CONNECTIONS

Although we’ve slowed the publication dates a little, we’re rolling along smoothly with this, the sixth issue of Connections. This time around, I’d like to begin with a story – a short, but very compelling one for all you entrepreneurs (and soon-to-be or on-the-fence entrepreneurs, as well) out there.

A little while ago, I was sitting in the audience at the Westlake Village/Thousand Oaks’ monthly Chamber of Commerce Breakfast. I attend these pretty regularly and am convinced that they constitute a networking opportunity preferable to the various evening mixers sponsored by the chamber. This is, of course, my opinion. You are free to disagree, as always.

The speaker was Dave Weddle, Co-founder of YouSeeNow.com a business video network that creates high density video commercials for business owners and markets them to their target audiences. Great idea, really.

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– Dave Weddle
Co-Founder, YOUSEENOW.com

OK. The world’s a scary place. Gas prices are killing you. We’re in a recession or depression or something shaky and it’s not good. The cost of everything is either going up or gone out of reach already. Clients are cutting back, retrenching, preparing for the coming economic storm. So What?

The solution is not to cut your advertising/marketing/promotional budget (or even to reduce it). Now is the time to kick your efforts up a notch or two (or even three) and GROW YOUR BUSINESS.

I’m going to keep this short and to the point. Down and dirty. Here are a few suggestions:

1. GET UP AND GET OUT

Tomorrow morning, GET UP and turn off the TV. Better yet, don’t even turn it on in the first place. Eschew the news and read something funny or stimulating or motivating - then get out of the house…and SMILE as you walk out the door. If your home is your business, get out of the house anyway. Go for a walk. And as you walk down the street, walk through your day. Begin the positive get-it-done thought process that will get you going in the right direction.
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– Dr. Rob Veis, Dentist, Lecturer and
CEO, Appliance Therapy Group

In today’s information age, you can’t read a paper, listen to the radio or watch television without learning something about the latest device, herbal medicine, nasal strip, surgical technique or dental appliance being used to treat SNORING.

If you snore loudly and often, you are no doubt accustomed to middle-of-the- night elbow thrusts, occasional forced exile to the living room sofa (or the garage) and lots of bad jokes. But snoring is no laughing matter.

That log sawing animal noise that keeps everyone awake and contemplating murder (yours) comes from foiled attempts (also yours) to force air through an airway that is not fully “open-air.”

Truth be told, perhaps ten percent of adults snore. And although for most of those afflicted, snoring has no serious medical consequences, for an estimated one percent, habitual snoring is the first indication of a potentially life-threatening disorder called Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

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– Kirk Mann, M.Ac. L.A.c
Ventura Acupuncture Clinic

When you hear the terms “acupuncture” and “Chinese medicine,” what comes to mind? Many of us have experienced oriental medicine in some form (or know someone who has). I would venture to say that still more don’t really know anything about it at all.

Questions abound. How does Chinese medicine differ from Western medicine? Does it really work? How does it work? How can it help me? I’d like to try to answer a few of those questions central to one’s understanding of how and why Chinese Medicine works, and establish one clear point: It does work.

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Chinese medicine is a holistic system that has been evolving over thousands of years - holistic in the sense that it takes into account the body, emotions, mind and spirit. It views disease as a manifestation of disharmony between organ systems and an imbalance of energy (chi) and blood. Treatments may include herbs, acupressure and tui na (massage), cupping (suction cups), diet recommendations, moxibustion (heating points with a special herb), and yes, acupuncture.

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– Barry Ridge, Principal
Barry Ridge Graphic Design

Branding…seems to be the buzz word of today’s business strategies. But what exactly is branding? How does it shape perception of a product or service? What distinguishes a great brand from a not-so-great one?

We all saw the news footage and photos of the Enron corporate headquarters during that memorable shake up. The Enron logo was central to it all: stylized three dimensional, “E” tilted up to suggest onward and upward positive intention. Funny how intentions can take you places you never intend to go. When the house of cards came crashing down, that good intentioned logo became a symbol of corporate greed and financial disaster for the thousands of people who had placed their trust in the Enron brand and its promise of prosperity.

Brand Does Not Live By Design Alone

We all learned in grammar school that fire could not continue to burn if you removed one of its three essential elements from the mix: heat, oxygen or fuel. Successful branding is also a function of three essential elements: Design. Promise. Delivery.

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–Vinh Bui, WebMaster

Part Six: The Rules for “Linking Up”

To recap, in the previous issue of Connections, I provided a brief historical perspective on Google and the concept of “search” as it pertains to the worldwide web — also explaining why all links are not created equal. In this issue, I’d like to explore the basics of orchestrating a proper linking campaign — one that benefits your search engine rankings for your website and your market.

Getting other related websites to link to you isn’t as difficult as you might think. Gentle coercion is the key. As in the real world, it helps to spruce yourself up and do a little flirting. Just remember, though…there are rules.

Rule One: Be a “Giver.”
Build your site to be as informative, as interactive and as content-rich as is humanly possible. This constitutes the foundation for a useful linking campaign. A resource-filled website will benefit your business in two very important ways. First, people will link to you because your content is useful and informative and they want to “spread the love” to you and their own site visitors. Sooooooo, simply put, you should look like you have a lot of “love” to give. Second, content-rich sites with a lot of text give Google and other search engines more…more to index, more to love. That gives you better search rankings. Everybody wins.

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– Scot Simmons, Founder/CEO,
The Simmons Group

Ahhhhh, Networking…the grown up version (and sometimes equivalent) of the collegiate “What’s your name? What’s your major? Do you want to do it?” Actually, I’m not sure if these days the question period lasts that long.

All humor aside…how is that Networking thing going for you?

Networking is a biiiiiig topic, rife with side roads and tributaries and ancillary considerations and alternate distinctions. I don’ t want to talk about any of those (today). I’m going to talk about networking groups — what they are what they should be and how to get the most out of one.

The first networking group I joined played strictly by the book. $300 fee to join. Monthly fee for breakfast. Referral slips; exclusivity (only one member allowed from each field); strict attendance rules (miss three times, you are relegated to networking “purgatory” until someone is found to replace you or it’s determined that there is only one widget polisher in the network area and you are reinstated); monthly socials, bi-monthly gatherings, yearly membership symposiums.

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