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Initial years of a business are the most crucial years. These are the years when you are building the foundation, planting the seeds for the future and a stepping stone to what your ultimate vision will manifest into. Based on various statistics, 50% of small businesses fail within five years. That's a huge number.

In this episode, I wanted to share 6 mistakes creative business owners are doing, making it difficult to survive in the long run. 1. Not having clarity on your vision - Not knowing major elements such as: your ideal client, specific niche, and strengths will stop you from moving into the right direction. 2. Setting goals without actions - Goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. Reassessing them regularly every 90 days, and breaking them down into weekly tasks in light of new data would also be ideal. 3. Unfocused - Don't be bogged down by minor details. Focus on things that actually help you generate revenue which also resonates with you, 4. Not finding a mentor - Having a D.I.Y. mentally is not gonna take you much further ahead. Instead, surround yourself with like-minded people to bounce off ideas with. 5. Not investing in yourself - Learn to invest in habits or routines that help your personal development as an entrepreneur and actually put your learnings into action. 6. Working on too many actions and ideas - Pause. Write down projects you want to do. Then review, highlight, and choose just one thing to execute in 90 days and see where it gets you. Then start on another one. This will lessen mental pressure and overload.

If you're looking for ways to reach a larger audience through experimenting with PR, this episode is for you. Laura Perkes has been a lifestyle Public Relations Consultant for 16 years. She works with entrepreneurs and small business owners, to help them use their voice and share their message in the media. She's always found the art of communication fascinating, especially connecting with people and deepening relationships through meaningful conversations. When she was younger, she always wanted to be a journalist until she realised that it's a cut-throat, dog-eat-dog industry that she wouldn't enjoy being a part of. Yet her inquisitive nature and ability to spot a news story couldn't be dampened and she simply couldn't ignore her passions completely. So she opted for a career in PR instead. This way she gets to use her strengths and skills to get business-owners in the media and helping them achieve the publicity their business needs. Here are three key points she shared with us: 1. Go beyond social media - If you're looking to fast-track your way to a larger audience, investing in public relations offers the best visibility for your brand. 2. Invest in online training or work delegation - Don't try to do it all yourself. If you can, invest in a great training course or hire a VA. This will help you make smarter choices and get more headspace to run your business. 3. Make it about your ideal client - Figure out exactly what they need and how you can help them solve that problem.   Snag your free downloadable copy of The Ultimate PR Scoop! https://www.prwithperkes.com/ultimate-pr-scoop   Contact information: www.prwithperkes.com [email protected]

 

She has many years of experience planning events, and is certified by The Wedding Planners Institute of Canada. Swoon was founded out of Alana's desire to help clients plan the perfect event, and she is passionate and committed to giving her clients 110%. Her flair for design, combined with her logistics management and day-of execution skills, has allowed her to continuously earn the praise of her clients. A lot of her clients end up friends for long after the event is over! When she's not planning events, Alana loves to travel and spend time with her husband, Mark, and their adorable puppy, Mokey.

She discussed five key points to successfully network your brand:

1. Invest - Find an activity that'll show your value to the right clients - like investing in a style shoot, connecting to other vendors, and networking yourself. 2. Know who you're building for - Have a clarity on what kind of client you want to work with and keep pushing on that direction. 3. Communicate - Early on, show your client what you would be bringing to the table so they know exactly what to expect and decide if it's a good match. 4. Engage - Whether it's Instagram or your own website, find the right avenue for your business and always come up with fresh content that'll show clients what you're all about. 5. Be yourself - At the end of the day, your brand is yourself. Be authentic and put your real self out there so you can attract the right people.

Follow them on Instagram: https://instagram.com/alanaswoonevents/ Website: https://www.swoonevents.ca/

Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/Curators-Club-113536020370908/

If you're a newbie entrepreneur or in the process of idealizing your business, here's an episode for you. Today, we are in conversation with Kimberly Fu Skubic, the mastermind to Envision Events. More than a decade ago, she embarked on a sudden change of niche from videography to event planning. Now, she's bringing her 12 years of planning events experience and 6 years of designing florals to the table.     She describes 5 possible mistakes to avoid when starting up a business: 1. Don't sacrifice your value - Invest on your skills and knowledge before taking the full dive. If you can, get a mentor to stir you into the right direction. This will help you minimize failures, mentally prepare you, and add considerable value to your professional background. 2. Don't be afraid of change - You cannot stop your business from evolving. Aside from the rapid technological advancement of our times, try to deeply understand the demographic so you can perfectly mold your brand to cater them. 3. Don't disregard your audience - Prioritize your client's comfortability, whether it's the first meeting down to the smallest details. Make sure to elevate their experience working with you. 4. Don't be inconsistent - You can be extremely creative and talented, but learning how to organize the mess will make everything so much easy to manage.  Client meetings? Overwhelming to-do list? No problem. 5. Don't be prideful - Be humble, take everything as a learning experience. Follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/envision.weddings/ Websites: https://www.envisionweddings.ca/                 https://www.envisionfloralstudio.ca/ Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/Curators-Club-113536020370908/        

 

This is episode 11 and we have Caryl Lyons from Roar Events. Caryl is a corporate event designer, owner of Roar Events, educator, and a hotel lover. Having worked for notable corporations like Condé Nast and Symantec Corp. as an employee and then independently, she's gained unique insight into the world of corporate event planning. In other words, Caryl has been on both sides of the conference table. And she has been in the industry for 27 years. So if you're hungry for corporate event knowledge and struggling with where to start, you're in luck. She describes 4 key areas she utilized to build her roaring business: 1. Brand - Choose a brand name that is crisp, simple, and accessible to your audience. 2. Consistent - Showing up with content that has great value through social media or events and sticking to it. 3. Diversification - Offering an array of related services that will help you have more flexible grounds and ultimately, a larger market. 4. Network - Building strong relationships with a pool of organizations or partnerships. Showing value can potentially connect you to more prospect collaborations in the future. Follow them on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roarevents/ Roar Playbook Website: https://www.roarplaybook.com/ Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/Curators-Club-113536020370908/        

 

In this episode we have Lisa and Jodi from The Accelerator Circle.

 

Lisa and Jodi are business coaches and now building a community for entrepreneurs through The Accelerator Circle. They bring the right people together for each event they organize. For each dinner (or other event) Jodi and Lisa carefully select the entrepreneurs who they believe will connect on a business as well as personal level, based on a chosen theme.

 

In the past they have held dinners for the Health & Wellness industry, Mompreneurs and those serving the Mom community, Real Estate industry, and more. Everyone at the event is either a personal connection or a referral from one of their community members to ensure they have connected a like-minded group.

 

Lisa and Jodi discuss what are the key pillars in building relationships for your business. 

They describe 5 key areas where you need to start building relationships:

1. Audience - How to authentically connect with your audience.
2. Clients - Getting to know your clients not just when the sale happened, but continuing to nurture that relationship and getting to know them more.
3. Entrepreneurial Village - Your tribe of like minded people.
4. Team - How you need to connect with your team. Ultimately, they are also the ones delivering to your clients. Their happiness and fulfilment will ultimately drive the customer satisfaction rate.

 

Follow them on Instagram www.instagram.com/acc_circle

In this episode, we are in conversation with Sonia G. From Chic Events By Sonia. Sonia always found herself helping her friends and family with their event planning. She's passionate about her craft and has established her mark in a highly competitive and saturated wedding planning market. 

Sonia talks about how she has a clear goal and focus that help her achieve what she wants in her business. 

Check out this episode to learn more about her creative endeavours. 

This episode is in conversation with Diana Pires from Diana Pires Events. 

Diana started her company in 2006 and  has been in the wedding industry since then.  She's extremely passionate about her work and excels in providing impeccable experience to her clients. 

She shares her story about becoming an Creative Entrepreneur, how she is resourceful, thought of being different than her competition and has always had vision and goals for herself. 

 

In this episode, we are in conversation with Fidan Ismayilova from Designed Dream Events. 

 

Fidan started her business in 2010 and her journey as a Wedding Planner has been extremely fulfilling. 

She talks about how she got started, when she decided to quit her Corporate career and what she does to keep herself motivated to push forward. 

 

Check her company out www.designeddream.com

 

In this episode, we have Melissa Forziat, from Melissa Forziat Events and Marketing. Melissa is an marketing strategies, consultant and author. Her expertise has helped numerous small business owners figure out their marketing strategy.

Here are some key takeaways from today's episode:

1) Marketing is all about building your audience through various tools and systems.

2) Having a proven marketing plan and strategy is very critical for small businesses so there is a consistent flow of leads

3) You do not need a huge marketing budget when spreading your message to a wider audience.

And this is the link to the freebie: https://melissaforziatevents.com/small-business-marketing-budget-ebook/

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