Is A Small Business Marketing Coach Required?

If you are a small business owner and are consistently finding yourself short of leads and revenue you might need a marketing coach. Just like a sports coach, a small business marketing coach holds you accountable to get your marketing done.

Do any of these sounds like you:

• Your marketing efforts are sporadic and inconsistent.
• You have typically relied on referrals for your business, but find them hard to come by anymore.
• You find yourself focusing on tactics and don’t have a plan.
• You find you have other business systems but not a marketing system to provide you with consistent leads for your business every month.

If you can relate to any of the above, you are in need of a marketing system. By engaging with a small business marketing consultant you will have a step by step proven process to help you build a marketing system.

The biggest key difference between a marketing coach and a consultant is that a marketing coach helps you with the strategy and you do the leg work. This holds you accountable in taking action and getting results for your small business.

This could be the greatest decision and investment you could make for your small business in the next year. Do you have other systems  in your business like HR systems and Accounting systems? Do you have a marketing sytstem? If not, you should in this or any economy.

If you are looking for a small business marketing coach in Seattle, WA visit http://www.marketfin.com

So You Want To Organise Your Own Conference?

There are several types of conferences; the dictionary definition of conference says “A meeting for the exchange of views”.

My interpretation of conference, being a conference producer, is a place where people meet to confer and share knowledge. In the sharing theme I have decided to detail the elements required to ensure your conference goes smoothly. Whether you are getting a conference production company like mine to do it for you, or if you are going to manage it yourself, follow this outline and you can be assured that if you have made ample allowances for each of the items then your attendees (usually called delegates) will have a positive experience.

There are many different types of conferences, one of the most popular types are seminars which are normally an academic style forum where people go to learn about a specific topic.Quite a few companies run free seminars to teach their clients about the products they sell and how they can help to fulfil a need. Quite often the clients do not realise they have the need until the seminar is over!

I mention Forum above because this is probably (at least to my knowledge) the oldest type of meeting or conference that I am aware of. My partner Sam will cringe at this, as when I discuss my work, I always have to get the Romans in somewhere!

A Short History of Conferences

The forum as many people are aware was the centre of power in Rome for many hundreds of years, a Roman general would return from a successful campaign and he would have been received at the forum and made a speech from the rostrum to the people of Rome.

So for thousands of years people have been having conferences around the world, the tools for doing the job have changed, but I can imagine and have indeed read about, the effort and organisation that went into preparing for one was the major component of its success.

Things haven’t changed much no matter how large or small a conference is, there are some rules that we must all follow.

The Right Venue

Once you have a reason to hold a conference and an audience to attend the next step is venue selection, this is crucial as you will need a room large enough for the numbers attending, without being too large. If you are going to have a conference set with rear projection then the throw distance has to be taken into account when you are looking at the room, (I will come onto throw distance later when thing get more technical) as this uses space too.It is also a good idea to try and make sure you have extra ‘breakout’ rooms available for delegates to have private discussions and to make and receive phone calls.

Once you have a main meeting room suitable for your delegate numbers, you then have to consider where they will have tea and coffee breaks for networking and if there is potential for setting up display stands for other products.

Another important element to consider in conference production is choosing a venue location, for example when you have a large majority of international delegates attending then a venue within a short distance of an airport would be an advantage.

Remember if you are going to do the job right you are also responsible for the delegate experience prior to arriving at the venue, you want them to have a pleasant journey and feel as relaxed as possible on arrival so venue location is very important.

Conference Production

Once a venue has been selected and it fits with all the criteria above, then it’s time to give your production company a call, they will normally recommend a site visit, so the room can be measured to check all of the conference production elements fit within the space proposed.

There are various different styles of the seating and this is an important consideration. There is theatre style seating where the delegates sit in rows next to each other. Then you have classroom style seating where delegates sit next to each other with a slim table in front similar to when you might take an exam. Then there is cabaret style seating which is where delegates are seated on round tables normally 6 feet in diameter.

After your production company has completed the site visit they will propose the elements of staging you require to achieve your purpose. This will include stage and set, video projection, sound, lighting, crew levels and any pre-production requirements.

Pre-production

Not all conferences require pre-production, for example if your conference has PowerPoint slides you may want your production company to create them for you, a lot of companies now have the resources to do this in-house, but if that is the case they need to be of a professional standard.

You may want a video to be created, there are different types of messages you could utilise a video for, for example, a short opening sting, like an advert, to give a high impact start to your show. Some of the best events start this way and it also helps to ensure you have got everyone’s attention!

Sometimes there may be presenters that can’t attend so you could have them videoed prior to the event and then played back during the conference at the allotted segment.You will have no doubt seen this kind of video message in awards ceremonies and of course the world famous This Is Your Life program.

Not all presenters are comfortable with presenting, so a speaker coach may be a good idea, the coach will do as much or as little as is required. Usually they will come into your offices and asses the presenters, presentation techniques and will advise accordingly.Speaker coaches can be invaluable to the success of your event if your presenters are new to their role and do not have any public speaking experience.

Scheduling event managements can be very time consuming and stressful, particularly if you have not done it before, so for larger conferences it is recommended that you engage a professional organisation to ensure the day is a success until you gained experience organising some smaller events.

However, if you decide to do it yourself, then below are some useful hints and tips to creating your own successful conference production.These tips are the culmination of over 25 years working as a conference producer.

Set and Staging

A conference set is usually a timber framed construction covered in a material of a colour that fits the client’s corporate colours, normally this would have an aperture in it for rear projection with a screen, the screen should be large enough for all of the audience to see the content on the screen without straining their eyes.There is nothing worse than being on the back row and not being able to see the screen, especially if it forms a major part of the presentation.

The base of the screen, known as the under panel, needs to be at least 1.2m (5ft) to ensure the audience has a clear view over the heads of the people sat in front of them.
This is where the ceiling height comes into play. For example if you had a screen height of 2.5m, a screen base of 1.2m and a screen header, above the screen, of 300mm the minimum ceiling height required is 4m.

There are many different styles of set you can use, many companies have a stock set option which is pre-built, when it is used it is recovered to suit the client’s corporate branding. Other styles of set include a bespoke set where you consult a designer who will take a brief from you regarding the theme of the event and come up with a purpose built set with various options. This is of course more expensive compared to the standard stock set options. Provided you use a competent production company a stock set will do the job fine, unless you need something really different.

Whether you decide on a stock or bespoke set it is advisable to have some scale floor plans created to ensure all the elements fit into the available space and most production companies will do this in-house. if you went for the bespoke option you would receive some 3D drawings so you can visualise what the set will look like in the space where it is going to be located.

Once the set has been decided upon then the stage will also need to be included in the plans. The most cost effective stage option for corporate events is a standard stage the width of the set, which is normally about 2.5m deep and 450mm high.

The size also depends on what you want to have on stage during the conference, for example if you are going to have just one lectern or two, or if there is a requirement for a top table or some comfortable chairs and a coffee table.

Video Projection

Video projection is required if you want to put an image on the screen behind the speaker. The image can be data or video playback or indeed both. At small conferences this may just be a data projector and a laptop, controlled from the lectern, either with the client pushing buttons or with the help of a remote mouse so a presenter can move around the stage area freely.

You can also use a stage monitor screen so the presenter can see the slide changes without having to turn and look at the screen, the presenter should never have their back to the audience. To enable this you will require what we call a VCA DA this piece of equipment splits the signal from the laptop to both the projector and the stage monitor screen.

If the presenter is more akin to speaking than using a computer and doesn’t want to control their own slides then a cue light system can be used. This is a hand held controller that when pressed sends a signal to a light backstage and a technician then forwards the slides for the speaker.

If you want to play DVD’s you will require a DVD player with a preview monitor and a switcher. There are many different switchers you can use but it is recommended that if you’re going to play a lot of videos during your event then a good quality data switcher should be used.

So you’ve got your data projector, your cue light system, your stage monitor and your DVD playback.

Who else can think of a way of improving corporate events by utilising video projection technologies?

Recently I did an event which had a live camera feed.

The client wanted this for two different reasons firstly there was a presenter that didn’t have any PowerPoint slides except a name slide, so when he was presenting we had a live camera feed on the screen so the audience had a more up close and personal experience with the presentation. Then we utilised the live camera feed during the question and answer session for the same effect.

The second reason was that the client wanted to use some footage for the internet like a webcast. Certain elements of the conference were edited out and compressed for the internet so that delegates who were unable to attend could get a feeling of the content of the conference|, simply by watching it on their PC’s}.

Sound System (Public Address PA)

The sound system can range from a couple of speakers and one microphone in a small conference for say 50 delegates, or multiple speakers and microphones for up to thousands of delegates.

The basic sound system requirements are speakers, amplifiers, microphones and a mixing desk.

The speakers are generally on stands, however if you are organising a large conference they may be able to be flown from truss above to give an even coverage in the centre of the room. As audiences get bigger then it gets a bit more complicated.

In the event that you do have a very large audience than a delay line is required, this ensures that the signal reaches all of the speakers in the various locations around the room, or venue, at the exact same time removing any echo.

There are various different types of microphones, the most commonly used these days are the tie clip radio microphones which enables the presenter the freedom to walk around the stage cable free.

If the presenters are going to stay at the lectern then lectern microphones which are wired are more suitable.

With regards the amplifier, most professional amps will run four speakers so if you need eight speakers for good coverage then two amplifiers will be needed. When the amount of speakers and amplifiers is specified, the next piece of equipment required is a mixing desk, generally people who are doing their own event don’t plan for this, but it can be the one piece of crucial equipment that makes the difference between an amateur and a professional event.

The mixing desk takes in all the signals that need to be heard through the speakers, such as the microphones, CD players and video playback. Once the equipment is plugged into the Mixing console, a feed is taken out of the desk and into the amplifiers, then from the amplifier to the speakers.

After this has been done the sound engineer then equalises the system which in layman’s terms means making it sound good in areas of the room. A well equalised sound system will have the feeling for the delegate, that the presenter is seated next to them not shouting from the front of the room.

All mixing consoles have a basic equaliser on the unit itself, however a professional conference producer will know it is advisable to get a separate graphic equaliser which has more options on it.

In a very large room it is recommend having what is called a multicore which as the name suggests is a cable with multiple cores inside it that carries the signals up and down the room from the control position from front of house to the control position backstage.A multicore cable is a much tidier option and means you only have to run your cables once.

Lighting

Lighting is one of the most important visual elements of the conference. If you don’t have the luxury of a bespoke conference set then lighting can make all the difference.

There are several different types of lighting available, there is up-lighting normally provided by Par 64 floor cans, which you will recognise from seeing any professionally staged event. These can have coloured gel in them to add a set wash. There are also Fresnells which is a type of lamp which can hang from a truss or floor stand and again these can have a coloured gel in them to provide a set wash or coloured lighting effects. Profile lights are used to highlight elements of the set such as logos, steps or other details.

The most modern type of lamps on the market are LED lights. They are the most expensive type of lighting but they are worth it if you have the budget, the beauty of this type of lighting is that it can change colour at the press of a button|, which saves having to use gels to set the colour, and of course is a much more flexible for of lighting. I am sure you have seen LED lights being used all over the place these days, in torches, in mirrors, in cars, there are even some new cats eyes in the road that use LED lights.

Once the Lighting type and style is specified then it’s a good idea to get a lighting designer involved.

The designer will specify the type of lamp, where it should go, and what it’s going to do, if possible it’s best to hang lighting on a truss in front of the set, as opposed to using floor mounted stands. After the lighting has been decided on then it will need power, this usually comes from the venue supply via a dimmer rack to the lamps. A mixing console then controls the different stage effects which the lighting designer programs in.

Crew

The crew is very important as they pull all the elements of the show together, professional conference production companies will know the value of a crew communication system which comprises of headphones and belt packs for each crew member allowing them to communicate with each other, and the production manager or producer.

On larger shows we have a production manager and if required a conference producer, either one of these will show call, which means they will tell the crew what they should be doing and when they should be doing it. For example, when a video is due to be played they will let the video engineer, the sound engineer and the lighting engineers know in advance so they are ready when the caller say run VT.

Transportation

Again transportation is a crucial aspect of any event, or else how is everything you have ordered going to get there at the right time on the right day? The size of the vehicle is dependent on the size of the show, it can be anything from a transit size van up to an arctic with a 40ft trailer. It is the responsibility of the conference production company to decide on the type and size of transportation, but remember if you are booking a venue and it’s a large show that requires an arctic then make sure the vehicle can get into the loading bay! Fortunately it is not from my own experience that I have learnt this but from watching a competitor learn the it the hard way many years ago at an event I was working at!

In Summary

Organising a conference requires a lot of forward planning, the more you put in to it before the event the smoother it will run on the day.

Remember to look after your crew because they are the ones who enable it to all happen, look after your presenters because they are the ones it is happening for, and most importantly look after your delegates if you want it to happen to them again in the future.

Coach Soho Signature Small Hobo

Soho – district in Manhattan noted for its old warehouses converted into restaurants, galleries and theaters.

Why would Coach name this line Soho? Simply put, it’s a classic design brought back to life in a way that only Coach could produce. These amazing vintage mini bags, wallets, and purses are perfect for fine dining, art gazing and for placing in your lap at a theater.

The Coach Soho Hanbags is a classic because it is the best of the best by Coach. It is the fine wine of Coach purses. It is the quality of the past that fits the trends of today. What makes the Soho so special? Besides their Signature materials, this small purse is the hallmark of a woman’s daintiness, femininity, endurance, style and grace.

I have a black Signature Coach with the soft leather trim and silver buckles Soho. I love this bag. This is the bag I use daily. It compliments everything in my closet. It is perfect for all occasions, whether a trip to the grocery store, work or an evening out, you really cannot go wrong with Coach Soho Multi Print Wallet.

Let’s talk about durability. The Soho is also so incredibly durable that it can withstand my toddler’s destructive little fingers. This bag did not become a classic because it was crafted from cheap materials put together sparingly. It is classic because of Coach’s signature materials and vintage hobo design that are guaranteed to outlast any trend, style or fad.

The strap is small enough to be hand held without looking like a dingle berry but long enough to be held under your arm incase you need a free hand. My Soho is a zipper top handbag, but I also like the flip top design Soho in tweed brown, blue and black. It is more modern vintage than my Soho because it captures the essence of the late 70′s and early 80′s.

Let’s face it; the 80′s were not all that glamorous. Florescent colors such as pink were only hot because they fit the social trends to deviate from the norm to explore our individualities. The Baby Boom era accelerated world industries by making goods faster and cheaper. However Coach knows that trends of the past are destine to return, so they put a little spin on the classic 80′s style making Soho’s in tweed. Tweed was originally called twill because it was made of unfinished woolen fabric woven into a twill pattern instead of a plain one.

Have you ever noticed that a couch made with tweed has outlasted the ones made of other fabrics? Coach knows that quality is better than quantity. So it produces products that will last. Tweed use to be customary because it is moisture-resistant and durable but became obsolete because of the rate at which the economy was booming. Therefore most companies switched to more cost effective goods such as cotton and polyester.

Whatever your flavor: red, green, white, pink, brown, black, small, large, mini bags, wallets or purses, Coach has got it all. It is a little more expensive, but you know it will last. I mean last; not just as in it will not fall apart, but last as in; whatever the trend happens to be, you know that the Soho line and hobo design will always be in.

The Black Coach Soho Signature Purse reminds me of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Like Audrey Hepburn, her beauty, style and grace live forever as a vintage icon of what it means to be an individualized woman. The same can be said for the Soho. The varieties, quality and style will continue to dominate the accessory world making it ideal for just about any girl.

Kurek Ashley Inspires

Being a motivational coach is hard work. You need to deal with a lot of negativity as that is the main hurdle people want to get rid of. Kurek Ashley is a success mentor and a peak performance coach. He deals with these issues all the time and he is good at it.

On a recent trip to Brisbane, Australia, Kurek Ashley visited some friends. It was at an internet marketing event that went for 2 days. Kurek Ashley was invited to speak for 2 hours to help these marketers to improve their mindset and grow as successful entrepreneurs. The time was well spent and they all got a lot out of his speech. Some of the topics covered had everything to do with peak performance and how to deal with empowering habits.

Motivation

To say that Kurek Ashley is a Peak Performance Coach is almost an understatement. He is so good at what he does, then over delivers on the motivation and tools provided. To think that he has come from a very tough period in his life, makes it even more incredible. He used to be a Hollywood actor and lost his best friend during the filming of a high budget movie in the Philippines.

Kurek Ashley As An Actor

Some of the Hollywood movies Kurek Ashley performed in are: Delta Force 2, Two Of A Kind, Raw Force, Terminal Velocity, Trial And Error and many more. How about the actors he has worked with? Chuck Norris, Sylvester Stallone, Brendan Fraser, and the list goes on.

The Kurek Ashley Challenge

Recently The Kurek Ashley Challenge started. A group of internet marketers decided to start blogging about the power of his mindset and how it can help more people improve their lives to a positive level.

It is easy to say that Kurek Ashley is sitting pretty now. Well, he has had to work for it and the road hasn’t been easy. He also works hard for it now. He delivers what he promises and has a level of ethics and integrity that is second to none. His peak performance coaching has taken many people to success. One great example is taking the Australian womens beach volleyball team to Olympic Gold in Sydney 2000.

Needless to say, Kurek Ashley is the grand master of peak performance coaching. You need to go no further than looking at his work. Stay tuned for the launch of his Life Success Club that will include celebrity interviews with tools and methods to take your life back on track to the destiny that you deserve.

The perfect time to ask for a break

Everyone wants to save money while traveling, as well as save time. For most people, there has to be a trade-off of sorts, but now more than ever, you can find excellent savings on Miami, New York and chicago flights.

Ask Nicely

You would think the price of fuel going down would have a big impact on prices, but it is actually a decrease in the number of passengers offering travelers the best prices. Not only can you get great savings right now, you can also get bonus frequent flier miles and other amenities thrown in for no extra charge.

Now is the perfect time to ask for a break. Upgrade and switch those coach seats for business class, or check out non-stop flights to chicago instead of the red-eye with that lengthy layover. Be polite, and your customer service rep may be able to work some real magic.

Go the Extra Mile

Big airports offer some of the best deals in the world, but do not be afraid to look at alternatives. You can save hundreds of dollars flying to Tampa instead of Miami, for instance, and renting a car for the drive down.

Don’t have time to rent a car? No problem. O’Hare may be the busiest airport around the globe, but you can still save money on Chicago flights Midway International. Smaller airports in big cities often cater to budget carriers, like AirTran or Sun.

Traveling cheap and traveling fast do not have to be mutually exclusive. You can have both if you hunt around, and there has never been a better time for airline deals than right now. Check out costlessflights for more on flight deals.