5-2-19 Non-profits are also businesses

I attended a community potluck dinner at Whidbey Institute. In addition to an introduction by someone from Whidbey Institute, there were also presentations by the Organic Farm School, the Waldorf School and Aldermarsh, who are all members of the Maxwellton Valley Collaborative.

What I realized is that non-profit organizations still need to make money to keep going and provide their special services.

Whidbey Island is known for the number and quality of its non-profits, but it’s important to remember that, like for-profit business, they need to have money to continue to do what they do. A non-profit operates as a business, but with a primary goal of continuing to provide specific services instead of making a profit.

We are challenged to decide where we want to donate money to the non-profits that best respond to our values and interests (and a lot of us are donating time, as well).

On Whidbey Island, where there are so many wonderful non-profits doing so much good, that is a challenge.

4-25-19 Using key messages to market your business

Once you have gotten clear on what is special or unique about your business, it becomes easy to create some key messages that you can use in all of your promotion to identify what you are selling.  Remember, you are not just selling a particular product or service; you are selling customer service that accompanies the transaction.

A key message needs to be simple and easily understood.  The concept is that at every opportunity when you are interacting with customers, or potential customers, you reinforce your message.  Key messages not only appear in your promotions, they also are repeated by you, and any employees you may have, whenever you are talking about your business.

Have some fun with employees and/or with friends. Ask them to give you some ideas for key messages that do a good job describing your business (and marketing it).

4-18-19 Repeat of a great guest Blog from Mike Dalton of Dalton Realty

Hi Carolyn,

This Blog gives me a great business idea: "Rent-A-Kid". Rent-A-Kid would be like a central clearing house for the kid rental business, sort of like a UPS hub. This could be the next big thing!  I am sure that there are a lot of businesses here on Whidbey who's owners don't have kids to bring to work. Think about it, just one call and presto you have a cute kid gurgling in the corner of your office drawing softies like bears to honey.

Then there are the moms that would love to have a day off from wiping noses and changing diapers. Just register your kid and specify what days Baby Boo-Hoo is available.

In addition to these there are the ancillary businesses that could spin off from this, to wit: The busy business owner that wants to have a kid to attract business but is too busy to wipe noses and change diapers which give rise to the "Business Baby Sitter". Of course there has to be the "Baby Bus" which is a pick-up and delivery service for the tiny tykes. Then there is the Baby Brunch wagon. Someone has to feed all these tiny tummies and as a business owner I don't have time to mash carrots and peas, than you very much!

Naturally there is the mundane side to the industry. "Baby Air" would supply air fresheners and ozone units to keep your office smelling fresh and clean. The last thing you want to happen is for all of your customers to bail when baby dumps (pardon my language). Our local insurance companies would also benefit. As a business owner I now need a Baby rider" on my insurance policy.

Well Carolyn, I could go on but you get the idea. I just might register this idea on "GoFundMe".

4-11-19 Creativity often comes out of a collaborative process

I understand that many artists find their creative expression on their own.  They have a creative concept for a piece of artwork or music, and they execute the idea on their own.

However, it has been my experience that if you ask a single person to come up with a creative idea for a plan or a marketing concept, or simply a way to solve a problem, often there is a deer-in-the-headlights moment.

That’s why I love bringing people together and facilitating a discussion that will generate creative ideas and solutions to problems.  The most productive group number is 10; not sure why but this does seem to be the magic number where everyone feels comfortable about speaking up and sharing opinions and ideas.  Less than 10, and sometimes the discussion isn’t quite as lively; more than 10, and it becomes a bit more difficult to control.

I do want to stress the need to have a good facilitator for a group process.  It’s important that time is controlled, that the discussion stays focused and that everyone in the discussion feels comfortable speaking up.

It’s also interesting to me that some of the most creative ideas coming out of someone in a group have been preceded by the phrase, “I really don’t know much about this, but……”

To summarize: Bring people together in the group that have some kind of common interest (community, interests, knowledge, etc.); have an agenda that is followed as much as possible; create an atmosphere where everyone in the group feels comfortable speaking up; and make sure that no one individual dominates the conversation (I usually say something like, “I can see you feel strongly about this, now I’d like to hear what someone else has to say.”)

4-4-19 Texts, emails and other written communications can create lots of misunderstandings

Have you received an email with several misspellings or grammatical errors?

Have you had numerous text exchanges with someone and finally gave up and made a phone call to resolve something?

Have you received a group email that got sent around several times to several people, including you?

Do you find yourself sometimes struggling to get through a long email, only to reach the end and realize you’re still not sure what it was all about?

Have you sent an email or a text assuming the other person would understand your words and your tone, only to get a response back that didn’t really relate to your intentions?

I’m sure you can come up with several other items to put on this list. In our high speed communication age, we rapidly email and text and tweet several times a day….but are we really communicating?  There are some disagreements about how much human communication is non-verbal, but I think that we all can agree that lacking voice intonation, facial expression, body language and simply feeling another person’s energy, words alone will not necessarily convey thoughts accurately.

I have a bit of a silly streak in me (those who know me might say it is more than a bit). I learned a long time ago never to use my silliness in an email unless I was absolutely sure that the person knew me well enough to understand the communication (and I’m not sure it’s wise to send anyone a silly email). Of course, I can add an imogi, but……

Here are a few suggestions to avoid misunderstandings when emailing or texting:

• Keep it short and simple
• If at all possible, save your sincere, serious communications for in-person or by phone
• Read every email over before you press “Send”
• If you are sending out a longer email or something with important information, make sure you have someone else read it before you send it
• If you are feeling angry or frustrated with someone, DO NOT send them an email or text and let them know this; cool down first, and then make a phone call
• If you are sending an email to a group of people, use the bcc, even if everyone knows each other; it will seem more personal and it will be impossible for someone else to press the “Reply all” and send out swirling emails that can drive us crazy.

I know I sound very old-fashioned, but I like to reserve serious communication for when I’m talking directly to someone.