Entourage to present on Internet Marketing for Solopreneurs @ In Good Company in NYC

Emily and Cheryl will be up in NYC to present at the oh-so-fabulous, all women’s coworking space in NYC on 2/27. Our topic: Internet Marketing Strategy Workshop for Solopreneurs and Small Business Owners. nternet Marketing Strategy Workshop for Solopreneurs and Small Business Owners

As a small business owner, you know that your business needs to be active and present online.  But which activities actually make sense for your particular business in order to effectively reach your target client?  Which of these should you manage yourself, and which should you automate or delegate to the pros?

This workshop will explore just that.  Our round table discussion will not only cover the basics of internet marketing, but we’ll select a few participants and help them map out an internet marketing strategy that works for THEIR business.  Topics will also include the top internet marketing strategies, tools, resources and technology you can use to measure your results and refine your efforts.  Bring your questions for laser coaching and discussion!

Click for more info!

 

February 27, 11am-1pm
RSVP: igcrsvp@gmail.com with VIRTUAL in the subject line.

Business Launch Services for Entrepreneurs

The best part of what we do each day?   We help entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses.  And even more exciting– getting to see and celebrate in the finished product!

Cheryl and I had the pleasure of working alongside (new) Philly business owners- Bobby Dombrowski and John Farrell while they launched the quirky new coffee shop Strange Brew Coffee in South Philly’s “Pennsport” neighborhood.  Serving Fair Trade and Organic coffees by Counter Culture, fine teas by local House of Tea, tasty sandwiches from Le Bus, as well as delicious treats including pastries, granola and muffins, the shop features more than just a great menu. Displayed throughout the cafe, customers can also find a fabulous collection of vinyl toys and art.

Strange Brew Coffee has outdoor as well as indoor seating, wifi access, great music, and local art displayed on the walls.  Owner Bobby Dombroski grew up in this neighborhood and now lives around the corner from his new café.  According to Bobby, “I believe in bettering the neighborhood you live in. I am combining my passion, coffee brewing experience and fun nature into one shop to provide my community with some delicious coffee and treats.”

Bobby and John exemplify what it is that keeps us going with Entourage.  We love that we have the privilege to work alongside people that are working within their passions.  They have a clear and realistic vision of what it is they are trying to create and also understand the value of delegation as a means to success.

We were able to support Strange Brew’s launch by:

- Strategic market research and business planning

- Research related to opening and operating a business here in Philadelphia (lots of regulations!)

- Operational product research

- Press Release development and circulation

- Internet marketing and social media support

We’re so proud to have been a part of their launch!  To continue the celebration of another entrepreneurial success here in Philly, we are planning to hold our next coworking session at Strange Brew.  Come out and work alongside other Philly entreps in the heart of South Philly!  Be sure to register via our events page!

Be sure to find and follow the guys at Strange Brew on Twitter to find out about their specials and daily happenings!

Don’t miss this great event for Philly Entreps!

Annual PSL Entrepreneur Expo

There has never been a time like the present to start your own business and become successful at what you do best.  Entrepreneurship is hot right now.  You can major in it at college, you can be your own boss, and you can dictate your own future in this troublesome economy.

We find that our business is starting to lean more towards those wanting to get the word out about their venture, or grow their existing business.  Some of the major ways we help these clients is by providing internet marketing campaigns, social media management, research and sales strategy development, website design, and branding.

One great way to get the word out about your business is to network and embrace your local entrepreneurial community.  We are doing just that by sponsoring and attending the upcoming Entrepreneur Expo on March 31st in Philadelphia.  The Expo will have over 200 attendees as well as 3-4 dozen vendors all taking about their passions and dreams!  Not only will we be there to share how our business can help others grow, but we will also be giving away a great tool for growing your business and branding – a Flip video camera! Our custom designed Flip Mino video camera prize will help you start vlogging and recording all your business successes!  So make sure to stop by our booth, share your business ideas, and enter to win the coolest Flip on the market!

More details on the Philadelphia Entrepreneur Expo 2011:

It’s FREE to attend!! The Entrepreneur Expo is a showcase of work by entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial community. If you’re an entrepreneur, you will be able to talk about your work and hear about … the work of others. If you’re interested in new ideas, new business plans, the uses of new technology, or are simply curious about the creative energy in this region, you’ll have a chance to see and meet those beginning to make a difference.

This event is open to the entire community and all are welcome!

Who Will Be There?

Entrepreneurs, students, educators, investors, leaders in the political, legal, and business communities, members of the media, and the public.

March 31, 2011  6 pm – 9 pm

Solmsson Court, Hamilton Hall University of the Arts Pine & Broad

Get excited about the future. Get excited about the entrepreneurial spirit of Philadelphia. Come to the Entrepreneur Expo. Come and see tomorrow, today.

REGISTER:

http://psl.ticketleap.com/entrepreneur-expo-2011/

Coworking: A New Way to Network!

Sampling of our attendees

UPDATE: Try Coworking for Yourself!  Join us on Tuesday, April 19th @ Cake and the Beanstalk!  Get all the details and register here.

Recently, Cheryl and I were asked to present to the International VA Association on the topic of Coworking for their Expert of the Month series. We ran a quick poll at the beginning of the presentation asking participants if they had ever participated in Coworking. Remarkably enough, 80% of the audience had not!

One week prior, we hosted our own #EECoworking event, and received all sorts of questions from participants, looking for a better understanding of the Coworking concept. “Was it a seminar?” they wondered, “What does it cost?”, “Why do you run these events for free- what is the benefit for you?”

Our response- quite simply “Because we believe in investing in our local entrepreneurial community.” It’s true, our events are free. We’re not selling anything or requiring anything in return. It takes a reasonable amount of our time to plan, coordinate, market and run the events each month. Our time during the event is mostly spent facilitating introductions between attendees, and we couldn’t be happier about it!

Coworking, at it’s core is about reciprocity- the giving and exchanging of information. It’s the most collaborative, encouraging, authentic type of networking that you can engage your business in.

Our events are structured in such a way that you can come and get a modest amount of work done, get your burning business questions answered, learn about a new tool that can streamline your business, make a new friend who could potentially become a JV partner or introduce you to a client, and most importantly- have a genuine, engaged conversation with other local entrepreneurs and share about your business. Our participants consistently say that they always leave our events with at least one great piece of information to help their business.

In comparison to other types of networking groups- we don’t require you to bring in a certain number of leads for the group, and our casual environment is worlds away from walking into a giant room filled with people you don’t know, and trying to explain what you do in an elevator speech. Just come over, grab some coffee, open up your laptop, get some work done and make some new friends who are doing all sorts of interesting things in their businesses!

We’d love to have you out to join us! And whether you’re here in Philly or around the country, here are some great coworking spaces you should definitely check out!

Conjunctured in Austin

In Good Company in NYC (ladies only!)

Indy Hall right here in Philly!

LooseCubes – find a space around the country!

Learn more about all of the coworking options available to you via our shared presentation below!

Join us for Coworking Day on 9/17!

EE Coworking and Networking Days are here to stay in 2010!

We have been working from various wifi spots throughout the city this year, with great turnout at all of our events. Entrepreneurs, business owners, freelancers, and other independents looking to get out of the office and network have been coming together at these events to meet, work, eat, and share business cards. Check out some of our coworkers in our quickie vlog post: http://www.watchuslaunch.com/

This month we are heading to a classic Turkish cafe in Queen Village- Cafe Fulya.

If you are committed to evolving your business in 2010, coworking is for you. Entrepreneur’s Entourage’s Coworking events are a great way to get a change of scenery from your home or corporate office and hang in the presence of some of Philly’s brightest entreps. Our group brings together the open share of ideas and the strength of the entrepreneurial community here in Philadelphia across all industries. Our meetup days are informal and a great way to share your business, make connections, get some work done on your laptop, grab a bite to eat, and gain new perspectives.

“The collaboration, feeling of not being alone, and ability to get out of the house without being in a completely public place is why I am a part of these coworking and networking events”

- Gloria Bell, owner of Red Stapler Consulting

Read more

Add Some SPARK to your business on May 24th!

Calling all Philly Entreps and Business Owners:  Don’t miss our favorite conference and networking event of the year- SPARK!

Monday, May 24th, 2010 at The Hub Cira Centre

Spark is an interactive entrepreneurial conference that focuses on helping entrepreneurs grow their business, develop vital relationships and take away valuable insights from educational workshops. The conference has two parts; the morning session which consists of educational workshops and networking, while the afternoon is the opportunity for several entrepreneurs to pitch their business in front of an esteemed panel of successful entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture consultants and experienced advisers.

Check out this great video from last year‘s event!

SPARK 2009

Check out the day’s schedule here: http://sparknetworking.com/agenda.php

Read more

Online Project Management Tool Comparison

At EE, we LOVE to manage projects!  It’s our bread and butter; and as consummate organized planners, we love to map out a project and watch it through to completion.  That said, there are a plethora of tools out there that you can effectively use to manage your team projects (or even just keep info all in one place!).

We use a great platform which both we and our clients love- Basecamp.  This is a fantastic tool that continues to meets our virtual project management needs.  In addition to Basecamp, there are several other leading PM tools out there that deserve consideration.

In many of my circles, we tend to go round and round about which has the best features and is priced right.  Below is a comprehensive review of the three current leaders for virtual professional teams; Basecamp, Central Desktop and SmartSheet.

Basecamp

4 Plans Available:

• $24/mo:  15 projects, 5 GB Storage, Unlimited Users
• $49/mo: 35 projects, 15 GB Storage, Unlimited Users, Time Tracking
• $99/ mo: 100 projects, 30 GB Storage, Unlimited Users, Time Tracking
• $149/mo: Unlimited projects, 75 GB Storage, Unlimited Users, Time Tracking

Note they have 1 FREE plan available- 1 project, Unlimited Users, no file sharing

FREE 30 day trial

General Details:

• Their focus is on communication tools, very straightforward, easy to use technology with video screenshot overviews for each function (very idiot-proof!).
• Basecamp works with a variety of iPhone apps, third-party invoicing and time tracking tools, graphic design review software, widgets, and more.
• Allows for customized domain, color and branding  and logo upload.
• Central dashboard that shows updates and overview of all current projects- ranked by time sensitivity.

Key Features:

To Do List option which can be set to replicate as needed, append to any open milestone and it allows you to assign a person and date to each open to do item.  Note these can be marked for private viewing.

Easy File Sharing sorting and uploading- note the size limits listed above

Message Boards- *Key Feature*- one of our faves!

Keep all project related communication within the project (in Basecamp).  When msg is send from this feature, recipient may respond through their email and it will track (no need to sign in to respond).  Files may be attached here, comments may be posted within the msg (anything to decrease email right!?).

Milestones- The general key targets for project completion.  Another great feature here- they can feed into your iCal/ Outlook!  Related to-dos can also append onto each milestone.  Basecamp focuses onthis feature which allows for fast shifting of deadlines across the calendar, great for tracking goals. For example, if we were to make a task (To-Do) of writing an article, we could attach it to the milestone.  If the milestone needed to change dates, we could change its date and move all future milestones the same number of days to reflect the change. Basecamp also allows users to configure the new milestones so that they do not fall on a weekend.

Time Tracking- Web based time tracking- team members can enter time related to each task or project.  Comes in handy for PMs, and it has a report function which can be exported.  NOTE- this feature is only available for your team- clients do not have access to this feature.

Writeboards- Another fave here!  Stash all your notes, logins, links and details related to projects here.  Space for comments and note that this can be marked private (so only your team can view!).

One of the best features of BC are their customer service forums which are easy to navigate.

PROS:

• Straightforward, easy to use PM tool
• Great support forums for FAQs
• Great pre-sale website with demos, videos and screen shots
• Customizable branding options
• Strong alliances for app build-out (iphone, etc.)
  

CONS:

• Does not offer any sort of project charts
• Chat feature only available as an add-on- $12-$99 per month
• Does not support high level project tracking like you would see with more $$ PM systems

Central Desktop

From their site: Central Desktop’s Social Technology Platform provides a complete SaaS solution for businesses to collaborate, manage projects and connect their people.

4 plans available:

• Team Plan Free; 2 workspaces, 5 members per workspace, 25MB storage
• Team Plan 1; $25/mo, 3 workspaces, 10 members per workspace, 500MB storage
• Team Plan 2; $49/mo, 10 workspaces, 15 members per workspace, 1GB storage
• Company Plan 3; $99/mo, 25 workspaces, 25+ workspaces, 5GB storage– note this is the only package that includes SSL encryption, custom domain and branding

PROS:

• Offers recurring task assignments
• Offers client and project workspaces as well as company intranets
• Automated work order requests
• Offers project charts
• Optional add-on of web meetings ($35/mo)
• Task creation through email, task prioritization
• Chat function included
• Private and public workspaces
• Lengthy feature list
• Create text and spreadsheet files inside their application (online docs)
• Unique urls available for tasks for quick access
• Positive reviews on their search feature
• Chat feature linked to help desk
• Salesforce add-on

CONS:

• Complex platform, learning curve, not-so-easy navigation
• Confusion surrounding workspace and project concepts

As a reviewer I found their website (what is supposed to entice me to purchase) to be very complicated and uninformative.  No screen shots or bullet points of features were given which makes it a hard sell.  Online reviews from users were mostly positive.  Unfortunately this is why I can’t give a detailed overview of the moving parts!  Central Desktop (in my opinion) has aligned their branding to target corporate clients.

Smartsheet

Unique online collaboration tool designed to “think outside the box” of project management.  It is based on a spreadsheet-like paradigm, but promises collaboration and project tracking.  From their site-  “Great solution for managing a variety of tasks, projects and processes. It has intelligent collaboration capabilities and powerful reporting housed within a familiar spreadsheet interface.”

Pricing: note their pricing is based on “Sheet Creators” and all pkgs have unlimited “Viewers.”

• Basic- $9.95/mo; 1 Sheet Creator; 10 Sheets; 3GB file storage
• Advanced- $29.95/mo; 1 Sheet Creator; 50 Sheets; 15GB file storage; Gantt Charts, Custom Branding, Reporting, Survey Forms
• Team- $49.95/mo; 3 Sheet Creators; 150 Sheets; 30GB file storage; Gantt Charts, Custom Branding, Reporting, Survey Forms, Premium Support Pack
• Team Plus- $79.95/mo; 10 Sheet Creators; 500 Sheets; 60GB file storage; Gantt Charts, Custom Branding, Reporting, Survey Forms, Premium Support Pack
• Enterprise- $149.95/mo; 25 Sheet Creators; 1000 Sheets; 100GB file storage; Gantt Charts, Custom Branding, Reporting, Survey Forms, Premium Support Pack

30 day free trial

Pros:

• Video tutorial overviews (before purchase!)
• Designed to work with Google Apps products and Jott
• Sales pipeline included- with alerts,  follow-up and email tracking
• Crowdsourcing-Smartsheet Smartsourcing- def check out their demo on this!  Smartsheet is the only collaboration tool that makes it possible to connect to an on-demand workforce.
• Goals and Objectives tracking
• Product Management- prioritize features, track enhancement requests and manage product launches.  R&D as well as customer feedback options
• Gantt chart views
• View and edit sheets and reports from your iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile or Android smartphone
• Built in calendar and reminders for projects
• Discussion/ comments can be added to any smartsheet

CONS:

• Not a traditional project mgmt tool – must love and appreciate spreadsheets to use this tool!
• Very powerful, but comes with a learning curve- especially since it is so different than other PM tools.  Take the time to educate yourself on all the features
• Newbie on the market, so you know they’ll be working out the kinks

The three choices above each offer their own unique pros and cons.  Consider all three options as you make your decision about which PM system to implement in your business!

Baby Amaya Contest!

• Review posts below (first come, first serve!)  One bet permitted per person.
• Enter your bet for baby’s delivery date (ETA 3/3/10!)
• Enter your bet for baby’s birth weight (typically this is 5.0- 9.0 lbs)- don’t forget to include the ounces!  Reference the latest pic of Cheryl to ensure accuracy! —> —>
  
• If you’d like, enter a quick wish for Cheryl, Avery and baby along with your post
• Post them as a comment below for a chance to win BIG!

We will announce both winners once the baby arrives, and you will have 6 months from delivery to cash in your 25% off prize on any of our packages!

Note- prize is transferable (makes a great gift!)

Do You Love What You Do?– If Not, Get Inspired by Coworking!

With Valentines Day just around the corner, we all have *l-o-v-e* on our minds.  Whether you’re busy planning your weekend away with that special someone, or planning a night out with friends; Valentine’s Day represents a special time of year where we can reflect on all the loves of our lives, and what better way to do that than attend an EE Coworking and Networking Day in Philadelphia!

Given our hectic work schedules and commitment to a work-life balance,  it’s hard to argue that our work which takes up at least 40 hours per week of our lives, is not a major part of who we are.  If you are one, sitting miserably in your cubicle right now, reading this blog post, watching the clock tick down to 5:00 (hey, we’ve all been there!), then this post is for you!

Do you love what you do? Does it wake you up in the morning and motivate you through the day?  Do you feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in your work?  Do you have a great idea, but does the fear of going out on your own and forging your own way seem out of reach?

I’m here (as proof) to tell you that it’s possible!  If that’s not enough, come out and witness other local entrepreneurial dynamos in action! Bring a laptop, or a notebook and come meet and interact with folks who are working their butts off to make their vision for their business a reality.  Come pick our brains, and share your ideas and hear war stories about how we’ve worked to turn a vision into a reality.

The next Philly Coworking and Networking Day will be held on Friday, February 12, 2010 at the TBar on 12th and Sansom.

Take the day off from your cube and commute and come cowork and network with some of Philly’s brightest entrepreneurs and small business owners.  There’s no dress code, and no rules; just a group of people spending a few hours of their day getting some work done, collaborating on their thoughts, having a good laugh and truly loving what they do.

Come join us on Friday and get inspired.. we’d L-O-V-E to see you!

Evolve Your Biz Through Coworking in 2010!

Happy New Year to all! As we look back over 2009 and look forward to 2010 a great mantra comes to mind- Rather than creating a list of “resolutions” that quickly fade away (and leave us with deflated egos!), decide to evolve instead! As business owners and entrepreneurs, we are constantly forced to evolve our businesses to stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive.  Evolution is simply that- change over time.

What better way to focus on your biz evolutions than to spend the day working side by side with like-minded entrepreneurs! Coworking is a great way to get a change of scenery from your home (or bland corporate) office and hang in the presence of some of Philly’s brightest entreps. Share ideas, make connections and gain new perspectives- all of which are limited by the confines of your isolated cube!

Coworking is at it’s core about reciprocity- The mutual or cooperative interchange of favors or privileges; i.e., you give, you get. Your ideas and hindsight 20/20 reflections on lessons learned can translate across industries to help other professionals (new or veteran). In turn, those same peers have perspectives to share from their unique experiences that can help you as you work on your own business. This organic approach to business development promotes the open share of ideas with the common goal of improving all of our businesses in a collaborative process.

If you are committed to evolving your business in 2010, coworking is for you. Our group represents the open share of ideas and the strengthening of the entrepreneurial community here in Philadelphia across all industries.

We had a great turnout at our last event, and have an even bigger crowd registered for our event on 1/7. Check out some of our coworkers from December in our quickie vlog post: http://www.watchuslaunch.com/ and check out the pic below:

We would love to have you join us for our next coworking day!

Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010 starting at 10am

Location: Chapterhouse Cafe- we will be downstairs
620 South 9th Street Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 19147-2028

Learn more about the event and be sure to RSVP on our site.  Follow all of our participant tweets #EECoworking.

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