Make It Your Business To Konnect

Nowhere is the old adage 'It's not what you know, it's who you know that matters' more relevant than in the world of business. Plugging ourselves into a relevant network and engaging with the process effectively can be the difference between success and failure. 

One such network may be our collge alumni. Whilst Irish universities and colleges are only beginning to wake up to the power of a well maintained alumni network, colleges Stateside have long harnessed these hugely significant connections. From an administration point of view however, many of these alumni networks, both here and abroad, are still maintained using a cut and paste system of excel sheets and mailing lists.

A Powerful Konnection

Our featured business this week KonnectAgain, was founded by Jayne Ronayne who, on a work placement with Ernst & Young, saw first hand the power of enterprise and a network of peers. She decided to develop a software solution to help colleges and universities solve the challenge of maintaining their large and ever growing network of alumni. The software helps alumni relations officers to manage, engage and support their alumni and provides a platform for universities and colleges to unlock the potential of their alumni networks.

No More A Novice

In the start-up phase of any business,  owners are looking to influence the investment community and playing the bright eyed and bushy tailed novice often works to the businesses advantage. However, as Gerard suggested, once the business is attracting paying customers, it's time to drop the novice tag and start looking and acting like an established and successful business. Jayne is launching a second phase of her website in the Autumn and intends to lose all the current messaging around start-ups in favour of their fast growing business credentials.

Over To You

How can Jayne show on her website that this is a serious business that's here to stay? Listen back to the show on Kickstart Your Business and let us know what you think. 

We'd love to hear from you.

(Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook on Newstalk106 in Ireland every Thursday & is available on Playback on Kickstart Your Business)

Bye Bye Bad Boys, Hello Happiness

There are two pivotal 'Girlfriends discussing bad boys' scenes in the brilliant film 'When Harry Met Sally'. Both involve Sally's best friend Marie who is dating a married man. The dialogue in both scenes goes something like this;

Marie-" He just spent X on his wife. I don't think he's ever going to leave her. The point is he's never going to leave her."
Sally-"So what's new? You've known this for two years."
Marie- "You're right, you're right. I know you're right."

Both scenes illustrate the painful truth for many women; it's not enough to know you are in a relationship with a bad boy. You have to do something about it. You've got to be the one who makes the behavioural changes.

All Systems Go

This week's featured business Badboybreakthrough.com was set up by Lorna Poole who found herself dating one bad boy too many and hit rock bottom in her personal life as a result. Determined to develop a system that would enable her to break this damaging behaviour and armed with a coaching qualification and her own hard earned experience, Lorna set up in business earlier this year, helping others to break with the bad.

Making It Her Business

The idea of developing a system to support behavioural changes is nothing new but it takes a lot more than a great sytem to build a great business. What Lorna has done is develop a brilliant tagline and a website that attracts and pulls in visitor with a free ebook and a line-up of bad boy profiles that we all can recognise.

Once on the site, the visitor can be converted to a paying customer with an on-line assessment and four coaching packages designed to help a girl break from the bad and get with the good.

Over To You

What other steps can Lorna take to build the business? Listen back to the show on Kickstart Your Business and let us know what you think.

We'd love to hear from you.

(Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook on Newstalk106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.40pm)

I Have Called You By Your Name And You Are Mine

A guest post from Anne Tannam, Brand Manager at Islandbridge:

Recently my youngest daughter Sian, just turned eighteen, was queuing for a drink at the Longitude Music Festival. Armed with name and photo identification, she asked for her beer of choice. The barman took her identification and studied it very carefully for what seemed like a long time. My daughter was ready to hotly defend her real age when the barman looked up at her, smiled and said 'Do you know we have a bottle of Coke here with your name on it?'

Yes, I'm Talking To You

That story, along with the empty Coke bottle proudly bearing her name, came home with Sian and it once again illustrated the power of a great brand to reach out to its customers and make them feel special. No matter what age we are or how sophisticated and grown up we become, when someone calls us by our name, we feel special, known, understood. And more likely and willing to engage with the person or company who takes the time and trouble to learn it.

Of course, with an unusual name like 'Sian' that teachers and peers have been misspelling and mispronouncing since she was very small, Sian's excitement at seeing her name right there and spelt correctly may not be a typical response but I suspect that for most of us, seeing our name boldly displayed across a bottle of Coke will at least bring a smile to our lips. And more importantly, from a marketing perspective, more likely to dig into our pockets and buy the drink.

Share The Love With....

Like all powerful brands, it's not enough to simply reach out to individuals. A great and enduring brand must also help create its own tribe, loyal and true to the brand and each other. So what Coke have done is not just put people's names on their bottles; they've created a reason for people to talk to one another, given people a reason to buy a Coke for each other. My daughter and her friends have all bought coke bottles bearing the names of siblings, parents and friends. Whatever shop they enter, they quickly scan the coke bottles to see if there is a familiar name looking out at them.

Over To You

Very few businesses have the budget to put customer's names on their products (nor does it always make business sense) but there are many other ways to build your brand and make your customers feel acknowledged and understood.

• Have a look at the messages currently on your website. Are the messages primarily about how great and wonderful your business is or are they about the problems your customer faces and how you can help them?
• Whether by email, phone or face to face, make sure you address your customer in a personable and genuine manner. Does your customer always get your full and undivided attention?
• Through forums, blogs or simply a call for feedback, invite your customers to share their experiences and stories with you and each other. How easy do you make it for customers to spread the good news?

What other ways can you show your customers that you know and understand them? Please leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you.

The Power Of Glove

There's nothing your average Irish woman likes more than looking tanned and radiant after a spot of sunbathing. However, with the real threat of skin cancer from sun beds and over exposure to the sun, many of us have turned to the healthier option of a self- tan: 'Fake it, don't bake it'.

When applied evenly, a self- tan can look as natural and beautiful as the real thing but unfortunately for many women, they end up with blotchy or streaky colour that screams tacky and cheap, no matter how expensive the cream or lotion.

Glove Is All You Need

This week's Kickstart Your Business feature, Glove Your Body is a tanning mitt that promises a quick and even application of colour. Business owner Valerie Brown, with a background in hair and beauty, designed the revolutionary self-tanning application mitt that gives a professional and flawless streak-free finish when used to apply mousse, lotions or liquid tanning bronzers. Machine washable and suitable for left or right handed users, the mitt comes with its own travel bag.

Hand In Glove 

Many start-up businesses see themselves in competition with their stockists, pushing for the customer to only buy from their website.  As Gerard pointed out on the show last night, Valerie is bucking that trend and is more than happy to promote her stockists.

Treated as strategic partners, they are more likely to promote Glove Your Body on the shop floor and with more than a hundred and twenty pharmacies nationwide already stocking the mitt, it's a rap case of sharing the glove!

Over To You

Can you think of other ways Valerie can promote her revolutionary glove? (apart from George promising to use it after his holidays in October!) Listen back to the show on Kickstart Your Business and tell us what you think.

We'd love to hear from you.

(Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook every Thursday on Newstalk106 in Ireland at 6.40pm)

The Right Ingredients For Success

Let's face it; who doesn't want to snack healthily and enjoy the benefits of sustained high energy levels during the day? The problem of course, is that for most of us, substitute the word 'healthy' with 'boring' or 'tasteless' and that's closer to the reality of many of the health snacks we studiusly avoid on our supermarket run, preferring instead to load up on sugary treats that satisfy our taste buds, but not our energy needs. Up to now, it seemed we could have one or the other; tasty or healthy, but not both. But all that is about to change, thanks to this week's Kickstart Your Business feature.

Wyld About Great Nutrition

Wyldsson.com was founded by Dave McGeady who wanted to make clean, healthy food that tastes great, using only the very best of ingredients from all around the world. Delicious and healthy, the range includes snack tubes, muesli, oats, oils, butters and speciality flours that are also gluten and dairy free. Endorsed by an impressive range of elite athletes, the offer is also targeted at the weekend warrior who is looking for nutritious and high energy snacks to help them make the most of their active day.

Food For Thought

Dave has already demonstrated a refreshing willingness to reach out to elite athletes across a wide range of sports. Gerard remarked that successful athletes in particular are typically only too happy to share the secrets of their success with others, particularly in the context of media interviews etc.

Gerard suggested that he now go a step further and develop a systematic approach to 'prompted word of mouth' marketing, and ensure that each of those athletes continues to be primed with the type of information that they can easily relay to those in their own circle of influence.

Over To You

How do you suggest that Dave build further on his explosive start. Listen back to the show on Kickstart Your Business and tell us what you think.

We'd love to hear from you.

(Kickstart Your Business is broadcast live on The Right Hook on Newstalk106 in Ireland every Thursday at 6.40pm)