6th Annual
NAWBO Day, Think Ginormous,
Big Branding for Small Business
Over 100 Attendees Thinking Ginormously
about Branding
By Tamar Cerafici, Esq.
Last week was big for
our unbeatable chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners.
March 22 was declared NAWBO Day by the City Council. I got to talk about the
tremendous impact women have on the Post-Crash economy. And no review of a
THINK GINORMOUS event should be printed without a quick review of these
statistics.
If you’re a woman
business owner, and you don’t think you’re making a contribution, print these
numbers. Frame them. Put them on the mirrors right next to the “employees must
wash their hands” signs. Write these in lipstick on your mirror. Don’t use lipstick?
Use a crayon or something (watch for a super cool infographic as soon as I
figure one out).
¶
10.1 Million: The number of business in
business during 2012 that were at least 50% women owned.
¶
$1.3 Trillion (that’s a T, folks): the ANNUAL
contribution to the US economy by Women Owned Businesses.
¶
2X Faster: That’s the rate at which women will start their own businesses
compared to every other sector in the United States.
¶
200,000: That’s the number of Women Owned Businesses started in 2012
alone. That’s 550 new businesses EACH DAY.
So
you ask, Why should the National Association of Women Business Owners of
Pittsburgh (nawbopittsburg.org) host a full day of international and local
branding experts, like the group did last Friday?
 |
| Debbie Hickman |
Because,
as Debbie Hickman and Susan Newman pointed out, we are really good at starting
businesses, and we’re really good at keeping them going, but we’re terrible at
branding ourselves to really create an enterprise with a legacy.
That’s
what THINK GINORMOUS was all about. Women Business Owners, and the men who
employ bright intelligent women, must recognize the unique brand that each
businesswomen has. Each speaker had a story to tell, and they boiled down to
this: until you are true to your brand, the brand that is YOU, you will
continue to slave away, staying in business, but failing to grow.
And
women, in particular, need to grow and nurture; they suffer when they merely
create a job for themselves and others. This was Debbie Hickman’s story.
Debbie
Hickman, independent store owner of Giant Eagle on Frankstown Road, told her
inspiring story about going from $2.20 an hour minimum wage employee to owning
her own store and making it work despite four other franchises failing in
the same place. Her lesson was linking your business to a big brand
without giving up your passion or autonomy. She also noted that her particular brand was to nurture her
employees so they could grow in the business. Many of the Frankstown alums have
gone on to manage other stores and even create their own businesses.
 |
| Susan Newman |
Susan
Newman of Broadcast Louder and Susan Newman Designs told a similar tale of
growth. After being laid off from her large publishing company, she found work
as a free lancer, but never felt that she had any identity. She finally
realized her work/brand was her ability to create brand visibility on the web.
This has been her mission; she’s fulfilled it by developing instructional
videos and creating a fantastic interview series that helps people talk
about the thought process behind their
brands.
She
really straightened us out on how to keep our brands consistent from business
cards to websites and Twitter and gave us some good information on long tail
key words.
NAWBO
Pittsburgh hosted a lovely buffet, but I didn’t get to eat any of it. I was too
busy listening to Runa Magnusdottir, whose BrandIt online magazine resulted out
of her trip to NAWBO Day in Pittsburgh in September of 2008. She returned to
Iceland as that country’s economy collapsed. Like all good women
entrepreneurs, she simply refused to acknowledge the recession and relentlessly
developed her brand.
 |
| Runa Magnusdottir |
She
did it by following some really simple rules:
People
make decisions about you in 7 seconds or less. In those 7 seconds they make at
least 11 decisions about you. You are your brand.
Besides
her conviction, Runa left us with three indelible tips about our brands, what
she called the three Cs:
1. Clarity. You must be clear about who you are and
what you give.
2. Consistency. Showing true value means
you show it all the time. People may not come to you immediately, but you will
be remembered when the need arises.
3. Constancy. Your brand has to stand for
the same things, as Runa said, “again and again and again.” If you’re constant,
your network and their network are all repeating the same message.
Be
clear. Be you. Everybody else is taken
I
had never thought of branding myself through awards, but I read the things in
the Pittsburgh Business Times, and I want to be those people. I had no idea
they had people like JoAnn Forester to do the work for them!
 |
| Jo Ann Forrester |
Jo
Ann Forrester owns Blue Ribbon Profiles. She’s optimized her clients’ brands by
creating peerless nomination packets that get noticed. Her clients have won
national and local awards. She gave some remarkable tips for building our brands
through nominations and awards. Most important take away: if you want an award,
or if you think it will enhance your brand to have the award, go for it!
Oh,
and have JoAnn write it. She’s a lot better at it that you are. Seriously. Jane
Austen didn’t get much credit while she was alive because JoAnn wasn’t there to
get her noticed.
 |
| Donna Baxter |
Branding
yourself on the airwaves and Internet was the topic of our panel discussion. It
was a lively group of my personal heroes. Each of them created their own media
presence because a need had to be filled. They have become their own brand, and
live their vision each day.
Donna
Baxter, founder of The Soul Pitt, recognized in college – maybe even
in high
school – that minority groups needed a voice. She gave them that voice, first
as a rapper, and then as an Internet entrepreneur. The Soul Pitt is a brand
that is not only associated with Donna, but is intrinsically linked to the
minority communities she represents. You must check out her brand at www.thesoulpitt.com!
 |
| Ola Jackson |
Ola
Jackson, founder of OWN, OR Onyx Woman Network, gave the background of her
brand. She has a powerful story; for 22 years she has leveraged radio, print
media, TV and the Internet to build a brand that supports women of color –
meaning colorful women! She talked about the consistency of her vision, and how
it strengthened her brand. Check out the way she uses her brand and stays true
to her vision at http://www.onyxwoman.com/
 |
| Joanne Quinn-Smith |
Joanne Quinn-Smith, aka The Techno Granny, was one of the
first people to leverage the talk show format on the Web. Using a platform
called Talkshoe (www.talkshoe.com), she has created several talkshows, and
publishes Pittsburgh’s First Internet Radio and TV Network which gets 2.5 million visitors a year. She’s been able to keep that going – winning
the national SBA Journalist of the Year Award– by keeping relentlessly clear
about what she does, and what she can accomplish for her clients. You must see
what how Joanne spreads Good News about Pittsburgh at: www.positivelypittsburghlivemagazine.com
Ruth
Byrd Smith is the Executive Director at Allegheny County’s Minority, Women, and
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program. She has broadcast theMWDBE’s
enterprise over the radio (at WGBN), and we learned that this
 |
| Ruth Byrd Smith |
was simply a
continuation of her student body radio show in high school. She explained the
very solid results that can be seen from a radio and multimedia presence. She
has used it to build the department’s brand and the brand of many small
businesses over the years. Check out how she continues to build the departments
vision and brand at http://www.alleghenycounty.us/mwdbe/index.aspx
SO, if after reading this review, you are kicking yourself that you
missed it. YOU SHOULD. But you can get this kind of information on a daily
basis simply by joining the National Association of Women Business Owners, the
strongest voice for women-owned small businesses in the country. NAWBO and
NAWBO Pittsburgh offer monthly workshops and unlimited resources for small
businesses.
Through April, NAWBO and NAWBO Pittsburgh are offering a $50
discount on new membership dues. This is a wicked good deal. Don’t be kicking
yourself again. Join NAWBO, and get access to an international group of
successful professionals whose only goal is to see you succeed too. If you
would like additional information about joining NAWBO you can go to: http://nawbopittsburgh.org or contact
Membership Director Tamar Cerafici at: nawbopittsburgh@gmail.com
Tamar
Cerafici is an environmental lawyer whose national practice includes
nuclear power and sustainable development consulting. She is the author
of “Dominate: How Lawyers Crush Their Competition (with these 4
Powerhouse Marketing Techniques),” and the founder of
The-Barefoot-Barrister.com as well as LegalShoe, and The Lawyer’s New
Clothes, new media channels on PositivelyPittsburghlivemagazine.com that
teach lawyers how to build enterprises and find balance in their
practices without selling their souls.
