By Heather Gurewitz
Mendocino Women's Business Center Director
Do you tell all your clients and customers how much you drank last weekend? or about your bad break up with a significant other? or about your favorite passage in the bible? If you are using Facebook to promote your business, you need to present a professional image. Depending on your business, personal, religious, or political views MAY not be appropriate. For example, if you are a Christian book store, quoting bible phrases and talking about your spiritual preferences would be a great way to promote your business. But, if you are a local eatery, a mechanic, or another business that serves customers from all religious points of view, you may be alienating some of your clientele. If they delete your posts or have you as a "do not show" you can no longer market to them through Facebook. This goes for political beliefs as well or anything else considered controversial.
Personally, I have two Facebook pages, one for my personal life and one as the Mendocino WBC Director. If you have two separate emails, you can do the same. I keep my personal stuff personal, and my business profile professional. Occasionally on my WBC Facebook Page I see someone write something that I want to comment on, and every time I have to ask myself: "Is it appropriate?" I use the same guidelines to answer this question as I do for what kind of topics I will discuss with people I meet at chamber mixers or an event where I am attending in my professional capacity. Additionally, if I find that some of my professional contacts are writing things that I feel are inappropriate for my professional Facebook page, I mark them as "do not show."
If you are having trouble keeping your business Facebook separate from your personal Facebook account and need help determining your criteria, you should consider giving West Company a call. We can help you take a holistic look at your marketing and decide whether Facebook is an asset or a liability for your business.
Learn more about marketing your business with free web tools at our Zero Budget Marketing Class in Fort Bragg on October 19th from 5:30-8:30pm. Geared toward the service-based business, we will cover blogs, facebook, video and more!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Puttin' on the Green
By Heather Gurewitz
Mendocino Women's Business Center Director
Sustainable business is definitely on my list of personal interests. And by sustainable, I mean businesses that meet the triple bottom line. For those who don't have "sustainability" ingrained into their consciousness, the triple bottom line refers to a society, community, business, or even person, that focuses on balancing financial stability without sacrificing the health of the environment nor social responsibility. Sustainability is something that we as individuals can work towards one day at a time through the lifestyle choices that me make. As businesses, we can work toward sustainability in the suppliers we chose and the practices we use. Sustainability is also something that we can work towards as cities, counties, states, and nations through the policies and laws that we create and enforce.
As an organization, West Company supports all businesses, and focuses on how small and independently owned businesses can be financially sustainable. Consequently supporting social sustainability by creating a strong community with self-sufficiency and wealth. It's up to our clients whether they feel that they wish to pursue the "green" side of the equation, though a strong percentage of them do.
West Company doesn't tell clients what their missions should be, and we don't judge ideas. But we do provide learning opportunities for them to learn about the opportunities available to them. That is one of the reasons we have been helping organize "The North Coast Green Summit" on Thursday, September 16th, 2010 from 8:30am - 5:00pm. It will be a day of education and networking for individuals, businesses, and community leaders interested in learning more about how they can go green.
For more information visit the: http://www.northcoastgreen.org/
We hope to see you there!
Mendocino Women's Business Center Director
Sustainable business is definitely on my list of personal interests. And by sustainable, I mean businesses that meet the triple bottom line. For those who don't have "sustainability" ingrained into their consciousness, the triple bottom line refers to a society, community, business, or even person, that focuses on balancing financial stability without sacrificing the health of the environment nor social responsibility. Sustainability is something that we as individuals can work towards one day at a time through the lifestyle choices that me make. As businesses, we can work toward sustainability in the suppliers we chose and the practices we use. Sustainability is also something that we can work towards as cities, counties, states, and nations through the policies and laws that we create and enforce.
As an organization, West Company supports all businesses, and focuses on how small and independently owned businesses can be financially sustainable. Consequently supporting social sustainability by creating a strong community with self-sufficiency and wealth. It's up to our clients whether they feel that they wish to pursue the "green" side of the equation, though a strong percentage of them do.
West Company doesn't tell clients what their missions should be, and we don't judge ideas. But we do provide learning opportunities for them to learn about the opportunities available to them. That is one of the reasons we have been helping organize "The North Coast Green Summit" on Thursday, September 16th, 2010 from 8:30am - 5:00pm. It will be a day of education and networking for individuals, businesses, and community leaders interested in learning more about how they can go green.
For more information visit the: http://www.northcoastgreen.org/
We hope to see you there!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Is local business the key to a strong local economy or an income stream for credit card companies?
by Heather Gurewitz
Mendocino WBC Director
Let's look at two scenarios...
1. Pamela opens a retail store. She does not write a business plan, she has no strategy, and she finances most of her expenses with credit cards. Several years later she owes tens of thousands on her credit cards and is still purchasing inventory on credit. Every penny of profit she makes goes directly to paying the interest on her credit card debt. She never has profit to take home because the interest on her credit cards has become so enormous that she can't possibly make enough profit to pay down the debts. She can no longer afford to support any of the other stores in town (unless she uses her personal credit cards) so every dollar spent in her store goes to the suppliers and high interest predatory lenders. Most of her days are devoted to dodging calls from collection agents. She eventually files bankruptcy, closes the store, and gets a job at the burger joint down the street.
2. Pamela opens a retail store. Before doing so, she takes the Building a Better Business Series with West Company and learns how to start and manage a small business. Then, with the assistance of a West Company consultant she writes a business plan that she uses to help her stay on track. Because she has such a great plan she is able to get a micro-loan from an alternative financing organization and she is soon in her own shop. Pamela continues to monitor her financial situation and adjusts her business to the existing conditions. She uses conservative numbers and keeps track of her inventory so that she knows what and how much to buy. She also budgeted a monthly savings amount in case of the tough times. Pamela's prices aren't the lowest, but they are set based on her profit goals and realistic expenses, so that she has a profit that she can take home and use to pay for her personal living expenses, and to support other locally owned stores in the community. She even has enough extra to support community organizations through donations and event contributions. If she continues on this path she expects to hire an employee and create a new job in the community by the end of the next year.
Building our local economy relies on healthy financial practices
Having a healthy business isn't just good for the owner, it's good for the whole community. Many people have a strong desire to "work for themselves." This means building a financial model for your business that works for you. West Company consultants are here to assist entrepreneurs and business owners come up with a strong financial model to strengthen local businesses creating self sufficiency and wealth in our community.
Mendocino WBC Director
Let's look at two scenarios...
1. Pamela opens a retail store. She does not write a business plan, she has no strategy, and she finances most of her expenses with credit cards. Several years later she owes tens of thousands on her credit cards and is still purchasing inventory on credit. Every penny of profit she makes goes directly to paying the interest on her credit card debt. She never has profit to take home because the interest on her credit cards has become so enormous that she can't possibly make enough profit to pay down the debts. She can no longer afford to support any of the other stores in town (unless she uses her personal credit cards) so every dollar spent in her store goes to the suppliers and high interest predatory lenders. Most of her days are devoted to dodging calls from collection agents. She eventually files bankruptcy, closes the store, and gets a job at the burger joint down the street.
2. Pamela opens a retail store. Before doing so, she takes the Building a Better Business Series with West Company and learns how to start and manage a small business. Then, with the assistance of a West Company consultant she writes a business plan that she uses to help her stay on track. Because she has such a great plan she is able to get a micro-loan from an alternative financing organization and she is soon in her own shop. Pamela continues to monitor her financial situation and adjusts her business to the existing conditions. She uses conservative numbers and keeps track of her inventory so that she knows what and how much to buy. She also budgeted a monthly savings amount in case of the tough times. Pamela's prices aren't the lowest, but they are set based on her profit goals and realistic expenses, so that she has a profit that she can take home and use to pay for her personal living expenses, and to support other locally owned stores in the community. She even has enough extra to support community organizations through donations and event contributions. If she continues on this path she expects to hire an employee and create a new job in the community by the end of the next year.
Building our local economy relies on healthy financial practices
Having a healthy business isn't just good for the owner, it's good for the whole community. Many people have a strong desire to "work for themselves." This means building a financial model for your business that works for you. West Company consultants are here to assist entrepreneurs and business owners come up with a strong financial model to strengthen local businesses creating self sufficiency and wealth in our community.
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