Project Scope: Custom designed and printed announcements.

Project Scope: Logo For Erika’s Elegant Edibles

One day last Summer as I was perusing my twitter feed I kept seeing tweets with the #Hustle2010 now #SparkandHustle hashtag via The Broke Socialite. As I did a search for all of the Spark and Hustle tweets I became engrossed in the all of the informative tweets that were coming through. Topics like pricing for profit and more that pertained to me as a business owner. Some of the tweets that I loved were:

• Define who you are in one sentence. It forces you to be clear about your purpose. @toryjohnson #hustle1010
• Don’t price like a community college if you offer Harvard-level services. @cindywmorrison #hustle2010
• @MichellePippin says income increases in direct relation to how ruthlessly & unapologetically you protect your time #hustle2010

So fast forward to the end of last year when Tory Johnson the creator genius behind Spark and Hustle announces that they are going on a multi-city tour. I was ecstatic to say the least especially with LA being the first stop on the tour. I was determined to get there. Didn’t know how I was going to pay for it but I knew that my attendance was a must for the growth of our businesses. As the date grew closer I was racking my brain trying to figure out how I was going to pay for the conference. I was going to get to Spark and Hustle one way or another even if it wasn’t for the conference in LA.

Fast forward again… Tory had a call in one morning and on the call announced that Jack and Julie Nadel had donated funds for scholarships for women to attend. The call wasn’t even over before I fired off my email to express my interest in attending a taking advantage of the scholarships that were available. I’m sure that my email wasn’t perfect but this was my golden opportunity and I didn’t want to miss out by trying to craft the perfect email. Alex got back to us immediately. After the call with the Alex I called the rest of my crew: Scentsational Soaps, Deeply Rooted Apparel, Tracey Ambrose and Bohemian Spirit Jewelry. I knew that we all would benefit greatly from the conference.

Spark and Hustle was everything that I expected and more. All of the panelist were so open and honest and open to sharing ideas. All of the speakers were AMAZING to say the least. Just a few of my favorites were:

Jack Nadel, Ideas That Mean Business – To whom I am forever grateful because he was the reason that I was able to attend Spark and Hustle. “Be Market Driven, not Product Driven” “Perceived value is what sells- real value is what repeats”

Jessica Herrin, founder of Stella & Dot – “The best advertising is word of mouth” , “It’s easy to take a dollar & turn it into 90 cents. You need to take that dollar & make a dollar ten”, “The only failure is quitting” “Generate sales anything else is procrastination” “If you’re not ready for real biz issues.. Start a unicorn farm.” Tenacity counts!! and “Try harder longer”

Ann Evanston, Warrior-Prenuer – “Don’t survive as a business, THRIVE!” “Be surrounded by people who will challenge you”

Tory Johnson, Spark and Hustle, Women For Hire – “Turn dreams into a firm decision” “Ask for the money in a way that generates sales” “Don’t wait for the “right time” to make a move. Don’t wait for this, that and the other to happen before you can take action. Your time is right now, so start today exactly where you are.”

Jess Weiner, Actionist! – “Someone else success is not my failure” “Fear is a debt you may not owe”

The bottom line is if you’re on the fence about attending , you shouldn’t be. It was a phenomenal experience. I’d love to attend again. I promise you that you will NOT be disappointed.

Here are the 2011 Spark and Hustle National Tour Schedule:

Los Angeles: February 3 – 5
Tulsa: February 10 – 12
New York: March 10 – 12
Dallas: March 24 – 26
Chicago: April 7 – 9
Boston: May 12 – 14
Orlando: May 19 – May 21
Atlanta: July 21 – 23

Project Scope: Identity for Jenni

I stumbled across a great article by Nicholas Bate and I just wanted to share a few of the basic principals with you.

1. Pinch the best ideas from your competition. Then build upon them.

2. Your business isn’t special. It’s like all others. It needs money coming in, it needs motivated staff, it needs to manage its costs, it needs to innovate. Who’s making that stuff happen?

3. Stop wishing. Start selling. Stop imagining. Pick up the phones. Stop playing with pipeline percentages. Ring every account and ask for business.

4. Are you excited about your business? No? Best find something else…

5. Never walk by something which could be improved in your business. A dangerous trailing lead. A dog-eared brochure. A web-site link which is broken. Notice it? Fix it.

6. Simply be better. At everything you do. Products are shipped faster. Proposals are easier to read. Reception is friendlier. The coffee is worth coming back for.

7. (a) price-cost=profit
(b) profit x lots=sleep@night
Thus: price for a good night’s sleep. Not just ‘a deal’.

8. ‘I didn’t have time’ is not a valid excuse for a smart, entrepreneurial person such as  yourself. Make tough choices.

9. When you need more money, don’t necessarily think investors.  You may regret the freedom you give away which was actually the reason you went into business in the first place.

10. Notice how the small stuff can really wind you up when you are in  line for a coffee or dealing with your bank. Does your business do that to its customers?

11. Keep asking: what else can we offer our current customers which would (1) help them (2) make us money (3) but not destroy nor damage our original business?

12. Quality isn’t an extra, it has to be a given. Never, ever, ever walk by a quality issue.

13. Know where you really make money. It may not be where you want to make it, used to make it or thought you made it. So long as you know.