Rising Tides Alliance, my Networking Group, featured an excellent panel of 5 Business Owners giving 3 action items each to stimulate growth. Great tips, 15 in all. Any businesses can act on these and give yourself great growth opportunities!

1. 3
Things
To
Do
To
Grow
Your
Business
In
Tech,
Marke-ng,
PR,
Promo-on
and
General
Business
(So
it’s
really
15
things…but
you
should
s-ll
do
them!)
RISING TIDES ALLIANCE
Business Networking
Presents
White Plains, NY March 9th, 2014

2. Presenters
Technology
Ryan
Smith
Owner,
The
Branding
Buzz
Marke/ng
Jann
Mirchandi
Owner,
Marke3ng
Café
Public
Rela/ons
Owner,
Buzz
Poten3al
Mike
D’Ardano
Promo/on
Robert
Rosenthal
President,
JP
Promo3onal
Products,
Inc.
General
Business
Kevin
Brown
CEO,
Cashless
Exchange
Operator
Hudson
Barter
Exchange

3. Technology
–
3
Things
To
Do
1. U/lize
the
Rising
Tides
Alliance
web
site
to
increase
networking
opportuni/es
• Update
your
personal
profile
• Sumit
your
“RTA
Marketplace”
offer
• Log
your
transac-ons
and
guests
to
earn
points
• Review
presenta-on
from
the
“RTA
Vault”
2. Harness
the
power
of
LinkedIn
to
generate
leads
• Send
connec-on
invita-ons
to
everyone
you
meet
• Update
your
profile
and
add
any
recent
projects
• Import
your
contact
list
into
email
soUware
• Share
your
blogs
and
other
business
updates
oUen
3. Upgrade
your
collabora/on
systems
to
boost
produc/vity
• Use
the
full
poten-al
of
your
business
domain
name
• Upgrade
to
an
enterprise-­‐class
email
system
• Keep
your
email,
contacts,
and
calendars
synced
• Share
documents
and
chat
with
co-­‐workers

4. Marketing
–
3
Things
To
Do
1. Check
Your
Site
Analy/cs
• See
where
your
traffic
is
coming
from
• You
can
eliminate
wasted
ad
spend;
or
invest
more
(Kaja
got
50%
jump
in
referral
traffic
aUer
going
Pro)
2. Use
Email
Marke/ng
• Send
a
newsleer
or
other
valuable
info
to
list.
To
stay
front
of
mind.
(Donna
sent
an
email
I
responded,
she's
now
working
with
me
and
Kaja,
and
Kaja
is
ge_ng
highlighted
in
Organic
Spa
from
her
case
study!)
3. Be
Social
Not
Always
Promo/onal
•
Talk
about
what's
happening
with
you,
your
company,
clients,
life.
Helps
you
build
a
report
with
followers,
they
expect
human
beings
to
be
running
your
company.
Prove
them
right.
Don't
just
talk
about
yourself
on
social
channels
or
you
may
turn
people
off.

5. Public
Relations
–
3
Things
To
Do
1. Have
your
PR
plan
be
part
of
your
overall
marke/ng
plan
• If
you
don't
have
a
plan,
you
are
was-ng
your
-me
going
from
idea
to
idea
without
any
focus
or
way
to
measure
the
results
and
manage
your
costs.
• For
Tompkins
Landscaping
Corp
we
do
mini
plans
in
3
to
6
month
chunks.
In
the
late
fall
we
revised
our
plan
to
include
some
PR
to
help
increase
awareness
of
the
company
in
the
marketplace.
Two
releases
were
planned
for
the
first
half
of
2014.
The
first
release
was
for
her
Trailblazer
Award
and
the
second
will
be
for
their
work
with
Habitat
for
Humanity.
Results:
S-ll
working
on
the
Trailblazer
release
follow-­‐up.
Press
hits
to
date
include:
Westchester
County
Business
Journal,
The
Journal
News,
The
Daily
Voice,
Business
Council
of
Westchester
Website
and
more
to
come.

6. Public
Relations
–
(cont.)
2. Have
Unique
and
Newsworthy
Angles
for
Your
Public
Rela/ons
Efforts
• Your
news
has
to
pass
the
"Who
Cares
Test".
Is
this
informa-on
that
anyone
(besides
yourself)
would
really
care
about?
If
it
doesn't
pass
that
test
or
it
is
too
promo-onal,
you
will
not
get
coverage.
Some
media
have
a
pay
for
play
model
but
that
is
a
whole
other
subject.
• Tompkins
Landscaping
Corp
-­‐
The
Trailblazer
Award
was
unique
for
a
woman
in
a
business
that
is
mostly
run
by
men.
The
press
loves
these
kind
of
items
with
a
nice
photo
to
complement
the
release.
3. Repurpose
Your
PR
For
Your
Social
Media
Channels
And
Your
Website
• It
will
spread
out
the
costs
of
your
PR
out
and
help
you
with
your
SEO.
Relevant
PR
is
always
looked
at
favorably
by
Google.
• Tompkins
Landscaping
Corp
took
the
Trailblazer
Award
press
release
and
posted
it
on
their
website,
FB
and
LinkedIn.
I
posted
it
on
my
FB,
LinkedIn
and
Twier.

7. Promotion
–
3
Things
To
Do
1. Promote
your
products
and
services
• Promo-onal
products
are
Adver-sing
with
ongoing
impressions
• Aract
Aen-on
at
trade
shows
and
fairs
• Generate
Revenue
at
special
events
2. Thank
/
Reward
Customers,
Prospects,
Employees
• Build
Goodwill
in
your
community
• Increase
Awareness
of
safety
programs
3. Make
Mailings
Memorable
• With
so
much
electronic
mail
“snail
mail”
with
product
inserts
stands
out
and
is
very
appreciated,
saved,
used
and
seen
• Make
sure
you
use
an
expert
on
mailing
regula-ons
for
your
distribu-ons

8. Promotion
(cont.)

9. General
Business
–
3
Things…
1. Work
with
a
Sales
Telemarke/ng
Company
• The
process
of
ge_ng
viable
sales
calls
is
-me
consuming.
Preparing
and
going
on
them
is
even
more
-me
consuming.
A
Sales
Telemarke-ng
company
can
help
you
focus
on
the
selling
aspect
and
not
the
hun-ng
process.
Example:
Hudson
Barter
Exchange
signed
up
a
superb
landscaping
company
that
is
already
working
with
several
members.
2. Host
Your
Own
Networking
Events
• The
easiest
way
to
get
more
business
is
by
mining
your
exis-ng
customer
base.
By
hos-ng
your
own
networking
events
with
your
current
customers
and
incen-ng
them
to
bring
a
future
poten-al
customer,
you
are
building
rela-onships
among
your
customers.
Example:
Hudson
Barter
Exchange
con-nues
to
throw
large
events
that
consistently
lead
to
new
customers
and
more
business
among
customers.
3. Join
A
Barter
Exchange
• Business
leads
to
business.
The
more
companies
that
your
company
does
business
with,
the
more
leads
will
come
from
it.
Most
businesses
suggest
that
their
#1
source
of
new
business
is
referrals.
By
working
with
trade
customers,
your
business
will
gain
new
cash
customers
through
referrals.
It
is
also
a
fabulous
way
to
fund
your
adver-sing
which
leads
to
building
your
brand
recogni-on
and
making
your
phone
ring.
Example:
A
member
of
Hudson
Barter
Exchange
who
powerwashes
homes,
concluded
a
job
in
an
upscale
Ardsley
housing
development
on
trade.
That
lead
to
5
more
cash
jobs
from
the
member’s
neighbors!

10. Contact
Info
Technology
Ryan
Smith
The
Branding
Buzz
rsmith@thebrandingbuzz.com
914
347-­‐2899
www.thebrandingbuzz.com
Marke/ng
Jann
Mirchandi
Marke-ng
Café
Jann@westchestermarke-ngcafe.com
914
806-­‐7720
www.Westchestermarke-ngcafe.com
Public
Rela/ons
Mike
D’Ardano
Buzz
Poten-al
mjdardano@gmail.com
914
961-­‐8898
Promo/on
Robert
Rosenthal
JP
Promo-onal
Products,
Inc.
rrosenthal@jppromoproducts.com
914
944-­‐3451
www.jppromoproducts.com
General
Business
Kevin
Brown
Hudson
Barter
Exchange
kevin@hudsonbarterexchange.com
914
372-­‐7155
www.hudsonbarterexchange.com

11. Rising
Tides
Alliance
Rising
Tides
Alliance,
based
in
Westchester
County,
NY,
is
a
networking
organiza-on
that
believes
networking
should
be
more
than
handing
out
a
business
card.
We
are
givers
in
the
true
sense.
The
true
giver
knows
that
giving
is
the
-de
that
raises
all
ships,
that
it
allows
you
to
be
a
person
of
value
to
others
while
doing
very
well
for
yourself.
• www.rising-desalliance.com
• Monthly
member
business
to
business
networking
• Meets
the
2nd
Wednesday
of
each
month
at
The
Mansion
in
White
Plains,
N.
B’way
• Monthly
small
group
or
one-­‐on-­‐one
facilitated
networking
• Business
Growth
Programs
in
Sales
and
Key
Business
Issues
• Member
Expert
Panels
• Membership
Info
Contact:
Perry
DiNapoli
914
804-­‐6234
perry@antonees.com