Looking to Start a Business?

Be sure to check out the YOB (Your Own Business) Fair ... which will be held from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. on May 21 at Deer Valley Airpark. Organizations including the AZSBDC and the Maricopa SBDC ... ASBA ... Phoenix Chamber ... City of Phoenix ... Business Journal ... Wells Fargo and more have teamed up to provide information, resources ... and the assistance you need to make starting -- or growing -- a business a fulfilling reality. Top notch advice and resources and ... it's all free! Learn more at http://yobfair.com ... Lori Martinek, Branding Expert & Author, http://pplusonline.com

Learning Entrepreneurship

Empretec is an international entrepreneurial capacitybuilding program that is working to EXPAND the supply of entrepreneurs in the world. It regards entrepreneurship as a set of behaviors and practices that can be observed and acquired (versus personality characteristics or inherited traits).

The project identified 21 Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies (PECS) that are consistently found in successful entrepreneurs. The top ten:

• Opportunity Seeking and Initiative;
• Risk Taking;
• Demand for Efficiency and Quality;
• Persistence;
• Commitment to the Work Contract;
• Information Seeking;
• Goal Setting;
• Systematic Planning and Monitoring;
• Persuasion and Networking; and
• Independence and Self-Confidence.

Read more about the program at BDC (Business Development Center of Jordan) online: http://www.bdc.org.jo/ or http://www.empretecjordan.org/

Entrepreneurship is an important -- and too often secondary --- economic development strategy. Programs like Empretec help us create Employers, not just Employees. There's a big difference ... especially when it comes to building communities. Lori Martinek, Presentation Plus, http://pplusonline.com

Place Branding Basics

A place brand positions your community, county or region in a positive (and meaningful) way which sets it apart from the competition. Place brands are an important element of tourism and economic development marketing.

There are two key elements to developing and promoting a successful place brand: 1) Viability and 2) Visibility. Viability requires that the brand be based in reality: It must reflect what a commuinity IS and has to offer TODAY ... and not what it wants to become tomorrow. Visibility means exactly that: your place brand must Be Visible to Get Found. Promote it and purposely put it in front of your highest potential prospects. Always.

As with any brand, the actual experience must deliver on the promise. Social networking, blogs, reviews (Yelp!) and the real-time flow of information online (think Twitter) practically guarantee that you won't get away with false promises for very long.

Start with an Asset Inventory and a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to ensure that your place brand is strength-based and founded in reality. Look beyond the obvious for opportunities to shine. It's the best way to set your region apart from the competition ... Lori Martinek, Branding Expert & Author, http://pplusonline.com

Check out my @constantcontact newsletter archive

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs033/1101402843443/archive/1103238422935.html

Make Your Message Strong!

Focus on competitive consumer benefits to make your message strong. Look at your SWOT. Consider the strengths that you have to work with and ID your target markets. Who are the Ideal Prospects for your offering? They should be people who have a need or desire that is well-matched with your offering. Then ... carefully ... make sure that you can answer these questions BEFORE your proceed further:

• WHO are these prospects?


• WHAT is important to them?


• HOW do they get information to make buying decisions?


• WHICH types of media or other information sources do they use and, therefore:


• WHERE will you be able to find them and speak to them?

Then also ask: WHY is your offering the best one to fulfill their needs? And WHY is it more competitive than what your competitors are offering? ... Lori Martinek, Branding Expert & Author, http://pplusonline.com

Make Your Message Compelling AND Competitive!

Stop selling what you have and start selling what they want!

People buy benefits, not attributes ... always. They buy the promise of a need or a want fulfilled; the anticipation of a wish come true. Sometimes that promise represents a tangible problem solved. Other times (often), it's an intangible, but equally important desire for status, convenience, belonging or something similarly wishful.

Every branding strategy should start with a SWOT ... an assessment of your offering's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (MBA's love these, as do formally trained marketing folks). Strengths identity potential benefits; Opportunitites identity potential needs. Opportunities in the marketplace that potentially match your offering's Strengths have promise as competitive consumer benefits ... but not quite yet.

Check back for Part Deux ... Lori Martinek, Branding Expert & Author, http://pplusonline.com

Forget About Working on Your Weaknesses

We grow and thrive by doing what excites us and by being passionate about everything that we do. Too often, however, we spend time and money trying to improve in some area where we may not be as strong as we (or the world) would like us to be.

Forget about working on your weaknesses and focus on building on your strengths!

Why spend time forcing yourself to improve on something that you don't like to do in the first place when you can spend time doing what you're good at ... even great at ... and becoming even better at it?

Focus on building a business ... and a life ... around what excites you and gets you to jump out of bed in the morning. It really is true what they say (and I'm here to prove it): If you build a business around what you love to do, you'll never work a day in your life .... Lori Martinek, Branding and Marketing Expert, http://pplusonline.com/