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.

Bobby and John

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!

Some pretty cool facts about small businesses:

• There are an estimated 27.2 million small businesses in America
• More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business
• They create 60-80 percent of new jobs in the country
• Small businesses drive innovation, create 21st century jobs and increase U.S. competitiveness

While the US Small Business Administration is recognizing this week in DC with a couple days of events, lectures, honoring lunches, and more, we’d like to do our part to recognize small businesses and entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia area. According to Entrepreneur.com, there are 3 ways to celebrate National Small Business Week, one of them being-  attend an event and networking!

Entrepreneur’s Entourage has been hosting monthly coworking and networking groups around the city to bring local businesses and talent together in a casual and comfortable environment.  We want to support our fellow business owners by providing a fun to place to work from for the day with the added value of networking with some new peers from your community.

Strange Brew Coffee

This month we’ll be working from Strange Brew in South Philly.  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.

Come join us on Tuesday, July 19th between 10 and 3 for a great day of working alongside like minded individuals whom range from entrepreneurs, to small business owners, to driven professionals.  Share your business cards, talk about what you do and what your company offers, enjoy some coffee, and walk away with some new connections and maybe even some new clients!  Click here to register for our free event!

Great coffee, great networking and a great reason to celebrate with other Philly entreps- National Small Business Week!

Here in Philly experts in their field are stepping out of the mold to start their own companies and provide services they know best.  We entrepreneurs are a strong force and growing every day.  We are providing quality and necessary services ranging from web design to copy writing and everything in between.   As a result of all sharing common goals, and the City of Brotherly Love, we are creating the ecosystem to foster growth and support for entrepreneurial success.  In the article, 9 steps are outlined for Creating an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, and sure enough, step two is to the shape the ecosystem around local conditions to tailor the suit to fit its own local entrepreneurship dimensions, style and climate.  We are doing just that; entrepreneurs in various fields are coworking, there are weekly meet ups to meet the needs of any level of networker, and above all, entrepreneurs are accepted and celebrated for their efforts.

The opportunities for an entrepreneur to be successful in this current market are high.  Many companies are seeing the value of outsourcing and slowly starting to open their checkbooks to bring in these expert entrepreneurs to help their business grow.  Many groups are also supporting entrepreneurs by hosting coffees, lunches, happy hours, meet ups and conferences to allow for networking, sharing, and learning.

In doing our part to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem, we have been hosting coworking and networking events around the city.  Our next event will be on Thursday, January 20th, in Northern Liberties at One Shot Coffee.  Here we meet with dozens of other entrepreneurs to work as a community for the day; sharing stories, asking questions, making new introductions, drinking coffee and just enjoying eachother’s company as we meet our work demands.

As a bonus for the new year, we will follow coworking with a Philly Entrep Hapy Hour, starting at 5:30pm at PYT in The Piazza

Please join us for our next coworking day!

Date: Thursday, January 20th

Coworking: starting at 2pm

Location: One Shot Coffee
George Street (and American) behind Liberties Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19123

Come and go as you please; we will be grabbing some food and making business introductions all day!

Happy Hour: starting at 5:30pm

Location: PYT @ The Piazza in Northern Liberties
1015 N @2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123

*Parking available on the street or in the free lot located on Germantown Ave on the Northeast side of the Piazza.

Be sure to RSVP here.

Here’s what we recommend:

Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, – Hot of the shelves, written by the founders of 37Signals (aka the Basecamp/ Highrise Enterprise)-  A quick read breaking down their rules for success (hint here- Simplify, Simplify, Simplify).  If you are a new entrepreneur and are continually mystified by the corporate nonsense business structure, you’ll appreciate this authentic review of the new way of working.

Review here by Inc. Mag

Tribes by Seth Godin- Forget traditional marketing, authenticity is key and having a tribe of supporters is the best kind of publicity.  The Web has opened new doors to leadership and has presented us with a new way to garner a following of people interested in what we have to say.  Godin’s mantra  (and we would concur)  is that everyone can now find or assemble a tribe and lead it. The tools are there to lead the tribes that are forming from Facebook to Twitter to Craigslist.

Review here by USA Today

Faves for female entreps:

Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense & Sensibility- by Mireille Guiliano, the long-time super-classy CEO of Veuve Cliquot, and the author of French Women Don’t Get Fat. A guidebook for the professional woman on how to navigate the business world and live a well-balanced, happy life.  From acing a job interview or performance review to hosting a dinner party, Mireille tells it like it is (with her french flair!) as she shares her secrets for feeling good, facing challenges, getting ahead, and maximizing pleasure at every opportunity.

The Martha Rules- Martha Stewart (Emily’s favorite!)  Martha’s fundamentals for successful entrepreneurship.  A legendary entrepreneur in her own right, she shares her 10 rules for succeeding in business.  Having turned her personal passion and experience into a multi-market phenomenon the MSLO enterprise is a leader in diversification.  Tapping into her years of experience in building a thriving business, Martha will help readers identify their own entrepreneurial voice and channel their skills and passions into a successful business venture.

Oldies but Goodies:

Rules for Revolutionaries- Guy Kawasaki, former Apple Chief Evangelist.  The Capitalist Manifesto for Creating and Marketing New Products and Services. Rules lays out Kawasaki’s decidedly audacious (but personally experienced) strategies for besting the competition and triumphing in today’s hypercharged business environment.  Lots of note-taking in this summer read, definitely more product and corporate focused, but relevant to entreps nonetheless.

The E-Myth Revisited- Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work, by Michael Gerber – The original guidebook for running a small business.  Key takeaway here- “As Entrepreneurs we need to focus on working ON our business and not IN our business.”  So many of us start out doing everything in our businesses, when really we should be focusing on being the leader of our business.

Summer Fun:

The Accidental Billionaires- Ben Mezrich  The story of the founding of Facebook (unofficially!) but a great, interesting fun read.

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 clean, bright, and friendly cafe in Northern Liberties called Euphoria Cafe.  They have great coffee, tea, smoothies, sandwiches, and our personal favorite, iced bubble coffee!  Euphoria offers free wifi and a comfortable area for us to all sit together to work and mingle.  This cafe is also in the exciting Piazza, surrounded by restaurants, shops, galleries, and of course the big outdoor courtyard with the giant screen TV so you can stick around and watch the Phillies game that night!

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.

Please join us for our next coworking day!

Date: Thursday, June 10, 2010 starting at 10am.

Come and go as you please; we will be grabbing some food around 12:30pm, and making business introductions all day!

Location: Euphoria Coffee
1001 N 2nd Street in The Piazza
Philadelphia, PA

Be sure to RSVP here.

Then please tweet that you will be attending, or just follow all of our participant tweets using #EECoworking.

If you are committed to evolving your business in 2010, coworking is for you.  Coworking is 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 strengthening of the entrepreneurial community here in Philadelphia across all industries.  Our meetup days are informal and a great way to share your business concept, make connections, get some work done on your laptop, grab a bite to eat, and gain new perspectives.

EE Coworking and Networking Days are here to stay in 2010! We will be working from various wifi spots throughout the city once a month on the second Thursday of each month.  We’ve had a great turnout at all of our events.  Check out some of our coworkers in our quickie vlog post:  http://www.watchuslaunch.com/

Please join us for our next coworking day!

Date: Friday, April 30th, 2010 starting at 10am.

Come and go as you please, but we will be grabbing some food and doing business introductions at 1:00pm

Location: Chapter House Cafe
620 South 9th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147

Be sure to RSVP here.

Then please tweet that you will be attending, or just follow all of our participant tweets using #EECoworking.

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 April 13th 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 2010:

Philly Startup Leaders present The Entrepreneur Expo – Innovation on Display – April 13, 2010 at University of the Arts. This 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.

April 13, 2010 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.

https://philly-startup-leaders.ticketleap.com/entrepreneur-expo-2010-04-13-2010-18-0

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!

“I came to Philadelphia 4 years ago when my job as a magazine publisher moved me here.  As part of a large west coast media company I did not get very involved in my community and neighborhood within Philadelphia for networking.  But, when I left the magazine a year ago and decided to start my own company with a local friend, I was immediately embraced by the community and exposed to the limitless opportunities for networking, support, and social marketing.  We couldn’t imaging running our virtual company, Entrepreneur’s Entourage, from anywhere else.  We have been able to provide our clients with great services like web design, branding, internet marketing, research, copywriting, and project management by including so many of Philly’s talented entrepreneurs and free-lance consultants on our team of professionals.

There are many more reasons why my partner and I have found great success with our new business as a result of being located in Philadelphia.  There is a networking group and business development group for every type of start up.  There are great places to work from that are either coworking offices or just meetups or jelly sessions at one of the numerous coffee shops throughout the city with free wifi.  There are also new entrepreneurs emerging every week in this area that are looking for assistance in getting their business moving forward!

Our top Universities excel in providing programs and opportunities for entrepreneurs and start up companies alike.  The University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University both have entrepreneurial clinics and offer many services to our community out of their Small Business Development Center.  Another great resource that my partner and I have been invited into is the entrepreneurial clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Legal Clinic.  Each year graduating seniors work with companies in the area to help meet their legal needs pro bono.  We were able to utilize the clinic to form our partnership agreement as well as help negotiate some business documents.

Many think of Philadelphia as industrial, dated and a little on the maniacal side when it comes to sports fans; but in reality, our city has only been on the up and up with making our neighborhoods green and eco-friendly, providing accessible resources for small businesses to launch, and providing better services for our budding entrepreneurs.  Plus, what’s a city with a World Champion sports team without a few die hard fans!”

Help us send a message to set a new precedent to put Philly on the map as one of the leading cities cultivating entrepreneurial activities!