’t plagiarize but you can learn from other bloggers formats.
Here are some tips to get through your initial confusion about what to write about:
1.Subscribe to other blog feeds about your industry or your target market.
For instance I subscribe to tons of marketing and selling letters for this talk cast. Excellent marketers learn from everyone.
I also have Google alerts set up for this show and for Techno Granny Show which is on at 7 AM before this one. For Positively Pittsburgh Live, I have other positive Pittsburghers sending me their press releases. Result is I know what I am going to blog about or talk about on my shows for months in advance.
2. Read trade magazines in your field. If you are selling a legal product then you should be reading Legal Journals. If you sell pharmaceuticals, then you should be checking out anything that has to do with the medical field. If you sell baby products then please read anything with credibility that you can find on raising babies, the safety of babies, the care and feeding of babies.
3. Keep a notebook or file on your computer. Notebooks get lost for me until sometimes years later so I keep a file on my computer, one entitled future shows, and another entitled future blogs.
4. Milk your content. How many of you are bible readers. When you read a chapter or verse in the bible, it almost always has another chapter or verse you can read. It’s okay in your blog to refer people to content on your website, or a former blog or an archived podcast or talkcast.
5. Product reviews, you could review a product to help people make choices or how about adding testimonials that others have given you about your product. Please be honest. If I am reviewing products on my Techno Granny show, I try to set up a comparative analysis ahead of time.
6. Involve your visitors. When they e-mail you a question or comment, ask their permission to post it on your blog. Then do two things: Share it with your readers and save the return e-mail with their permission to post.
So two tips:
Use your blog to make friends, and use it to create credibility which means knowing about and having a passion for what you are writing about.
I have a friend who I recently referred to Talkshoe—Greg Matthis who has a business called Smells Like French Fries. In his search to do something to increase his credibility, market his business and make friends, he hit upon a format for interviewing Pittsburgh Area Restaurants. This flows naturally as they are his clients in a business where he recycles kitchen fry oil. Also it’s something he is passionate about, eating, and so he has a Talk Show which features Pittsburgh Area restaurants and his blog features a recipe each week from that restaurant owner. How many friends do you think he’s making and guess what? He doesn’t have to worry about content for his blog.
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
Well, writing a blog, it is still called that, to drive traffic to your website is a good start and a great reason to get motivated. But it’s sort of like having an ice cream sundae with just chocolate syrup when you could have jimmies and walnuts and marshmallow and m and m’s and Reese’s pieces. You have really limited your selling options.
Blogs as marketing media for your website is only the first stage of what business owners can do with a blog to promote their business and increase their selling power. The most powerful use of a blog is a revitalization of Dale Carnegie’s tactics in the much read book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
If you will take your proverbial heads out of the sand for a minute and think like Leonardo Da Vinci instead of an ostrich you will figure out that doing business on line is no longer about telling people about what you do. It’s about customers getting involved and sharing their experience about a product. People do not want to interact with customer service machines with multiple options at the front end or representatives who have no authority to do anything. Savvy customers now want to interact and become part of the decision making process. Debbie Ducic of Gutzy Women discovered the Dove Cream Oil website where internet users could devise their own commercial and other users could see which commercials were viewed the most. What an interactive marketing idea and great way to get customers to interact and find out what needs and benefits would motivate these internet users.
Your blog can do the same thing. If you thought I was going to tell you how to sell on your blog, you were wrong. You can include a friendly low pressure offer and you can also talk about your latest joint venture, but that should not be the theme of your blog.
Your blogs ultimate goal should be to share knowledge, get people comfortable with you, make friends, and better yet—create fans. In other words, increase your credibility. How many times have you told someone about a great restaurant, mechanic, and hair stylist? Do you actually think it’s any different in the internet world? Actually it works faster, because instead of telling one friend over lunch, a fan can send a link or an e-mail or copy of your blog to ten, thirty, one hundred at one time. It’s called viral marketing.
When you refer to that hotel or garage, restaurant or hair salon, you are making a referral because you have intimate knowledge of how the management or owner operates. It’s the same with your blog, that’s the kind of relationship you want to build with your readers.
Okay so maybe you are thinking, “I already do that with my newsletter, and now you want me to do it with my blog also.” Well, e-mail is a wonderful, inexpensive viral marketing to; nothing comes close to it except “SPAM” Just one wrong word in the title and you can be forever relegate to junk mail.
People are wary of scary e-mails about identity theft, self defense tactics in a parking lot, and how many have you gotten attributed to Kris Kristopherson or Art Rooney? Fake emails abound. With a blog, you are not asking for anything, you are not even asking them to react. Your readers can return on a regular basis to read what you have to say about things and never make a commitment, however once they trust you, they will not only give you’re their e-mail, they will give you their business.
So the first goal of your blog, should be to create trust and credibility and to “warm up your prospects.”
So the first thing that I want you to get out of your head is the idea of blogging to sell but realize that you are blogging to make friends and you will make them and friends will become loyal customers.
Okay, next tip, what do I blog about?
If you are like most bloggers, you will start out with writer’s block. Everyone does, but you will eventually wake up in the middle of the night with ideas or want to pull over in your car to write one down. I suggest carrying a digital tape recorder to record your ideas as you get them and then create an editorial calendar for your blog, just like the newspapers have. If you check out my show Positively Pittsburgh Live, another Talk Shoe hosted show; you will discover an editorial calendar for each month with subtopics. That’s what most successful bloggers and talkcasters and radio shows use. Learn from the giants. I did, wasn’t my idea, it was someone else’s. Please don’t plagiarize but you can learn from other bloggers formats.
Here are some tips to get through your initial confusion about what to write about:
1.Subscribe to other blog feeds about your industry or your target market.
For instance I subscribe to tons of marketing and selling letters for this talk cast. Excellent marketers learn from everyone.
I also have Google alerts set up for this show and for Techno Granny Show which is on at 7 AM before this one. For Positively Pittsburgh Live, I have other positive Pittsburghers sending me their press releases. Result is I know what I am going to blog about or talk about on my shows for months in advance.
2. Read trade magazines in your field. If you are selling a legal product then you should be reading Legal Journals. If you sell pharmaceuticals, then you should be checking out anything that has to do with the medical field. If you sell baby products then please read anything with credibility that you can find on raising babies, the safety of babies, the care and feeding of babies.
3. Keep a notebook or file on your computer. Notebooks get lost for me until sometimes years later so I keep a file on my computer, one entitled future shows, and another entitled future blogs.
4. Milk your content. How many of you are bible readers. When you read a chapter or verse in the bible, it almost always has another chapter or verse you can read. It’s okay in your blog to refer people to content on your website, or a former blog or an archived podcast or talkcast.
5. Product reviews, you could review a product to help people make choices or how about adding testimonials that others have given you about your product. Please be honest. If I am reviewing products on my Techno Granny show, I try to set up a comparative analysis ahead of time.
6. Involve your visitors. When they e-mail you a question or comment, ask their permission to post it on your blog. Then do two things: Share it with your readers and save the return e-mail with their permission to post.
So two tips:
Use your blog to make friends, and use it to create credibility which means knowing about and having a passion for what you are writing about.
I have a friend who I recently referred to Talkshoe—Greg Matthis who has a business called Smells Like French Fries. In his search to do something to increase his credibility, market his business and make friends, he hit upon a format for interviewing Pittsburgh Area Restaurants. This flows naturally as they are his clients in a business where he recycles kitchen fry oil. Also it’s something he is passionate about, eating, and so he has a Talk Show which features Pittsburgh Area restaurants and his blog features a recipe each week from that restaurant owner. How many friends do you think he’s making and guess what? He doesn’t have to worry about content for his blog.
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Monday Morning Marketeer 412-628-5048
Listen at: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/33960
Blog: www.marketingmondaymorning.blogspot.com
Friday, April 11, 2008
Conference for Entrepreneurship for Girls 12 to 18
Girls Going Places Conference, April 23, 2008
The second annual Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Conference will be held on April 24, 2008 from 8:30 – 2:30 p.m. at Chatham University. Girls Going Places is an exciting and interactive day of learning for young women ages 12 – 18. The conference will partner 120 female students with local women executives and entrepreneurs for activities and discussions that introduce students to the concepts of financial independence, entrepreneurship, and business ownership. This event offers girls an experience that will stimulate their interest in pursuing enterprising careers and developing financial acumen. There is no charge for girls to attend, but the school must approve and submit registrations, which can be done on-line at www.girlsgoingplaces.com/Pittsburgh. The conference is sponsored by Hurley Associates, Guardian, the Pittsburgh Chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), the Chatham University Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship, and Communities In Schools. Any questions can be directed to Kristine or Nicole at Communities In Schools at 412.471.7911 or via e-mail at kweaver@cispac.org.
April 2008
Press Release
Pittsburgh,
Hurley Associates, a local agency of The Guardian Life Insurance Company (Guardian) is proud to extend this invitation to six of your students to participate in our second annual Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Conference for girls ages 12-18. The conference is sponsored by Hurley Associates, Guardian, the Pittsburgh Chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), the Chatham University Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship, and Communities In Schools.
This program will be held Thursday, April 24, 2008 from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm at Chatham University. We would be delighted if your students could join us for this unique and inspiring day. Attached please find a conference program and agenda.
The conference will partner 120 female students with local women executives and entrepreneurs for activities and discussions that introduce students to the concepts of financial independence, entrepreneurship, and business ownership. This event offers girls an experience that will stimulate their interest in pursuing enterprising careers and developing financial acumen. In our changing economy, financial independence and security are on the minds of young people who have watched as their parents are “down-sized” and friends worry about finding a job.
Teens need to understand the opportunities to “make a job” as well as those to “take a job”. The overriding objective of the conference, therefore, is to promote and communicate the advantages of business ownership, entrepreneurship, and financial independence.
In the past, we have found that the best conferences involve a diverse audience of girls; hence the program is not limited to high academic achievers. If your school participated last year, we hope that you will send different girls than those who attended in 2007.
Please note the following conference details in selecting students to attend:
§ There is no charge for the conference.
§ Breakfast and lunch will be provided, but the schools/attendees must arrange transportation to and from Chatham University.
§ You may register on-line at www.girlsgoingplaces.com/Pittsburgh (click “Registration” along the top of the page) or you can go on-line and print off the Registration Form, Permission Slip and Photo Release Form that should be sent home to parents for approval and signature. Please be sure to get the required signatures and submit to our attention. Also, please keep copies on file!
§ Please be sure to select only students that can attend the conference in its entirety, from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. STUDENTS MUST ARRIVE ON TIME and NO EARLY DISMISSAL IS PERMITTED.
§ Space is limited! We can only accommodate 120 female students, so let us know as soon as possible if you are interested in having your students participate by completing and returning the attached Registration Form and Permission Slip & Photo Release via fax to 412-471-7882 as soon as possible to reserve seats. There are still a few spots availabe for interested parents or counselors, you can contact Nicole Molinaro at Communities in Schools: 412-471-7911
In addition to this conference, Guardian sponsors the Girls Going Places® Entrepreneurship Award Program for girls 12 to 18. How does Girls Going Places® work? It’s simple. A girl is nominated by an adult who must submit an essay of 750 to 1000 words, endorsing the candidate and touting her accomplishments as a young female entrepreneur. Prizes are awarded as follows: first place $10,000, second place $5,000, third place $3,000 and 12 finalist prizes of $1,000 each. There is no cost to participate. Recipients are awarded prizes to pursue further education and to support their entrepreneurial projects. Additional information is available at: www.girlsgoingplaces.com
Hurley Associates supports this award program because of their commitment to promoting to girls and women in our community the values of entrepreneurship and financial independence. We encourage you to share this information with colleagues and students.
We are looking forward to the participation of your students in a great Girls Going Places® Entrepreneurship Conference and working with you in making a difference for the next generation.
If you have any questions about the conference or award program, please contact me by phone at 412-471-7911 or nmolinaro@cispac.org. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Nicole Molinaro
Nicole Molinaro
Executive Director, Communities In Schools
Girls Going Places ~ Girls Committee Chair
SCHEDULE FOR CONFERENCE
8:30 a.m. Registration
9:00 a.m. Opening and Welcome
9:15 a.m. Hot Company® Board Game
—Participation in a board game that introduces the girls to the vocabulary, history, and creative problem solving of business ownership.
10:15 a.m. What is Economic Power for Teen Women?
—Short opening discussion on what economic power means and how to obtain it.
10:30 a.m. Women Who Dare® Video: Exploring the Entrepreneurial Adventure
—17-minute video highlighting three young women entrepreneurs and their successes and challenges in establishing and running businesses.
10:45 a.m. Interviews with Women in Business
12:30 p.m. Product in a Box®
—Interactive, group activity requiring the girls to create or invent a new product and business.
1:30 p.m. Budget Savvy®
—An activity that connects career and lifestyle choices. Girls connect their dreams with reality through a financial budgeting exercise.
2:10 p.m. Girls Going Places® Entrepreneurship Award Program
—Short video highlighting past conferences and winners of the Girls Going Places® Award Program.
2:30 p.m. End
Economic Empowerment
Economic empowerment is critical to addressing the needs of today’s young people, particularly girls. Research shows that women have made tremendous progress toward gaining economic equality during the last several decades. Nonetheless, according to published reports, US women earn less, are less likely to own a business, and are more likely to live in poverty than are men. Consider the facts:
§ In the US, women working full time earn 76 cent for every dollar men earned in 2000 (Institute of Women’s Policy Research)
§ In 2002, the median income of full-time, year round U.S. workers was $39,429 for men and $30,203 for women. Source: U.S. Census Bureau – Income in the United States: 2002 (www.census.gov)
§ Older women are more likely to face poverty than older men. Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research (www.iwpr.org)
§ U.S. women represent 51% of the population, but comprise less than:
§ 1.2% of Fortune 500 CEOs. Source: Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers (www.catalystwomen.org)
§ 2.7% of the highest paid officers at Fortune 500 companies. Source: Catalyst
§ 15% of the members of Congress (Source Women’s Research and Education Institute. (http://www.wrei.org/pubs/WC_108.pdf)
§ Of the 15 million people age 15 or older who were full-time workers in 2001, 4.4% of women reported earnings less than $10,000 as compared with 2.8 percent of men. At the opposite end of the economic spectrum, 5.5 percent of women as compared with 15.8 percent of men reported earnings of $75,000 or more. Source: U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov)
§ Women have made progress in entering occupations predominantly held by men; however as of March 2001 the majority of women in the workplace were still in traditional “female” occupations, i.e., 79% of administrative support workers were female. Source: U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov)
§ During retirement, women’s median annual Social Security benefits reach only 70 percent of men’s benefits. Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research (www.iwpr.org)
§ Women are much less likely than men to receive pension income in retirement, but for those who do, their annual benefits are only half the amount received by men. Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research
The second annual Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Conference will be held on April 24, 2008 from 8:30 – 2:30 p.m. at Chatham University. Girls Going Places is an exciting and interactive day of learning for young women ages 12 – 18. The conference will partner 120 female students with local women executives and entrepreneurs for activities and discussions that introduce students to the concepts of financial independence, entrepreneurship, and business ownership. This event offers girls an experience that will stimulate their interest in pursuing enterprising careers and developing financial acumen. There is no charge for girls to attend, but the school must approve and submit registrations, which can be done on-line at www.girlsgoingplaces.com/Pittsburgh. The conference is sponsored by Hurley Associates, Guardian, the Pittsburgh Chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), the Chatham University Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship, and Communities In Schools. Any questions can be directed to Kristine or Nicole at Communities In Schools at 412.471.7911 or via e-mail at kweaver@cispac.org.
April 2008
Press Release
Pittsburgh,
Hurley Associates, a local agency of The Guardian Life Insurance Company (Guardian) is proud to extend this invitation to six of your students to participate in our second annual Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Conference for girls ages 12-18. The conference is sponsored by Hurley Associates, Guardian, the Pittsburgh Chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), the Chatham University Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship, and Communities In Schools.
This program will be held Thursday, April 24, 2008 from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm at Chatham University. We would be delighted if your students could join us for this unique and inspiring day. Attached please find a conference program and agenda.
The conference will partner 120 female students with local women executives and entrepreneurs for activities and discussions that introduce students to the concepts of financial independence, entrepreneurship, and business ownership. This event offers girls an experience that will stimulate their interest in pursuing enterprising careers and developing financial acumen. In our changing economy, financial independence and security are on the minds of young people who have watched as their parents are “down-sized” and friends worry about finding a job.
Teens need to understand the opportunities to “make a job” as well as those to “take a job”. The overriding objective of the conference, therefore, is to promote and communicate the advantages of business ownership, entrepreneurship, and financial independence.
In the past, we have found that the best conferences involve a diverse audience of girls; hence the program is not limited to high academic achievers. If your school participated last year, we hope that you will send different girls than those who attended in 2007.
Please note the following conference details in selecting students to attend:
§ There is no charge for the conference.
§ Breakfast and lunch will be provided, but the schools/attendees must arrange transportation to and from Chatham University.
§ You may register on-line at www.girlsgoingplaces.com/Pittsburgh (click “Registration” along the top of the page) or you can go on-line and print off the Registration Form, Permission Slip and Photo Release Form that should be sent home to parents for approval and signature. Please be sure to get the required signatures and submit to our attention. Also, please keep copies on file!
§ Please be sure to select only students that can attend the conference in its entirety, from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. STUDENTS MUST ARRIVE ON TIME and NO EARLY DISMISSAL IS PERMITTED.
§ Space is limited! We can only accommodate 120 female students, so let us know as soon as possible if you are interested in having your students participate by completing and returning the attached Registration Form and Permission Slip & Photo Release via fax to 412-471-7882 as soon as possible to reserve seats. There are still a few spots availabe for interested parents or counselors, you can contact Nicole Molinaro at Communities in Schools: 412-471-7911
In addition to this conference, Guardian sponsors the Girls Going Places® Entrepreneurship Award Program for girls 12 to 18. How does Girls Going Places® work? It’s simple. A girl is nominated by an adult who must submit an essay of 750 to 1000 words, endorsing the candidate and touting her accomplishments as a young female entrepreneur. Prizes are awarded as follows: first place $10,000, second place $5,000, third place $3,000 and 12 finalist prizes of $1,000 each. There is no cost to participate. Recipients are awarded prizes to pursue further education and to support their entrepreneurial projects. Additional information is available at: www.girlsgoingplaces.com
Hurley Associates supports this award program because of their commitment to promoting to girls and women in our community the values of entrepreneurship and financial independence. We encourage you to share this information with colleagues and students.
We are looking forward to the participation of your students in a great Girls Going Places® Entrepreneurship Conference and working with you in making a difference for the next generation.
If you have any questions about the conference or award program, please contact me by phone at 412-471-7911 or nmolinaro@cispac.org. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Nicole Molinaro
Nicole Molinaro
Executive Director, Communities In Schools
Girls Going Places ~ Girls Committee Chair
SCHEDULE FOR CONFERENCE
8:30 a.m. Registration
9:00 a.m. Opening and Welcome
9:15 a.m. Hot Company® Board Game
—Participation in a board game that introduces the girls to the vocabulary, history, and creative problem solving of business ownership.
10:15 a.m. What is Economic Power for Teen Women?
—Short opening discussion on what economic power means and how to obtain it.
10:30 a.m. Women Who Dare® Video: Exploring the Entrepreneurial Adventure
—17-minute video highlighting three young women entrepreneurs and their successes and challenges in establishing and running businesses.
10:45 a.m. Interviews with Women in Business
12:30 p.m. Product in a Box®
—Interactive, group activity requiring the girls to create or invent a new product and business.
1:30 p.m. Budget Savvy®
—An activity that connects career and lifestyle choices. Girls connect their dreams with reality through a financial budgeting exercise.
2:10 p.m. Girls Going Places® Entrepreneurship Award Program
—Short video highlighting past conferences and winners of the Girls Going Places® Award Program.
2:30 p.m. End
Economic Empowerment
Economic empowerment is critical to addressing the needs of today’s young people, particularly girls. Research shows that women have made tremendous progress toward gaining economic equality during the last several decades. Nonetheless, according to published reports, US women earn less, are less likely to own a business, and are more likely to live in poverty than are men. Consider the facts:
§ In the US, women working full time earn 76 cent for every dollar men earned in 2000 (Institute of Women’s Policy Research)
§ In 2002, the median income of full-time, year round U.S. workers was $39,429 for men and $30,203 for women. Source: U.S. Census Bureau – Income in the United States: 2002 (www.census.gov)
§ Older women are more likely to face poverty than older men. Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research (www.iwpr.org)
§ U.S. women represent 51% of the population, but comprise less than:
§ 1.2% of Fortune 500 CEOs. Source: Catalyst Census of Women Corporate Officers (www.catalystwomen.org)
§ 2.7% of the highest paid officers at Fortune 500 companies. Source: Catalyst
§ 15% of the members of Congress (Source Women’s Research and Education Institute. (http://www.wrei.org/pubs/WC_108.pdf)
§ Of the 15 million people age 15 or older who were full-time workers in 2001, 4.4% of women reported earnings less than $10,000 as compared with 2.8 percent of men. At the opposite end of the economic spectrum, 5.5 percent of women as compared with 15.8 percent of men reported earnings of $75,000 or more. Source: U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov)
§ Women have made progress in entering occupations predominantly held by men; however as of March 2001 the majority of women in the workplace were still in traditional “female” occupations, i.e., 79% of administrative support workers were female. Source: U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov)
§ During retirement, women’s median annual Social Security benefits reach only 70 percent of men’s benefits. Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research (www.iwpr.org)
§ Women are much less likely than men to receive pension income in retirement, but for those who do, their annual benefits are only half the amount received by men. Source: Institute for Women’s Policy Research
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