Next week is “Business Networking Week” and there is a nice conference being held in San Diego at the Town & Country Hotel on Monday (February 1, 2010) with breakout sessions on building business through social networking, and networking outside your current networks (”Connect The Dots”). If you know independent business people who rely on personal referrals for their business, they can get info about the special event at this link:
The “undo” button is, admittedly, one of man’s greatest inventions. When we make critical mistakes, isn’t it wonderful to have an “undo” button to erase everything but perhaps the memory of having made an error.
But it wouldn’t hold a candle to a “do” button, if one existed. What are you determined to do in 2010? Chances are you are going to want to tell people about it, advertise it, promote it, sell it and brag about it.
Jim Hance Graphic Communications is here to provide marketing power for whatever your endeavor happens to be this year. Design and writing for great business proposals, marketing brochures, PowerPoint presentations, Websites, press kits, a direct mail piece — everything you might need to push your business to the next level.
That “undo” button I mentioned at the beginning is a great invention, but nothing compared with what you will be doing when you commit to it. What you say and how you say it is critical in determining your success in 2010, and Jim Hance can help you make your point.
The Small Business Administration was established to assist small businesses in succeeding to promote a better economy and provide jobs for everyone. The agency has assistance programs which help small businesses secure working capital from banks, and train company executives to run a competitive business.
One program which has been highly successful for women minority owned businesses competing for federal government projects is the MBE/WBE 8(a) program. By becoming certified through the SBA as an 8(a), businesses can compete for the thousands of federal contracts listed on the FedBizOpps.gov Website.
Certification as an 8(a) begins with a visit to the Small Business Administration office in your metropolitan area where you can get the necessary forms and receive coaching in preparing the application package and business strategy. Companies entering this program must have been in business for two years, and the certification process can take about a year. Once the forms are filled out and submitted, the application passes through a local approval process, then a regional approval process in San Francisco, and finally a federal approval process in Washington DC. When granted, 8(a) certification is a nine-year program with oversight from the SBA which gives the company certain advantages in the competitive bidding process.
However, businesses with 8(a) status do not typically win contracts alone. 8(a) companies usually begin working with a “mentor” or a company which has done contract business with the government agency before. The new 8(a) company may compete as the prime contractor or as a subcontractor, but the mentor company should have at least five past performance projects in their portfolio to include in the proposal, and the potential for winning the contract will be based on the mentor’s past completed work which is relevant to the contract being pursued.
The 8(a) will have to contact likely mentor companies which have outstanding track records completing government projects. By forming a joint-venture with a new 8(a) business, the mentor will become more competitive in getting contract work, and the 8(a) will begin to create a work history of past performance projects. The competitive advantage lasts a maximum of nine years, at which point the 8(a) will lose its status, but should have enough past performance work to compete effectively without the advantage, or may choose to become a mentor to another 8(a) firm. 8(a) firms can choose to work with different mentor companies in pursuing different government contracts.
Government agencies usually know what services are available and what they cost before they put the contract to bid, and may have an idea of what company will win the bid. Requests for Proposal (RFPs) are sent out to keep vendors competitive, and find out what new companies have to offer. As a business submitting a proposal to the federal government, regardless of whether you have 8(a) status or not, you are entitled to contact the federal agency, introduce your company, and discuss how the contract will be awarded. And if you don’t win the contract, you are also entitled to know where your proposal was weak compared to the company which won it.
When pursuing federal government contracts, it is a good idea to become familiar with the contracting agencies and your contract competitors, and maybe doing a joint-venture project with one or more which have done this work for the client before would be a way to start.
Did you know that the City of San Diego now has managed competition — allowing outside companies to compete with City departments such as the Data Processing Corporation for city technology projects? I produced proposals and presentations for a government construction contractor which so far in 2009 have won four contracts amounting to $3.75 billion in contract awards. That is a chunk of change. Perhaps if Data Processing Corporation needs to compete with private companies for parts of the City of San Diego’s technology services, they will have to prepare similar presentations and proposals which have not been required of them in the past. I would like an introduction to the director in a government office who might need my services in submitting well-designed proposals for government projects.
Word of the day: nota bene. You’re not likely to get anyone’s attention by spouting this line, unless you’re in Latin class. On the other hand, its abbreviation in writing, N.B., is pretty dependable as a way of directing readers’ attention. The original means “note well!” For the graphically inclined, ? also does the trick.
Networking with potential clients or people who could potentially refer you to clients is an art. It is nuanced by various techniques which can work well or ruin your chances of ever getting work in this way.
One way to ruin your chances of getting a business referral is to approach a stranger, and hand him three or four of your business cards, and ask this person to give them to his best clients. This is the surest way to strike out.
The reason is that you have to go through a three step process in building relationships. It is call the V-C-P process, where step one is becoming “visible,” or known. The second step is building “credibility” with other people by showing them over time that you do what you say you do. And the third step, “profitability,” will follow when the people who you have met and built credibility with feel good enough about you to refer you to their most valuable clients.
When an unknown person hands someone else his card, he hasn’t even gotten to “visibility” (V), yet. He isn’t even a known business person yet. After people have seen him around, seen his advertising, her people talk about him, then he becomes known. But he isn’t trusted yet. That comes with more time, and perhaps several transactions, before he builds “credibility” (C).
A better tact in a networking situation is to introduce yourself, tell people how you help your clients, and ask if there is anything you can do for them. This is a better step in the right direction in the V-C-P process.
Jim Hance Graphic Communications has launched a new Website at graphicdesignersandiego.com.
I will continue to maintain this site at wowpromotions.com, but decided to purchase other domain names which have the term “graphic design” in them for search engine purposes. “Wow Promotions” was not intended to be the name of my company, but rather a way of differentiating my services as being “promotional” and “exciting.” I chose to ignore another association: cheap promotional items. In my own mind, and I suspect in other people’s minds, promotional items is what “wow promotions” more closely represents.
My new site is only four pages long at this time, but embraces the types of projects I am looking for: copywriting, print design, Web and email design, and presentations. The text is intended to be fun and whimsical, yet very much about my work and perspective as a graphic designer.
I hope you will give me a visit, and share your opinion.
Electrical problems and inconveniences at your business can be eliminated with a new outlet, new lighting fixture or an updated electrical panel.
I know an excellent electrician.
“I like to deal with honest people,” Pete says. “In fact, I’d rather deal with a rattlesnake if I knew it was a rattlesnake than to deal with somebody pretending to be something else but actually is a rattlesnake.” Then he tells me a story.
He and a man named Preston quibbled for weeks on the price of a prize-winning, 2,800-pound bull Pete had up for sale. Preston was known for driving a hard bargain, and the two were $16,000 apart in their negotiations. As previous deals with Preston had stretched beyond a two-week span, Pete became exasperated over the current back-and-forth conversations. So he proposed, “Look, Preston, we’re not going to haggle over this forever. Let’s flip a coin. Heads, we go with my price. Tails, we go with yours.”
The man replied, “Only if we can use my quarter.” Pete agreed, and Preston flipped his quarter.
“Shoot,” Preston spat. “You win, Pete. So, okay, I’ll pay you the extra sixteen thousand.” And so he did.
Pete grins as he adds the punchline to this tale: The coin-flipping conversation took place over the phone. Pete was in Texas while Preston was in Colorado.
The accordion will be honored with a day-long celebration with four stages at Orange County Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa, CA.
The music will cover the spectrum with 40 bands from polka bands to an accordion orchestra and even a jazz ensemble. There will be workshops with people like 91-year-old Sam Constable, accordion repairman, and lessons throughout the day in accordion playing and various dances.
Here is a sample of the bands being presented: Lisa Haley and the Zydekats (Grammy nominated), Los Fabulocos with Kid Ramos, Fontenot Pappion Louisiana “Old Creole Style” Band, The Gee Rabe “Haberdashery” Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Martin Music Center Accordion Orchestra (which has performed at the White House three times), Jeffery Broussard, Roberto Rosa (Latin American Jazz), and From Russia With Love.
There will be a drawing for an accordion at 2:30 p.m. at the Main Squeeze Stage.
Orange County Accordion Festival, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Orange County Fairgrounds, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Admission only $2 or donation of canned or packaged food, kids under 12 are free. More info: Website.
