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Photo by Freed Photography, Inc. |
Building your business through ISES
Everyone wants to know how to increase their business. Who will be my next new client? When will I have another event to work on?
There are so many different options out there that it's hard to focus on just one or two: advertising, donating, sponsorships, networking, speaking, volunteering, websites, giveaways, mailings, etc, etc, etc. But just as we had to focus and find our niche when first starting out, you have to do the same with marketing your business.
Instinctively we want to do it all but, realistically, everyone has to balance their time and finances. If you spend all of your time marketing but have no business, then you have no credibility. If you spend all of your time on your current event and don't have time to market yourself, then you won't have any future business.
The good news is that as a ISES DC member, all of these opportunities are available to you within our own chapter. The balance is in picking one or two areas to focus on that you can incorporate into your daily or weekly workflow.
For me, networking and volunteering have been the main force in building my business. All of my clients have been referrals from ISES, other volunteer organizations or my own clients. I know for other ISES members, their business comes from donating to one of our monthly meetings, advertising in the newsletter, or sponsoring the Capital Awards Gala.
Make the most of your ISES membership and take advantage of the marketing opportunities within our chapter. Visit the ISES DC website for promotional information. Volunteer for a committee and increase your networking circles. Or signup to be a donor to showcase your talent and wares at one of our monthly meetings.
Make the commitment. Set aside a few hours a week, or even a month, to build your business and use some of the great ISES DC resources available to you. You may be pleasantly surprised by the results.
Raegan Smythe
ISES DC President
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Registration
Snafu Inspires Policy Evaluation
Other protocol questions come our
way from time-to-time, such as why guests have to pay for alcohol
and valet. The first is easy to answer. Two years ago, we sent
a chapter-wide survey evaluating member preferences. As monthly
event fees had not risen in years, members were asked if they
preferred higher fees or paying for one's own beverage consumption.
The vast majority voted to keep fees down. Some caterers offer
a complimentary alcoholic beverage, but this is entirely optional.
We do ask caterers to provide a complimentary, non-alcoholic
beverage and most comply. In regard to valet, many venues contract
out this service and have no control on pricing. Valet parking
is a nice luxury, but other parking options are always available. |
As event professionals,
most of us enjoy blissfully, hectic schedules scrambling to meet
multiple deadlines, both professional and personal. Whereas,
one might be inclined to wait until the last minute to register
for a monthly ISES event, registering early is advantageous to
all. |
Step Up Your Marketing Activities
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So
you have a cute business name, logo, business card, brochure
and Web site. Great! But what else are you doing to promote your
company (if you're an entrepreneur) or your skill set (if you're
an employee)? Below is an abbreviated list of promotional activities
you should pursue to market your company and yourself (US Small
Business Administration, |
Making
Research Do More For Your Business
Marketing professionals, like Dawn Mixon of D Solutions (our speaker at the October dinner), work with businesses of every size and in every industry to help them determine their unique selling proposition (USP). USPs help companies differentiate themselves from the competition in a way that is appealing to customers.
Business professionals face a myriad of decisions concerning their communications strategy all the time, but a little money spent on quality research can provide peace of mind that the decisions being made are the right ones. Promote
Your Business at an ISES Meeting
Did I mention that there is no cost for displaying your services here? We each spend countless hours and dollars to become known and respected by ISES members. I urge you to also recognize that you will become better known by ISES members by allowing them to know not just you but your products and services as well. At a time when we need to appeal to all of our potential clients' senses, monthly ISES meetings offera great way to show off all that your company has to offer. |
Small
and large businesses alike face important decisions almost every
day as they maneuver a constantly changing business environment.
Quite often what makes a business continue to be successful is
how decision makers stay on top of the changing needs and desires
of their customers. While many companies will constantly conduct
opinion surveys to measure customer satisfaction, companies who
instead work to turn their studies into actionable strategic
recommendations enjoy a much higher return on investment (ROI).
Research
companies, like Candice Bennett & Associates, often work
in tangent with marketing, public relations, and advertising
professionals to determine which USP is the most effective in
impacting customer behavior. Conducting a stated versus derived
importance analysis is one effective way of evaluating possible
USPs. Anywhere from one to thirty possible benefits or USPs are
shown to the target audience, and the respondent is asked to
evaluate the absolute importance or appeal of each statement.
The statistician will then run a correlation analysis to determine
the predictability of benefits on actual behavior, to help us
understand which benefits (or USPs) actually drives their purchase
behavior.
ISES
members can do more to promote their businesses than just developing
edgy web sites, brochures and business cards. We also have the
ability to let the special event industry see, touch and feel
our services first-hand by demonstrating our products at a monthly
ISES meeting. In addition to having an exclusive group of professionals
experience our services, we will also be doing a great service
to ISES, its members and our friends in ISES. I urge each member
to take the opportunity to use monthly ISES meetings as if they
were exclusive member-only trade shows.ISES DC Showcases
at National Affordable Meetings
By
Dave Edwards, CSEP, Dave Edwards Events! Inc.
ISES DC Director of Strategic Alliances
ISES DC showcased to over 1700 meeting
planners at the National Affordable Meetings show at the DC Convention
Center. Many of our members were on hand to spread the word about
ISES to the attendees: Dave Edwards, CSEP (Dir. Strategic Alliances),
Kelley Gillespie (VP Membership), Dubey Dubiach, CSEP (Dir. Breakers),
Pat Richitt (Dir. Programming), Pam Burton (Past President),
Lisa Mihalik, (Dir. Front Desk), Renee Stake, Michael Oleru and
Jackie Yacenda. Special thanks go to Michael Wagner of Promovision
who provided ISES logo bags.
2005 ISES DC,
All Rights Reserved.