Bella's Cookies

Bella’s Cookies bakes up a new kind of business and I love it, not because I love cookies, who doesn’t but by differentiating itself through “green and organic” processes that appeal to the current and future clientele.

This is an interesting study in how to market and advertise your new or existing business by focusing on a new, fresh, organic or green way of delivering services or products. Bella’s Cookies is telling story that parallels current consumer trends and leverages business processes into marketing and advertising strengths. The story appearing in the DelMarvaNow!, “Bella’s Bakes Up New Business,” by Nick Roth tells the whole story and illustrates how each business can tell a compelling story to seperate itself from the competition.

After establishing itself as Delaware’s first all-natural and organic cookie company, Bella’s Cookies is expanding its offerings to include other popular desserts like cakes and pies. 

One of the most popular new items, said Mark Leishear, the company’s director of sales and marketing, is the rum cake made with distilled Dogfish Head rum.

“If you take a trip to the islands, you’ll see it there,” he said. “We thought, ‘We can make that here.’ ”

The cakes, saturated with a butter-rum sauce, become “ripped with rum flavor” as they sit, he said. Along with each dessert featured in the company’s new line, the rum cake will soon be available in local stores and restaurants.

“It’s just a happy cake,” Kelly Leishear, the company’s president and baker, said with a laugh. “It came out amazing. People love their rum cakes.”

 

Bella's Cookies

This isn’t the first time Bella’s Cookies has teamed up with Dogfish Head Breweries. Kelly Leishear originally created rum raisin cookies with the Dogfish Head rum and the response was unbelievable, she said. 

“It’s a no-brainer for us,” said Mariah Calagione, vice president of Dogfish Head. “It’s a really cool partnership. I often pick up their stuff at the farmers market; it’s so good.”

Calagione said the cookies have been featured in her company’s Rehoboth Beach restaurant. Dogfish Head even took it to another level, using the rum raisin cookies in ice cream sandwiches. Since the cookies were so well-received, Kelly Leishear started making rum cakes.

She initially made smaller versions to see how well they would sell. When the response was what she had hoped for, she decided to create a bigger version. She hopes her newest creation will also be sold at Dogfish Head’s downtown Rehoboth eatery.

Also now available at Bella’s Cookies are strawberry pies and tarts, chocolate cakes, coconut cake, coco-carrot cake, summerberry cake and an authentic Key West key lime pie.

The new line of desserts came as the demand changed, Kelly Leishear said.

“We look at the demographics and what’s doing well on the East Coast versus the West Coast,” she said. “East Coast cookie sales are just down right now. In this business, you’ve always got to be ready to change. I think that’s hard for people who have been doing it forever.”

Whether you bake cookies or offer accounting services find that one thing that makes you special – the differentiator. And focus an advertising, adwords campaign or create a new marketing piece to present as you’re out in the business landscape building and servicing clients. Go Bella, I’ll be over later for some cookies!

MikeToots_branding is a process of building, like a game of reverse “horse”. You add letters as you build your brand. So add a letter by making what you do stand out.

It took being laid off twice in six months for Judy Goss to decide to launch her own business.

Despite the risks, Goss chose to start a business development firm in February after she got consecutive dismissals, first from publishing giant Meredith and then from a small PR firm.

“The universe was telling me something,” said Goss, 40, who lives in Merrick, L.I., with her husband, whose clothing store is struggling. “If I wasn’t secure with a big company or a small company, who was I secure with?”
After the second layoff, Goss, a former model who’d booked celebrities for photo shoots at Meredith’s More magazine, reached out to entertainment and media contacts she’d made through the years and pitched her ideas. That led to her first client, thecutekid.com, a child modeling Web site, which needed help on several projects, including a reality TV show.

Her career moves are what many people who’ve been shown the door think about: Is it better to look for a new job when few companies are hiring, or is now the right time to be your own boss?

Making the best decision will depend largely on your finances, risk tolerance, the type of business you want to launch and your drive.

“If you have always had a burning desire to do this, now may be the right time,” said Martin Lehman, a counselor at SCORE New York, a free entrepreneurial counseling service. “But it is never easy to start a business, and the economy has made it more difficult.”

Entrepreneurs will need a business plan and strong knowledge of their field, said Lehman, who once owned a chain of women’s clothing stores. To get a loan, you’ll need strong credit, collateral and money of your own invested in the business, he added.

Financing remains tight, but the U.S. Small Business Administration has waived some loan fees temporarily, and raised loan guarantees up to 90%.

Also working to broaden lending to businesses with less than 100 employees, the city’s NYC Capital Access Loan Program guarantees up to 40% of eligible loans up to $250,000.

Having a cash cushion is critical, said certified financial planner Scott Brewster of Park Slope, Brooklyn, because cash flow can be so unpredictable.

“You might need two years of living expenses, not to mention business capital,” Brewster said. “Some businesses, like restaurants, have a highly volatile revenue stream.”

Antonio Da Silveira, 39, of East Harlem, had a lot working in his favor after getting laid off last October by Cornelia Day Resort in midtown, where he was a manager.

He had years of experience, savings and strong credit. When a friend with a hair salon in Tuckahoe, Westchester, offered low-rent space above his shop, Da Silveira decided to open his own spa.

He plans to invest $20,000 to renovate and buy equipment. He’s developing a business plan and wants to borrow $100,000 in SBA loans and ex-clients.

“It was always my dream to start my own business,” Da Silveira said. “It’s not the best time, but this is a good opportunity.”

Stop dreaming, use that brain and make a plan to have your own business, then do it. The resources exist for those that desire to figure it out, so go and figure it out. I know you can do it.

The secret is in the starting, now it’s your time – start.

MikeToots_building businesses since I was a kid.

From the EG conference: Productivity guru Tim Ferriss’ fun, encouraging anecdotes show how one simple question — “What’s the worst that could happen?” — is all you need to learn to do anything.

Tim Ferriss is author of bestseller The 4-Hour Workweek, a self-improvement program of four steps: defining aspirations, managing time, creating automatic income and escaping the trappings.

Why you should listen to him:

Tim Ferris brings an analytical, yet accessible, approach to the challenges of self-improvement and career advancement through what he calls “lifestyle design.” His 2007 book, The 4-Hour Workweek, and his lectures on productivity are stuffed with moving, encouraging anecdotes — often from his own life — that show how simple decisions, made despite fears or hesitation, can make for a drastically more meaningful day-to-day experience at work, or in life.

Word-of-blog chatter in Silicon Valley may have propelled his book to bestselling success, but Ferriss himself takes a fervid stance against the distractions of technologies like email and PDAs, which promote unnecessary multitasking.

Following the success of his book, Ferriss has become a full-time angel investor.

“[Ferriss] has become a pet guru of Silicon Valley, precisely by preaching apostasy in the land of shiny gadgets: just pull the plug. Crawl out from beneath the reams of data. Stand firm against the torrent of information.”

The New York Times
 

Go forth and learn. Don’t fear what’s on the other side, it might be just what you’re looking for in life and business.

MikeToots_I’m a curious person by nature and love finding new things to learn.

“PR Pros Offer Recession Strategies for Independent Business Owners,” appearing in Advertising Industry Newswire written by Carly Z. I wish, I could say something more than Carly wrote but I think she sums it up pretty well.

With job losses at alarming levels, marketing and public relations pro’s Melanie Goetz and Esty Atlas, of Hughes & Stuart Marketing, have combined four decades of experience, insight, strategic techniques, affordable public outreach ideas, and business branding concepts into their newly released book, “Roadrunner Marketing: Strategic Secrets You Wish You Knew”

Says co-author and four-time Emmy award winning creative producer Esty Atlas, “There are approximately 32 million small-business owners in the United States and Canada, and every day, another 2,500 people decide to go into business for themselves.” She added, “With such a high number of corporate layoffs today, come more people trying to start a business, but research shows 66 percent of new businesses will fail in the first four years, in large measure due to poor marketing and only five percent will ever reach 1 million dollars in revenues.”

To help inspire and educate new entrepreneurs, this grassroots marketing book is filled with immediate things every business owner should already be doing, and can easily do, to help increase their visibility, affordably, within their own consumer marketplace. The strategies and easy-to-grasp concepts cover the essentials of building one’s presence and loyalty in the minds of consumers.

“Costly business mistakes can easily be avoided if people just understand the basic philosophies that motivate consumers,” said Atlas.

Co-author Goetz was inspired to write a book after being interviewed on a national TV program, Heartbeat of America, and asked if she would consider putting decades of client work into an easy user guide. “After seeing what’s already been written on this topic, we felt there was a missing element that directly addressed smaller business owners who would benefit from the encouragement and in-depth profiles of everyday self-made entrepreneurs – names people may not recognize, but can identify with who have successfully built their businesses,” said agency president Melanie Goetz.

Founder of Panera Bread Company explains why he quit the clothing business and how he built a multi-million dollar business while admittedly knowing nothing, at first, about its core product. Profiles comparable to this are showcased throughout the book and the similarities of these very different people point toward similar internal characteristics more than external education. And what does mega-star actor William Shatner have to do with this book? Inspiration comes from surprising sources as author Melanie Goetz learned when she encountered a star-ship surprise of their own.

Each of the 26 chapters is designed to help independent businesses build awareness, get positive publicity, attract customers, reduce advertising expenses, ‘beep the competition’, and create effective ‘word-of-mouse’ interest through easy to follow step-by-step instructions. The book is available through Amazon.com. For more on Roadrunner Marketing visit www.hughesstuart.com.

Author Melanie Goetz

President of Hughes & Stuart Marketing since 1980, Melanie serves as the senior account executive for the company. Melanie’s MBA degree and tactical marketing experience are complemented with genuine common sense intuition that serves clients on many levels. Melanie, Esty, and the Hughes & Stuart creative team develop public relations and outreach programs for businesses as well as non-profits and government. As an independent businesswoman who has served on multiple boards, a champion of causes for non-profit fundraising, and marketing consultant, Melanie’s thirty years of expertise and account management skills have effectively enhanced the communication efforts and public outreach for people and companies in many industries and trade associations.

Author Esty Atlas

Sixteen years of public relations, marketing, and creative services in television news-driven stations led Esty to work with a diverse client base independently to improve their public outreach efforts. Esty believes marketing takes an intuitive understanding of the characteristics that attract the desired consumers to create a positive public image through effective communication techniques. Esty is a four-time Emmy-award winning writer/creative producer who has also been honored with eight Colorado Broadcasters Association awards, by the Public Relations Society of America, New York Film Festival, and Promax Marketing Executives. She has also won five national Telly awards.

After 25 years working in all kinds of businesses and starting four successful businesses myself, the one mistake that most new business owners make is to – “hide away in the closet.” What I mean, by hide away in the closet, is that instead of advertising and marketing their business, they initially put in the effort but quickly lose the incentive when the results don’t appear. The secret, don’t give up, be creative and keep working until something clicks, it will come, it just takes some thinking.

See you on the other side of the recession. I can’t wait to hear your success story.

MikeToots_working everyday to develop my business toward my vision.

Many people are seduced by the dream of owning their own business. But starting a small business isn’t for everyone. Stephanie AuWerter, contributing editor of SmartMoney.com, offers some tips for starting your own business. 

The first thing you need to do is ask yourself: Do I have what it takes? Many people like the idea of being their own boss and they picture themselves calling the shots, being able to set their own hours, having ownership over the work they do. But not everyone is cut out for it. You need to be comfortable with the idea of your business taking twice as long as expected to make a profit and you should expect to work longer hours, not shorter ones. The bottom line is if you toss and turn when things don’t run smoothly, then this might not be the right career path for you. 

When you think this is something you can handle, you need to start talking with other people and asking them if your idea is any good. You might think you have a great idea, but the key is finding out if others agree. Talk to friends and family. But you also need to become an expert on the industry you plan to target. You need to know why your business will be different and better. And if you can, try to do a small test run before you invest everything in an idea that isn’t going to fly. 

The next step is to figure out how you are going to finance your venture. Many entrepreneurs get started with a combination of personal savings, contributions from investors and loans. Unfortunately, right now, lending is very tight but the Small Business Association is a great place to start. Also these days, many folks are also eying their severance packages as start-up money. No matter what, just make sure you have a big, fat emergency fund safely stashed away so you have some cushion should your business not immediately thrive. 

nd don’t forget to come up with a business plan. Every business needs one. It’s the central document that outlines your idea, your timeline for achieving certain goals and so on. Be as specific as possible and make sure you factor in the current economic environment. It should include your mission statement, the number of customers you expect in the first year, your marketing strategy, and sales projections. Once you’ve written it up, be prepared to revise it regularly. 

And finally, don’t let the recession scare you away! It may seem like a crazy time to launch a business, but it can force you into some very good habits that will make your small business more likely to succeed, like operating on a shoestring budget. You need to think about every dollar you spend and you really need to master how to get your consumers to spend. 

The good news is that if you can succeed now, your business will likely really thrive once we’re in recovery. 

I’ve started multiple businesses, some with a plan and some without but the secret is in the starting and eventually the ability to quickly adapt to the changing business landscape. What does this mean, changing landscape? It means, how in the end do you as a business person make money so you can survive and grow, be creative.

MikeToots_it’s the challenge of working an idea until it all makes sense.

Now I’m running, four mac plus xserve in my business and have never been happier.
Check out this article, “New Apple Ads Ignore Price Wars, Focus on Business,” in PCWorld.

Apple released four new ads in its “Get a Mac” campaign that address several selling points for Macs vs. PCs, but do not directly respond to Microsoft’s campaign highlighting how expensive Apple computers are. Why? Because Macs are undeniably more expensive than PCs, and Apple cannot claim otherwise.

The new Apple ads deal (again) with the PCs susceptibility to viruses (“Biohazard Suit“); the complicated legal nature of PCs (“Legal Copy“); the facial recognition software included in iPhoto ’09 (“Stacks“); and (again) PC reliability issues (“Time Traveler“). Besides a brief mention of expensive-sounding iPhoto software included in a Mac’s base price, none of these ads even attempt a counterattack in Microsoft’s price wars.

While Microsoft’s ads claim Apple relies heavily on a “coolness” factor (even at a price), the real issue, as Apple sees it, is reliability and innovation. What’s the value of purchasing a laptop on the cheap only to see it run the maintenance gambit due to a Conficker attack? Despite the recent outbreak of a Trojan horse turning Macs into zombies through a vulnerability in iWork ’09, Apple computers are more reliable machines.

Avoiding the price wars is a smart move on Apple’s part. If major companies began refuting every claim made against them in advertising, we’d be inundated with catty, whining 30-second clips that serve no function for the consumer beyond annoying us to death. This kind of offensive/defensive campaigning would cease to highlight a product’s positive qualities, leaving consumers ignorant as to why they should purchase anything at all.

I think the tag line should read, “Don’t Focus on Business, Focus on Getting Business Done.” Apple can pay me later.

MikeToots_Mac advocate by experience, who wouldn’t want to build a client base that’s similar.

Now, I can say one thing for sure, Yahoo, has lately been a complete failure and starting in a new direction with such a limited and limiting viewpoint is destined for failure. Here’s a few excerpts from Fortune Magazine article, “Yahoo’s Taskmaster” by Jon Fortt.

Carol Bartz is shrewd, strong-minded, blunt, and disciplined. (Don’t even think about leaking company information!) But can this no-nonsense tech veteran come up with a plan to save Yahoo?

Out of respect for Yang, though, she found herself in his living room, asking him to draw her an organizational chart. “It was like a Catholic school kid diagramming a sentence,” she later told business partners. Lines crisscrossed everywhere, with no clear system of accountability. By the time he finished, the hooks were in. “I got it,” she told Yang. “What you need is a manager.”

Bad as things are, though, Yahoo remains one of the most popular online destinations, and users spend more time on Yahoo sites than on any other major web property, including Google (GOOG, Fortune 500). Bartz has the opportunity to harness that popularity to get the business growing again. But first she’ll have to come up with a strong vision for Yahoo, a mission that seems at odds with her reputation as a taskmaster and disciplinarian. Is Yahoo a media company, selling advertisers access to its 562 million worldwide unique visitors? Is it a technology conglomerate that builds and delivers applications and services over the web? Or is it perhaps something else altogether?

Check out the rest the article and decide for yourself but I never met a great leader who was a taskmaster and disciplinarian. I know great leader who meet tasks head-on and use the discipline to grow a business, most end up being, option motivated ‘managers’ with little vision and no measurable net results.

MikeToots_looking for the new leadership for a new era.

The list of famous blogs and sites that get all there content from news sources is amazing. What a business model. But if these original sources for content and news disappear from the media landscape, what will all the bloggers do for fresh and new content?

Here’s a great story, Want To Know Why Newspapers Are Dying? from TechDirt which is a look at the Maureen Dowd article “Dinosaurs at the Gate”  and now my two cents.

In her recent New York Times op-ed, Maureen Dowd takes aim at Google, blaming it for the sorry state of the newspaper industry. Perhaps in hopes of winning people over to the newspapers’ side in the argument over how much Google should be profiting from their content, Dowd spends a lot of the article attempting to make the reader fear Google, trying to paint the company as anti-privacy and bent on “world domination.”

But there is a vaguely ominous Big Brother wall in the lobby of the headquarters here that scrolls real-time Google searches — porn queries are edited out — from people around the world. You could probably see your own name if you stayed long enough. In one minute of watching, I saw the Washington association where my sister works, the Delaware beach town where my brother vacations, some Dave Matthews lyrics, calories Panera, females feet, soaps in depth and Douglas Mangum, whoever he is.

The uselessness of this statement is hard to overstate. If you stayed long enough you’d see your name? She saw the names of places where her sister works and her brother vacations? Ever look at a phone book or a map, Maureen? All she was seeing was evidence that people are looking for information. 

And that is where Google adds value: it helps to connect people with the information they want. If Dowd would just pause the dramatics long enough, maybe she would recognize that this concept sounds very familiar. Just like newspapers have always done, Google tries to find information that its users want, and deliver it to them in a way that is useful — and news stories are just one example of what people want Google to find for them. Dowd quotes Rupert Murdoch calling what Google does “stealing.” But, Google is no more “stealing” the information to which it links than newspapers steal the events on which they report. It does not take much thinking to see the parallels. But hey, why take time to think when you can engage in some juicy fear-mongering and hyperbole? 

Like many others, Dowd also makes the mistake of equating the decline of newspapers with the end of journalism, ignoring the evidence that says this is simply not true. We’ve already pointed out examples of how journalism can not only survive but thrive apart from physical newspapers. Newspapers were valuable when they were the most convenient, useful way to deliver the news. The content itself was always practically free. But the value of the content was used draw eyeballs to ads — to give advertisers paid access to the community of readers. With the newspaper format now dying, entrepreneurs will find new ways to leverage the still-existent value of the free content to sell something scarce. 

Fear-mongering, making misleading statements, ignoring evidence, not understanding your own business — it’s ironic that, while attempting to blame others for the woes of her own industry, Dowd makes so many of the mistakes that are really contributing to its decline.

Who cares about Google, they produce nothing, they provide a service. That’s it. Period. Amen.
When they get in the content development business, Ms. Dowd will probably work for them or disappear from the landscape. Now here’s the real issue, that’s deep in the New York Times subconscious. Newspapers are dead, well dying but have a business model that is severely damaged. 

Here’s the bottom line on this issue, newspapers didn’t have the sense that god gave a goose. Newspaper didn’t recognize the power of the internet. So they gave their content away, except for a few, most just put out there for free. Now, they ‘re dead or extinct, to stick with Ms. Dowd’s metaphor, because printings is to expense, the unions have smoked them and most importantly they didn’t control their content. Now they want to go to court. Guess what, their going to loss, because they received unrealized value from all those bloggers point their reads to the newspaper sites for free, with no remuneration for the free advertising and their own long term stupidity. Guess what – you can’t turn back the clock thus all I can say is – goodbye. The gap will be filled but by who, I have no idea.

I will always love the feel of a newspaper and a well written article from a skilled newspaper person.
Goodbye, I’ll miss you and so will a lot of other people, they just don’t know it yet. 

MikeToots_watching the disappearance of the dinosaur – newspapers.

Can I UnATTEND with my UnTICKET? Who’s with me? It’s in NYC and everybody loves a good trip to the big apple. Here’s a few of the topics to be UnCovered at the UnCONFERENCE; smartphone tech, shifting media landscape, students entering ad workforce, current economic effect on digital media and social networks branding.

The One Show Creative unConference will take place in New York for two days (May 7 & marking the first time ever that the advertising community in New York has hosted this hip and unique event, announced Mary Warlick, CEO The One Club. 

Presented as part of New York’s first ever ‘Creative Week NYC,’ the unConference favors a flexible, participant-driven format. Unlike a traditional conference, where topics and speakers are set by organizers months in advance, unConference participants create the agenda live the day the event happens. This allows participants to engage up to the minute ideas. 

“The One Show Creative unConference is about thought-provoking discussions with the brightest minds in creative media,” says Kevin Swanepoel, president The One Club. 

“No stale pitches from sponsors, no dated presentations. If you are eager for an opportunity to engage with a diverse group of leaders in your field in a fast-paced, flexible format then you’re the right person to come to the Creative unConference.” 

While participants set the agenda and session topics the day of the event, space will be reserved for sessions on two separate tracks: The Digital Advertising track, produced in association with The Society of Digital Agencies, will focus on sparking a dialogue about the effects of new technology and the current economic environment on the business and creative aspects of digital advertising; The Independent Agency Forum will be an opportunity for the founders and chief creatives of smaller and independent agencies to exchange ideas and discuss the business and creative issues they have in common.

Participants for The One Show Creative unConference include: Michael Ferdman, Firstborn, New York; Jason Koxvold, Perfect Fools, New York; Jan Leth, Ogilvy, New York; Susan Credle, BBDO, New York; Scott Goodson, StrawberryFrog, New York; Steve Mykolyn, TAXI, Toronto, Michael Lebowitz, Big Spaceship, New York; David Angelo, David & Goliath, El Segundo; Mike Geiger, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco. 

Questions unConference attendees will be engaging include: 

For complete information go to www.creativeunconference.com. 

MikeToots_see you there.

Seminars target arts enterpreneurship - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area

An educational workshop series called “Entrepreneurship for Creatives” will help artists and others find ways to turn their creativity into viable businesses, according to an announcement from the Piedmont Triad Partnership.

The Partnership is working with the United Arts Council of Greater Greensboro to put on the workshop spanning three Saturdays beginning later this month. Economic developers have identified the arts as an area of growth for the Triad region.

“Now more than ever it is critical that we help equip and develop our local creative sector with the vital tools and skills they need to be successful,” said Jeanie Duncan, president of the United Arts Council. “Doing so will retain and nurture an important part of our creative work force and further cultivate a competitive regional advantage.”

Workshops will cover topics such as market research, intellectual property laws and strategic planning. Registration costs $150 and is open to anyone in the Triad region, and some scholarships are available.

The three sessions in the series will be on April 25, May 2 and June 6 at the Greensboro Cultural Center. Registration information is at www.uacarts.org.

MikeT_filling my brain, portfolio and skill all at the same time.