Greetings
from everyone at Count Me In!
Winter
is on its way out and spring is in the air. After a successful
transfer to new loan software, we’re running better
than ever. We thank you for your patience during the conversion
process.
Help
Count Me In by Becoming a Member of the Change Gang Today!
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Here’s
how you can get rid of your spare change and help
Count Me In at the same time! The because® change
gang is collecting spare change for Count Me In to
give to women in the form of small business loans.
If
you can’t figure out what to do with all that
spare change that’s weighing down your pockets,
being ignored in drawers or hiding under your car
seats…join the change gang and fill up a canister
for Count Me In.
For
more information or to receive the because® change
gang canister for your salon, office or shop, please
call 1.866.4because or contact us at Count Me In at
info@count-me-in.org.
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Count
Me In and Office Depot
In
January Office Depot hosted the Second Annual Success Strategies
for Businesswomen Conference in Boca Raton, Florida. Count
Me In was thrilled to participate in a silent auction to raise
funds to provide more loans. Office Depot auctioned off several
prizes including two free nights at a Crowne Plaza Hotel anywhere
in the U.S. and a few of which were made by Count Me In loan
recipients, for a grand total of $20,000.
Coming
Soon - Shop Online at Office Depot and Help Count Me In
| Soon
shopping at Office Depot will benefit Count Me In each
time you make a purchase for your business or home office!
Just visit our web site and click on the Office Depot
logo to start shopping and help Count Me In. Watch our
site, it will be up and running soon! |
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Count
Me In on Tour with LPGA
In March
Count Me In was featured at the Phoenix stop of the LPGA
tour. Top woman golfer, Annika Sorenstam, received a check
for $15,000 for Count Me In from Crowne Plaza Hotels and
Resorts, promotional partner and official hotel of LPGA,
and presented it to Nell Merlino, President, Co-Founder
and CEO of Count Me In. Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts
has been a sponsor of Count Me In since 2000.
The
Biz Corner: Marketing & PR
Count
Me In gets a lot of questions about how to market a business.
We’ve discovered that most of our loan recipients have
received a lot of press coverage without the assistance
of a publicist. Here is some advice a couple of them had
to offer:
Kate
Dyer-Seeley of Urbanabox in Portland, Oregon
Generating
publicity is really all about being creative and fostering
relationships. You don't need to spend a lot, or even any
money to get featured. For example, my younger brother,
who is in college, helped us write our first press release.
We sent it off to the local Portland area media and started
getting coverage.
We did
the same sort of focus on national media pitches. We sent
our press kits out in small sample versions of our boxes
so that people could experience opening the boxes themselves.
This was a very small monetary investment for us, under
$150--especially when you consider the cost of advertising
in a national magazine. Thus far we have been featured in
two national magazines and made back the costs of the kits
easily.
Fostering
relationships is also an important piece of gaining publicity.
Once the press has covered you, you have to stay in contact
and think of new reasons for them to continue covering you.
For example maybe it's for a holiday, landing a large client
or for a charity event.
Adrienne
Smalls of PrisonHelp in Bronx, New York
Adrienne
started a very successful business in New York and has been
recognized several times in the media, including a recent
feature in The New York Times. Here is some advice that
she had to offer:
- Attend
free business classes (WIBO, Baruch classes, Bronx Community
College – check out the community colleges in your
area). All of these offer a tremendous opportunity to
network.
- Subscribe
to and read business newsletters and magazines such as
The Network Journal and the Kip Business Report.
- Try
to attend as many business related events as possible
within your budget.
- Always
carry tons of business cards, and speak with as many people
about your business as possible.
- Have
someone help you write a bio. If you can afford it, you
can pay someone to do it for you. I have found that most
people can get a nice bio written for them for around
$50.
- Along
with the bio, you will also need a nice headshot, both
black and white and color. If you can’t afford to
have one done professionally, have a friend do it for
you.
- Do
some research and speak with the individuals in charge
of press releases for their community newspapers and newsletters.
Get their contact information and fax them your business
information. Remember to follow up and make sure that
the information has been received.
- If
your budget permits, get some marketing tools (t-shirts,
hats, sweatshirts, etc.) to give out with your company’s
logo on it.
- Leave
cards in every store that you visit. Speak with the sales
people and tell them (in less then one minute), what it
is that you do.
Biz
Education
Take a Class Online with Count Me In
Sign
up to participate in the Count Me In online class on How
to Start a Business. Join Count Me In Business Instructor,
Kathy Keeley, in learning how to start your own business.
Topics
will include: What
You Need to Know Before You Start, Writing
a Business Plan, Obtaining
Financing, and A
Checklist for Starting a Business. Join a lively online
discussion. Hear others’ questions and get your own
questions answered. Classes are for one hour in the evening
and they can be a great opportunity to share your experiences
and learn from others. Complete an application and sign
up now for the exciting new opportunity provided through
the financial support of Morgan Stanley.
Click here to get started.
Don’t
Forget
The Financial Empowerment for Small Businesses Workshop Is
Now Available On-line!
This
online workshop is now featured on our web site and will
provide you with the knowledge you need to manage your business
and personal finances more effectively. The lesson you will
learn is it's not how much money you make but what you do
with it that counts. The workshop is designed with that
in mind. The workshop was created for Count Me In by Moneyworks
Inc. and is supported by a generous grant by Morgan Stanley.
Click
here for more information
The
instructor, Deborah Owens, is an 18-year veteran of Wall
Street and a former Vice President of Fidelity Investments.
She is host of Moneyworks, a personal finance program which
airs on public radio in Baltimore, Maryland. Deborah is
president of Moneyworks Inc., which develops financial education
programs for companies and organizations. She is a member
of the Economic Advisory Board of Girls Inc. and a trustee
on the board of the Profit Value Fund. Deborah is author
of Every Woman’s Money: Confident Investing, published
by MacMillan USA.
And
Count Me In's BizLine™ Is Up and Running!
We developed BizLine™ (insert link) so that we can
help you - the small business owner or aspiring owner -
build your business. Email us a business related question
and the Count Me In experts will answer it within 48 hours!
Ask
us a question about what is puzzling you - whether you are
just starting a business or growing fast. Email your questions
to BizLine@count-me-in.org.
Just
remember, your questions need to be business related and
try to keep them to less than a paragraph with just enough
relevant information to outline your question. We want to
help!
If you
have a question that you are hesitant to ask or are just
plain curious, check out our BizLine™
archives for a peak at some of our most commonly asked
questions.
Credit
Desk
Watch
Out – A recent BusinessWeek story highlighted how insurance
companies are using credit reports to determine premiums.
We have noticed that women’s credit is increasingly
becoming a hot topic in the media. This is mind, Count Me
In’s work to redesign the credit scoring system and
make it more woman friendly is more important than ever.
To find out why, take a look at this:
An article
in the January 28, 2002 issue of BusinessWeek featured a
woman in Washington state who has faced enormous increases
in her insurance premiums as a result of her poor credit
history. This has been happening to an alarmingly large
number of individuals across the country. Critics are viewing
the practice as discriminatory against women, low-income,
minority and elderly customers, while 92% of insurance companies
around the country find it necessary to use credit reports
to calculate premiums. Critics are also reviving the ugly
memory of redlining that was supposed have been eradicated
in the late 60s. Not only did redlining never fully disappear,
it appears to be coming back in full force.
Major
insurance companies across the nation are insisting that
credit reports are a vital piece of accurately evaluating
and calculating customers’ premiums. However, no one
has been able to understand how the companies use the information,
which is often incorrect, in determining what to charge
customers. This means that regardless of where you live,
you could be paying more for your housing insurance than
your neighbor simply because of bad credit, when your credit
may not even be bad.
Experts
in the industry are anticipating that enough criticism of
these practices will create a groundswell and force the
issue in front of policy makers.
Call
for Nominations – Environmentally Friendly Small Businesses
Are
you running an environmentally friendly business? We know
that some of our loan recipients’ businesses fall into
this category and we encourage them to apply.
Energy
Star is seeking nominations of small businesses that are
practicing exemplary energy efficiency that translates into
real dollar savings. Businesses that have shown creative
and innovative solutions are highly encouraged to enter.
Nominees should have a facility of 100,000 square feet or
less and may not be in the energy equipment industry.
The
deadline is Earth Day, April 22, 2002. For more information
on how to apply or to find out how to make your business
environmentally friendly please visit www.energystar.gov/smallbiz.
Count
Me In Family News
Interesting
Fact
According
to research compiled by the Business Women’s Network,
small businesses owned by women are more likely to have
Internet access than their male-owned counterparts. 67%
of women-owned businesses were connected online versus only
63% for men. (Dun & Bradstreet Small Business Survey)
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