November Entrepreneur Meetup!

November 18(Thu) 7:00PM

Location: 422 Richards Street 3rd floor Vancouver, BC V6B 2Z3  

The Network Hub (www.thenetworkhub.ca)

Where has the year gone? We are nearing the end of 2010 and this will be the last Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup of the year! We are going out on a bang with a topic that everyone has been asking for – generating more traffic to your website! I hope to see you all at this last Vancouver Entrepreneur Meetup of the year!!!

For many years, a lot of questions have been raised about Search Engine Marketing – How do I get listed on the 1st page of Google? How can I get more targeted traffic to my website? What can I do to increase lead conversion on my website? What is this local marketing or targeted local online marketing?

It is all very dizzying to keep up and get going for entrepreneurs and small business owners. This month we are fortunate to have a leading expert in Search Marketing who will be giving practical tips that you can take and use right away. No lingo, no theory – just useful and practical tips that help you see the impact right away.

Search Marketing is very important for entrepreneurs – it’s an effective method for driving highly targeted visitors to your website. Without search marketing, your website and online store is buried deep in the thousands of results that a search engine produces.

This month, our guest speaker is Adrian Eden. Adrian has experienced a great deal of success in increasing visibility and profitability of his clients thanks to his ability to consistently deliver exceptional results.

Adrian, borned and raised in Salmon Arm is a small town boy who moved to Vancouver after many years in Costa Rica, is the founder of YaletownSEO.ca – an online search marketing company. He spent many years holding key marketing roles in Fiver Media and Riptown Media, executing results for the Bodog Brand. Right now, Adrian is one of the key people behind the Search Marketing and Social Media Strategy for Coleman Heating and Air Conditioning.

If you want to get practical tips to increase traffic to your website, increase engagement online and more importantly, increasing your online profitability – make sure you RSVP to hear Adrian Edenspeak!
The event is FREE but we do appreciate a bottle of wine to share with everyone.

Sign Up!

http://www.meetup.com/vancouver-entrepreneurs-startup-vancouver-office-space/calendar/15383841/?from=list&offset=0

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Small Business BC

There was never a business figure around me. So, I had in mind that applying at a company or working for the public was the only way to go. I always thought of business women and businessmen as strong, powerful individuals. They have to study tax law, municipal licensing requirements, think about insurance and accounting, marketing plans and publicity, etc. These issues put me in confusion!

However, I recently heard that my cousin started her own business. She is 4 years older than me and now she has her own dog grooming shop. To me, she was that strong, powerful businesswoman! She is very kind and loves running her business. She’s one of my role models. I knew that she planned this for a while and she did her research. She’s always busy but she looks happier than ever!

Learning is always interesting. Starting a new experience is a challenging treasure in life and we can have good opportunity to study about starting business at Small Business BC .

There are many seminars, for example“Start Smart- Resources and Registrations”- it covers basic small business start-up information and is designated for the client in the thinking stage of starting a business.

Wednesday, October 6th , 2010-9:00am-12:00pm

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010-5:00pm-8:00pm

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010-1:00pm-4:00pm

Thursday, December 2nd ,2010-9:00pm-12:00pm

Cost: $49.00 plus taxes

In addition, there is “Young Entrepreneurship Day-September”. It is a seminar for those between 18 and 35 and interested in business planning and financing.

To register:  http://www.smallbusinessbc.ca/seminars or visit your local office.

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Dealing with a challenging day in a musical way

After a long rough day, especially a day where it all feels all overwhelming.  I turn up “Dirt off your shoulder” by Jay-Z real loud!  Jay-Z is an inspiration to me, he came from the ghetto to creating an empire and becoming one of the richest man in America.

I hope you will enjoy this song as much as I do!

  Jay-Z‘s most inspiring quote: “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man. Let me handle my business, damn!

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The Style Spy - Erica Lam

In the business world mostly full of men, I am always excited to meet fellow female entrepreneurs.  I am very honoured to count Erica as one of my friends but our relationship is a bit more special, she was the very FIRST tenant when The Network Hub opened.  She is fierce, glamorous, stylish, charismatic, powerful but she does it all with heart.  In her pink lipstick, perfectly curled hair and her trendy garb she controls the situation whether it is in a business situation or an event for a thousand plus people.  Whether it is commanding attention in the board room or fighting for that last pair of Manolo, she does it with style – she is The Style Spy afterall.

1. Tell us what you do
Where do I start! I run the editorial arm of TheStyleSpy.com, a popular fashion/shopping blog. I work with a team of talented freelance writers, keeping women in Canada in-the-know on the hottest fashion trends, beauty must-haves and sales & deals going on around town. I’m a city expert on all things shopping. TheStyleSpy.com also hosts a monthly fashion segment onCityLights on NovusTV. I also run a marketing arm under The Style Spy Media Inc. I work with fashion retailers and shopping centres on their marketing, whether it be interactive shopping events, marketing campaigns, public relations or social media initiatives.

2. When and why did you decide to be an entrepreneur?
Just over three years ago. I had worked a few jobs post university in marketing and sales. One day I started the TheStyleSpy.com blog by suggestion of a co-worker, my concept was shopping for everyday girls. Fashion has always been reserved for the elite, I always felt that fashion should be more accessible, cause reality is, most of us don’t shop in the pages of Vogue and we do shop at chain stores and try to duplicate looks for less. Once I started the blog, it became a bit of an obsession. I thought “how could I make this a business?” – how could this passion of mine, be more then just a hobby. That was three years ago. It’s been nothing short of amazing. I honestly didn’t exactly know how I was going to make money. Sure there are advertising dollars associated with the site, but I don’t have numbers like PerezHilton.com, so I definitely had to be creative to find ways to generate revenue. I realized my strength was the loyal network of female shoppers I had built. So I started to doing events with companies likeThe Bay and Richmond Centre, driving my audience and others through social media to events and promoting their brands. I execute the events or marketing campaigns with no traditional advertising dollars – utilizing Facebook, Twitter, the Style Spy network and doing traditional public relations on behalf of my clients. It’s worked out well, with companies wanting to take chances with smaller companies and wanting to find creative ways to engage their audiences. My clients have included the aforementioned Bay, Richmond Centre, as well as Metropolis at Metrotown, the Yaletown Business Improvement Association and boutiques like Ishara, Fine Finds, Orb Clothing and Wink Beauty Lounge.

3. What was the most challenging aspect of being a woman entrepreneur from your perspective?
I’ve been very lucky in this aspect. My audience is also female, which allows me to relate and understand them well. I also work with a lot of decision makers who are female and it’s worked my advantage. They often relate to me and see me as the very demographic and market they’re trying to reach. Giving me an inside edge, cause who better to speak to an audience then someone who is part of it.

4. What is a key personal attribute you see in successful entrepreneurs?
Determination. There will be many obstacles placed in front of you. Being an entrepreneur, and a successful one at that, takes lots of hard work, perseverance, determination and a bit of luck. There will be many moments when you wonder why you are doing this, but those who succeed are those who keep going despite the hurdles. I believe the journey is also part of the story, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

5. Any advice you would like to give to someone contemplating a start-up?
Do your homework, always educate yourself. I read countless blogs, from fashion to tech to small business. You want to be in on the action, always in-the-know. Networking is also huge. You could spend countless hours studying something, but if you know the right people – it can take you there that much faster. Be humble. I find lots of “pseudo-entrepreneurs” get caught up in the whole excitement of being an entrepreneur and lose sight of what is really the nuts and bolts their business. It’s really about the business, not the fame of being an entrepreneur. Lastly, bootstrap it. There are lots of things I spent money on that I wish I hadn’t. At first, you just have to make do with the basics and forgo the fancy office, spend wisely.

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Followformation – Brian Wong

Some of the best people I have met are through random introductions. Brian Wong was introduced through a mutual acquaintance of mine and after five minutes of meeting, I was completely fascinated by his endless amount of energy, enthusiasm and all of that on two hours of sleep. Even more fascinating is the company he has started with his co-founders and what they are up to right now.Followformation is a media darling at the moment as they are the start-up company from Vancouver that is making big waves in the social media world. If you don’t believe me, at the end of the interview there is a list of the press coverage they have garnered so far!

1. Tell us what you do.
Right now, I’m the co-founder of Aer Marketing Inc., an online start-up. We are the dudes behind Followformation.  I am responsible for the ideation, the design concepts behind all our work, and business development (i.e. full-time networking) + anything else that needs to be done.

2. You just finished university, how did you find the time to run Aer Marketing and also startFollow Formation while dealing with exams plus an internship with 1-800-got-junk?
I tell people I practice polyphasic sleeping, but the real truth is just that I sleep very little. I would my manage my time by following what Tim Ferris would call a low-information diet, while separating certain parts of my day for certain things. Followformation was started during the summer, so it was a little less stressful then. But near the end of my last term at university I was working my internship during the mornings and early afternoons Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, going to classes in the remaining time during the day, and allocating “aertime” every evening between play-time and dinner to work on our projects.

3. What was the most challenging aspect of being a young entrepreneur from your perspective?
Young and old, I think the hardest challenge is to “keep trucking” – there are always things that get in your way, and every day, it’s a battle. All I know is that this work has empowered me as a youth to go out and learn new things and meet and work with amazing people – things I would not have been able to experience had I thrown myself at a yawn-worthy line of work.

4. You have had a ton of press lately from the Georgia Straight to the highly sought afterMashable.com, what was the biggest reason for your success with getting press for your company?
Mashable was a complete fluke, but I took it upon myself to leverage that buzz. I have been up very early every morning since then hitting journalists on their blackberry’s and iPhones right before they hit the office. I’m actually pretty bad at it though. The other big reason is, and I hear this a lot – if your idea or concept at its core is not sticky or buzz-worthy, pushing it can only go so far. I think all the blog posts and tweets are a good litmus test for that.

5. If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself regarding your business?
Don’t assume that everyone’s on the same page even when they’ve nodded their heads.

North America Press Coverage

Mashable: http://mashable.com/2009/07/14/followformation/
Fast Company: http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/chris-dannen/techwatch/super-charge-your-twittering-followformation
The Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/x-11216-Twitter-Examiner~y2009m7d16-Alltop-model-for-Twitter-from-Followformation
Killer Startups: http://www.killerstartups.com/Web-App-Tools/followformation-com-make-following-make-sense
InventorSpot: http://inventorspot.com/articles/migrate_followformation_30351
Blogger Institute: http://www.bloggerinstitute.com/2009/07/how-followformation-helps-your-blog/
Local – Techvibes: http://www.techvibes.com/blog/followformation-makes-sense-out-of-following-on-twitter
Local – The Georgia Straight: http://www.straight.com/article-241644/followformationcom
Local – Sauder School of Business Newsletter:https://secure.sauder.ubc.ca/360newsletter/20090716.htm

International Press Coverage

Brazilian business magazine: http://www.papodeempreendedor.com.br/tecnologia/para-tirar-melhor-proveito-do-twitter/
French social media blog: http://www.tubbydev.com/2009/07/qui-et-comment-suivre-sur-twitter-.html
Singapore top Tweeter blog (@techxav): http://techxav.com/2009/07/16/followformation-lets-you-follow-the-top-people-in-the-areas-of-your-interest/

 

And all the rest of our blog hits: http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?q=followformation

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Design Vetica – William, David and Alex

Starting a company is hard but it’s even harder when you are in high school! So if you have excuses such as – I don’t have the time, I don’t have the money, or I don’t have the connection to start my business, team Design Vetica will blow all those excuses out of the water. They are young, they are determined and they are having fun working on their business.  Follow the team on twitter @designvetica.

1. Tell us what you do.
Design Vetica is a Vancouver based interactive agency dedicated to web design and media production. With our core service being web design and development, we work with clients across all kinds of industries to aid them in staying ahead of the competition. Not only do we emphasize on businesses, we also create websites for individuals who want an online presence. In addition, within the next few months, we look forward to adding new media services offerings to what we currently provide.

2. What is the start-up story behind Design Vetica?
All of the partners in Design Vetica, before establishing this agency, have either worked as freelance web designer/developer, or have built some websites themselves. Most of the projects they received were referrals from friends; but long before that, they have done multiple projects for themselves. Recognized by what they can achieve, they were given one of their biggest projects: building their school’s site (and they were paid with school credits). In the following year, William and David started talking about building a company on the idea of web design and media production in IT class. Soon, they pulled Alex into the picture since he was very close in working on previous projects with William. On February 6th, 2009 Design Veticawas born.

3. What was the most challenging aspect of being a young entrepreneur from your perspective as your entire team is still in high school?
Our most challenging aspect of being a young entrepreneur is that we are STILL in high school! People who are not constraint with schoolwork can focus solely on their work (apart from all the other random stuff). However, we, as students have to juggle school work and getting good marks while keeping up with deadlines from multiple projects with clients. This has caused some problems already. For example, we had to drop potential clients during finals. Nevertheless, at times, we encourage each other to keep up our grades in school.

4. To what do you attribute your company’s achievement?
All of us at Design Vetica can attribute our achievements to the individual member in the team. Without such a dedicated and hard working team, Design Vetica wouldn’t be where it stands now.

5. What advices do you give aspiring entrepreneurs, especially those who want to start in high school?
It may sound cheesy, but DO IT; because you never know unless you try. The truth is when we think back to how we started, we were even shocked to find ourselves following such a crazy idea; but we are glad that we did it. Even if your idea fails, use it as an experience because we all learn from mistakes.

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Following your bliss

“Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

You have probably heard a million times, follow your bliss or follow your heart which really means do what you are passionate about. What it means for me means casting aside my degree, defying my parents, and leaving a possible career in criminal law – everything that is seemingly concrete and predicable to do something that my heart tells me. Try explaining that to your parents and your peers – my heart is telling me something else and oh yeah by the way, forget what happened in the last 7 years of education and yes that 2 years in law, let’s pretend none of that happened. What I really want to do was with two partners; build a place where entrepreneurs can call their second home.

We struggled and struggled hard. We were MISERABLE as we were all young all still in university with pressure of exams, satisfying demands of current clients for our current business and dealing with family pressure. One of my partners was in Computer Science and another in Chemistry, and I was in Applied Science with a clear path going to Law. None of us knew what constructions look like but we all came to the office after work and school to carry hardwood and drywall to help out the construction workers. We accelerate the construction process from the estimated timeline of 6 months to 3 months.

  

That was 2 and half years ago and we never looked back. The result is The Network Hub. The space is now more than 4 walls and some doors, it vibrates with enthusiasm, energy and passion from the people who occupy it. If I ever doubt my path or have a moment of weakness, all I need is to open the door to soak in the buzz and the vibrations from the people in the space determined to change the world in their own way, completely absorbed in their passion and loving every minute of it.

  

One person in our space who is so passionate about his cause, he is staying up 24 hours to blog to raise funds for the BC Cancer Foundation. Dr. Raul Pacheco has lost 3 family members to cancer, including two of his Mom’s sisters (lung cancer and stomach cancer, respectively) and his grandmother (pancreatic cancer). If this isn’t pure passion, I don’t know what is… please donate generously to Raul. I sure will be as a person who recently lost my uncle to pancreatic cancer.

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Bootstrapping…

Are you thinking about starting your own business? Have I told you about the sleepless nights? Have I told you about the stress you are about to have for the next umm….5 years? Are you breaking into a cold sweat yet? How about if I tell you every time you try to sleep, you spring right up again because you thought of an idea that can’t wait until tomorrow?

Still want to start your own busines?? Are you serious??!!?

I’ll let you in on a secret….there has never been a better time to start your business with very little money.

The Network Hub is not my first and only business, I founded Atomic Media in 1999 and I wish I read this book back then. It re-educated and re-programmed my mind about how to start a business. The Bootstrapper’s Bible became an invaluable guide to help start The Network Hub. It literally is a bible that will give you practical advices but more importantly, it will also point out the million ways you can do wrong in your business – it is very realistic. No romanticism about owning your own business here.

Download this book for FREE: The Bootstrapper’s Bible

This book is by Seth Godin of the famed books “Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable and Free Prize Inside: The Next Big Marketing Idea”

It is filled with great practical advices, how-to wisdom, ideas and some serious inspiration for startups, entrepreneurs and even seasoned veterans. It is about getting back to basics and away from the Enron and the dot com extravagances that brought a lot of devastations.

Here are some excerps from the book:

1 DISTRIBUTION. Never start by selling your product in major stores. Instead, use mail order. Or sell directly to just a few customers for lots of money per sale. Or use the Internet. The last step in your chain is traditional distribution.

2 ACCESS TO CAPITAL. Be cheap. In everything. Don’t pick a business in which access to money is an important element. That means that building a cable service, a worldwide cellular phone system, or a chemical refinery probably wouldn’t be on your list. When you do need capital, don’t pay retail.

Borrow from customers or suppliers. Find an equity angel. But don’t borrow at 18 percent! And don’t use your personal credit cards.

3 BRAND EQUITY. Position yourself against the brand leader. Be cheaper than Frito’s or faster than Federal Express or cooler than Levi’s. The more the other guy’s brand gets publicized, the more your positioning statement increases in value. Be brazen in the way you compare yourself to the market leader. Your story should be short, solid, and memorable.

You’ve probably already seen the Internet analogy. Almost every single dot com failure is due to studied ignorance of the points that lie above. Well-funded Net start-up companies didn’t act like start-ups. They figured that they had enough money to act like a big company. They were wrong.

4 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS. You don’t have much of a chance of grabbing a big piece of an established company’s business away from one of its good customers right away. It’s just too easy for the company to defend against you. Instead, you can try one of these strategies:

THE INCHWORM. Get a little piece of business as a test. Then, with great service and great products, slowly but surely steal more and more of the big guy’s business. Focus on one client at a time. By the time the other guy catches on, it’ll be too late.

SELL TO SOMEONE ELSE. Either to companies that don’t already have a relationship with your target customer or to someone in a different department at your target customer’s company someone who doesn’t know she’s supposed to buy from any particular vendor. This strategy works at home too. For example, Saturn found that by marketing its cars to women, it could grab market share that might have automatically gone to Ford if the car-buying decision for couples had been up to the man.

5 GREAT EMPLOYEES. Not every employee is searching for great reputation, stability, and high pay. Amazingly enough, there are lots of people who would prefer a great adventure, stock options, flextime, a caring boss, a convenient location, or a chance to grow without bureaucracy. By focusing on what you offer that the big guys don’t, you can capture your own share of greatness.
and more great wisdoms in this book…..

Any one thinking about starting a business should definitely give it a thorough read, not once but many many times over….

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