Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
Too many entrepreneurs practice “heart-attack marketing,” which is marketing generated by a cash flow crisis.
When the phone stops ringing, they frantically start marketing efforts, only to stop them again when sales pick up. Thus the revenue line soars up and plummets down. “It looks like an erratic EKG,” said Jean Peterson, president of Starmaker Marketing.
She and Mary Lower, Sterling Cross Communications, advise the opposite: time and money spent consistently on marketing. Even if your budget is tiny, it’s better to spend a small amount consistently each week rather than all at once, once a year.
They were luncheon speakers at the monthly meeting of WIN, Women in Networking.
“Marketing and PR is work. It’s a discipline. It’s kind of like brushing your teeth for your business,” Peterson said.
“A good marketing program will position your company for growth,” Lower said. “You want steady, incremental growth, not peaks and valleys.”
The two advise:
• Be ready to commit to a monthly marketing PR budget. They recommend $500 to $2,000 a month for small companies. But even if it’s $5 a month, getting in the habit of regular spending is important. You can always grow it later.
• Realize that once you have a plan, you need to implement it.
• Set realistic expectations regarding your results. “People put out press releases on their own and that’s fine, but you have to follow up on it,” Lower says.
Check out: ‘Connect’ is Women in Networking’s new electronic newsletter, published 12 times a year, with tips about networking: in**@***in.org.
Try to make it to: Women in Networking, WIN, meets each month for networking and education. Jennifer Lavine is the executive director, and director of marketing services for Small Business Builders, a division of Haworth & Co.: 651.451.9373; jl*****@*******************rs.com; www.win.org
“It’s not about what you make. It’s about what you spend,” said Janel Goff, with the Goff Investment Group, Merrill Lynch, in Minneapolis.
She was with Piper Jaffray for years, but moved to Merrill when Piper sold its retail investment practice in August.
She hosts monthly luncheons for women, called “Invest in Yourself,” where she conveys sage advice about investing and financial planning.
People tend not to change their spending habits in retirement, she says. If you hire a limo to take you to the airport now, you’ll do the same when you’re retired. If you ask a friend to drive you now, you’ll do that 30 years from now.
To prepare for the future, “start by creating a vision for your retired life,” Goff said. If you’re married, it’s important to talk about it. She often finds when she talks with married clients, “one’s on a beach, and one’s on a lake or the cabin,” in their minds.
Next, put a price tag on your vision.
Finally, start saving immediately. It’s never too late, Goff said.
Goff started the luncheon with a panel discussion about successful networking, featuring Stacey DeKalb, an attorney with Lommen Abdo; Carla Bainbridge, founder of Predictive Profiles; and yours truly, editor of Upsize.
Each gave a vastly different definition of what success looks like to them. For DeKalb, it was about having enough to take care of everyone. For Bainbridge, it was about helping others to succeed. For Upsize, it was about remaining standing at the end of each challenging day.
Said Goff: ”The message is, finances are important” for our definitions of success, “but it’s not the driver.”
Try to make it to: Janel Goff hosts monthly “Invest in Yourself” seminars: The Goff Investment Group, Merrill Lynch: 612.349.7896; ja********@**.com; www.ml.com
Tami Coalwell was there, co-founder of Webb Lake Software. So was Paula Anderson, Square Feat LLC; Esperanza Guerrero-Anderson, Milestone Growth Fund; Karen Oman, Certes Financial Pros; Carolyn Herfurth, The Entrepreneur’s Source; Christine Young, Venture Bank; and many more dynamos.
All were guests of Dee Thibodeau, Charter Solutions, a management and technology consulting firm, and Sheila Ronning, Sharp Upswing, an events and marketing firm and the management group for the National Association of Women Business owners, Minnesota chapter. They were invited to a private suite to cheer on the Minnesota Lynx vs. the Seattle Storm.
Chatter centered on summer business and pleasure. Thibodeau had just returned from a trip with 12 of her family members on a houseboat in Missouri. They had a wonderful time, she said. Meanwhile, she says, Charter Solutions has never been busier.
Check out: The Lynx season starts again in May (they lost to the Storm on Aug. 1 by 2 points) and the new vice president of business development would love to talk with you: Angela Taylor, Minnesota Lynx: 612.673.8409; at*****@************ll.com; www.lynxbasketball.com
Try to make it to: Sheila Ronning and Dee Thibodeau team up again Nov. 28 for the annual “Women on Boards” event, a panel discussion encouraging women to seek board of director seats: in**@**********ng.com; www.nawbo-mn.org
“My goal is to get you to give other people your ‘wolf eyes,’” said Julie Gilbert, vice president of Best Buy Co. Inc. in Richfield, “to convince you that by doing that you will have left your mark on someone else’s life.”
It’s a slightly alarming thought: staring intently at a stranger, at least once a day, just as a wolf would stare at you. But Gilbert explained her point: to make intense and focused connections with people, to influence others to reach their potential. She was the keynote speaker at the Women in Business event in July, hosted by The Business Journal, Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Gilbert started WoLF at Best Buy, “packs” of women and one male mentor. The Women’s Leadership Forum is a program to develop leadership skills and leaders to “fuel the business for years to come.”
Thanks to: PariPassu Cos. Inc., the year-old real estate development company in Edina, co-founded by Jim Lockhart and Scott McMahon, hosted the Informer. Julie Tanaka, chief operating officer of PariPassu and the Informer’s sister-in-law, was one of 50 honored women.
Try to make it to: The Business Journal takes nominations for its annual Women in Business event each spring: 612.288.2100; www.twincities.bizjournals.com
