Thursday, May 10, 2007

Postcards from the Edge

Hello everyone! Your chief Mogulette here reporting from the trenches. We're in the midst of marketing mania. Last week me and three other Mogulettes trekked over to Flatbush, Brooklyn for a seminar on cheap ways to market your business sponsored by CAMBA, a local agency that helps startups. It took us an hour and 20 minutes to get there but it was worth it. Jay Savulich, who led the workshop, had us in stitches most of the time. He's launched and run a number of restaurants in Manhattan like Tortilla Flats and Grange Hall, so he shared many funny and instructive stories on how to "win friends and influence people".

Brenda and Viv at the marketing seminar

One of our fellow Mogulettes, Brenda (above left), asked a question that brought up an interesting discussion. She is launching a dog care service and wanted to know if it was a good idea to put the name of your company on those little plastic bags used to scoop up your dog's poop. My initial thought was "Hell, no! That's gross!" But Jay pointed out that if you put your logo on the bags and give them away for free, it's a way to build customer loyalty and advertise your brand. Of course!!

This week we piggy-backed on the marketing theme and did a brainstorming session to figure out ways to promote ourselves. We had two ladies in the group providing pet care services so one suggestion we came up with was to print out postcards and use a similar strategy to Olimpia's (see her story here): strike up relationships with pet store owners where you send each other customers and leave a stack of cards at their store. Another one is give your existing clients a special gift (a discount or some other freebie) if they refer their friends to you.

As for my own business, I got a great idea from Ina, an incredibly creative make-up artist and stylist who's also part of our group. I was searching for a logo for the Mogulettes and this image in my head of a strong, invincible woman that does it all. There's a caricature in an E-surance commercial that comes close to what I had in mind - but Ina came up with an even better one: take the Charlie's Angels image of three women and instead of them holding weapons they hold a cellphone, a laptop and a briefcase! Love it! Soon to be at a Mogulette blog near you! Over and out...

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