JumpStart: IdeaExchange Blog

Many entrepreneurs know firsthand what it takes to bootstrap - to work with limited resources (financial and human) and stretch them as far as possible without relying on external resources. But try as you might, it is unlikely that you can do it all alone. Eventually, you will need to bring in people with skills and knowledge that you don’t have.

You have three options:

1. Continue in bootstrapping mode. Find someone with the expertise you are looking for and convince them to provide their sweat equity on the if-come that the business will grow and succeed.
2. Delay growth until you have the ability to hire the A+ players you need.
3. Outsource. Lawyers, accountants, and marketing specialists are just a few of the highly trained service providers that are available on an outsourced basis when a hire isn’t possible. Reach out to service providers to focus on what is most important: generating revenue.

Unsure where to find the most reliable Service Providers? Here are some suggestions:

1. Ask for recommendations. You are not the first entrepreneur in need of a lawyer well-versed in patent protection. Other entrepreneurs will gladly provide referrals. Once you find a service provider you trust, it can also be helpful to ask who they partner with. Attorneys usually have an accountant they can recommend, and vice versa.
2. Poll a general audience using social networking tools. Online communities such as Twitter and LinkedIn are now vital tools for business discussion. With the number of professionals online rising daily, the internet is a great place to engage a wide variety of individuals. Post the criteria you are looking for on Twitter or in a LinkedIn group, and watch as the suggestions come in!
3. Check online directories. IdeaCrossing.org is a free online resource that has a searchable online database where entrepreneurs can find and connect with service providers. Users can search by keyword, zip code, and business category to find a list of providers that meet their criteria. The Better Business Bureau also has a searchable online database where you can find accredited service providers in your area. These businesses meet the necessary standards of trust and transparency.

Don’t try to handle all aspects of your business on your own. Know where your team’s weaknesses lie, and seek experts to fill those gaps. Find the right people for the job, and move forward with a better business. 

Tiffan is the Vice President of IdeaCrossing, a free online community created by JumpStart, which connects entrepreneurs with the national resources necessary to grow their businesses. Tiffan has worked at several venture-backed startup technology companies and strategic marketing agencies in both Boston and Cleveland. Through her work, she has facilitated the necessary growth of early-stage companies.

LinkedIn is fabulous for personal networking as you already knew — but you can also use it to grow your business! Learn how you can leverage this popular social media to close deals, increase market share, and enhance your online presence on June 22nd from Dave Gowel, who was coined the ‘LinkedIn Jedi’ by The Boston Globe.

To get a taste of what you can expect - and get caught up on the last couple JumpStart educational events – check out our Event Videos.

Hope to see you on June 22nd!

Cathy Belk is the Chief Marketing Officer of JumpStart. She specializes in branding, marketing communications, and business management. She brings 16+ years of experience in a variety of marketing and business roles, but gets her energy from working daily with entrepreneurs and their growing companies.

Ever read Groundswell? I’d recommend it. The sub-head sums it up: “winning in a world transformed by social technologies”. Like most business books, this one doesn’t exactly tell you much that you won’t already know, but it offers a structure which organizes the insights and conclusions in an easy-to-follow framework. 

The main premise of the book is the attitudes companies should adopt — and how they can thrive — in the world where control and power over messages and discussion are owned by consumers and community members, as opposed to old-school ways of companies managing those themselves. At some point in the last four years, I adjusted my comfort zone from the latter to the former…at least intellectually.

Message boards are one tool mentioned in the book, and in our community, one of the biggest is Cleveland.com (the message board of The Plain Dealer). Have you seen some of the recent discussion on Cleveland.com about JumpStart? (If not, search for JumpStart and you’ll see a number of articles and tags with JumpStart…look around for the comments to the articles). 

Honestly, the discussion there has occasionally and instinctively brought out the Mama Bear in me. I just want to snarl and fight. Am I asking for trouble by admitting that? Probably. But I think it’s a really human response to want to defend that which you absolutely, passionately support.

But a few moments later, I remember my training and fundamental beliefs as a marketer, along with the words in Groundswell (and every other social media blog, book, and article that I’ve ever read and heard). And I remember this stuff is GOLD. Absolute GOLD. How else can you get real feedback on delivering your promise (or not)? How often do people tell you honestly, in an uncensored way, what they are thinking about your brand and the value proposition you are delivering? To get to listen and participate in that conversation? More valuable than gold. And it’s all free! It’s feedback that you’d more typically pay a lot of money to get (vis a vis a formal research firm) and might not be so honest.

So blogosphere, message board writers, everyone else interested, passionate about or critical of our work, talk to us. Tell us what you think we need to consider, could do better, or need to change. And if there’s anything we are doing right, tell us that too. But most of all, be honest. We are 100% listening.

(Stay tuned for part 2 of this post to hear some of the feedback we’ve gotten!)

Cathy Belk is the Chief Marketing Officer of JumpStart. She specializes in branding, marketing communications, and business management. She brings 16+ years of experience in a variety of marketing and business roles, but gets her energy from working daily with entrepreneurs and their growing companies.

Not quite a resolution (because I want to avoid the “breaking” curse), these are the most important things I’m going to prioritize this year, as they will directly impact my ability to deliver success for JumpStart. 

5) Monitor marketing news and trends every day. I use NetVibes to assist with monitoring blogs, Twitter, and news updates, in addition to my RSS feeds and email newsletters, but admit sometimes I’m catching up at the end of the week. The thing is, every time I check, I see one thing that is valuable right then. I hate the idea that I’m losing days in which those ideas can prompt and enhance my thinking. After reading David Carr’s Why Twitter Will Endure - NYTimes.com from the Times last Sunday, I’m wondering if I should focus some time on following the right folks on Twitter and leave it at that…

4) Reconnect with my network. I’ve spent time re-establishing professional connections through LinkedIn, but for a while now, the list has been sitting relatively fallow. (I would hypothesize this is somewhat common unless someone has sales responsibilities or is working to obtain or fill a position). But what a wealth of people with whom to brainstorm, tackle problems, and gain best-practice examples or new ideas! When was the last time I called someone to get caught up on responsibilities, most recent business challenges, and best new thing learned? Hard to believe this wouldn’t be richly worth the 10 minutes.

3) Create a mobile plan. Yes, this has been a long time coming, and many businesses are already  utilizing mobile tools to connect richly with consumers or customers. (In fact, Knotice’s Concentri product is one of the most robust around for cohesively marketing to consumers via mobile, Internet, and other customized points of connection. (Full disclosure: Knotice is a JumpStart Ventures portfolio company). Creating a plan for our email communication and website to become more mobile-friendly has been on the list for over 6 months; now that I’ve read Morgan Stanley’s Mobile Internet report which indicates — among other things – that more people will connect to the internet via mobile devices instead of desktops within 5 years, a more thorough strategy is due.

2) Continue to evolve our social media strategy and implementation. Continuous planning, prioritization, and implementation is the way of the marketer’s world, but social media has put the disciplined, steady approach into hyperdrive. What we had decided to do 3 months ago is already worth reconsideration and perhaps even a change in approach. Given the time commitment that these tools require, monthly review and consideration is required.

1) Focus on insights. While the world is always changing, this stays the same: insight regarding the needs and wants of our audiences, consumers, customers, and constituents should drive what we do. In a small entrepreneurial firm without a formal research group, it’s easy to slip in into believing all people think a certain way because you have talked to a handful of people who share an opinion. And now that it’s so much easier than ever to gain small and large insights formally or informally on a much more regular basis, there’s no reason that we shouldn’t be asking and gaining new insights on a monthly basis. With that – look for more questions from us about how we can better meet YOUR needs. (You can start with suggestions and ideas by commenting on this blog!).

What’s on your list?

Cathy Belk is the Chief Marketing Officer of JumpStart. She specializes in branding, marketing communications, and business management. She brings 16+ years of experience in a variety of marketing and business roles, but gets her energy from working daily with entrepreneurs and their growing companies.