Technology is getting farther along than I think most Americans can keep up with.  Do you know what this funky box is to the left?  Well it’s a smart tag a or a QR code 2D bar code.  It’s similar to the scanning bar codes found on all grocery products that give you the cost of food, or maybe used for sale items.  But they are now being incorporated as a marketing tool as well.

You can create them for free, you don’t have some expensive software to do it.  Microsoft has a free service that you can create these tags, used to direct people that have a smartphone with scanning ability back to any web address you prefer.

Are you still wondering how businesses are using this code?  Well they can use it to direct people back to a landing page to sign up for a course, newsletter or ebook.  It can be used for a registration tool for large conference and seminars.  You can even use it to direct people back to your product or catalog page.  Sounds great wow, right?

But I ask you, how many of you have the ability on your smartphones to scan this pretty box in to get to these ebooks, newsletters or to sign up for the business expo?  Probably not many.  You have to download the reader onto your smartphone which can take long to download and is taking up space on your phone.  According to the report done by the Nielsen Co. they projected by the end of 2011, only about 49% of Americans will actually have a smartphone.  But even if you have one like me, do you have the actual reader on your phone to scan a smart tag?  Do you have the time to download it and what will you get from doing all that?

The craze around smart tags is really becoming the “in” thing for marketers.  Have you seen the interesting campaign that Macy’s has started the “Backstage Pass?”

It’s a very interesting and well thought out campaign.  I love how they branded their Macy’s star into the actual smart tag, they actually show you a video on their website of how to scan the tag and what you will get from doing that.  Videos of tips and tricks from the designers.  But my question to you is, would you actually spend the time while you are shopping to scan these codes into your phone?  It would be great if they could have incorporated an optin screen that would allow the people scanning the tag to be able to get information on sales or coupons about the designer they are scanning but I don’t see that done.  Here is a great article about the campaign and notice the comments.  Very interesting comments and really things that marketers need to think about before they spend money and time jumping on the technology bandwagon.

Here is a link to a vendor who is incorporating and printing QR codes right on to apparel now.  Even political campaigns are incorporating them into their fundraising campaigns.  I just received a flyer in the mail today with the smart tag on the back of it.

I think this is a very exciting and interesting marketing idea, however, I think that businesses need to think it all through before spending time, energy and money before entering into the world of the SMART Tag or QR code.

My question to all of you is do you have the reader software on your smartphone, and if you use these new fangled technology what do you use it for?

You have just created a great service or product, now you are trying to build your brand.  Creating a brand or logo is a very daunting task, one that does not come easy for some.  However, it can be done.  First, you have to create your brand “identity”, something that when people look at they know it’s you.  So,

What is a brand identity?

A brand identity is the visual look/effects of a business (name, symbol, design, fonts, colors) that together identify and distinguish a brand in a consumers’ mind.

If you convey your unique brand with a powerful image, you’ve got immediate leverage to make your business more memorable in the eye’s of the consumer.

How do you build your brand identity?

The powerful image that is the foundation of every brand identity is a logo.

Your logo is often the first impression your business has on a potential customer, so it’s important for it to be professional and memorable. When you start to create your company’s logo consider the following three basic fundamentals:

1. Your business/product name, also called the logotype or wordmark.

A signature font and/or a special type treatment of your name will aid public recognition of your business. Some companies use a logotype as their primary form of brand identity. Well-known examples are:

2. Your icon, the graphic image or symbol that often accompanies the name.

It’s not always necessary for a brand identity to include an icon, but it’s another recognizable element that distinguishes your brand.  So if you are a new or even a small business incorporating an icon to your logo is recommended. But it’s on you to use your logo or icon wisely and effectively.  Once a brand is well-established, an icon can sometimes stand alone without a business name. Great icon examples are:

3. Your tagline, the phrase that explains your company’s mission.

Big businesses have taglines, too, but they are especially critical for new and smaller businesses.  An informative – and catchy – tagline can help you start to get the recognition in the market for your product or service.  People will start to know who you are.

After your logo is designed and tagline is created, your brand has a solid foundation on which to build both your online and offline identity.

Here is the logo I just created for my new business,

Woman are more and more becoming entrepreneurs.  Over the past few decades more woman are looking towards the path of entrepreneurship and pursuing their dreams of owning a business.

But why do woman strive to become entrepreneurs?  Is it because they just want something to do or do they feel a need to network with other woman?  What is it that drives woman to pursue becoming business owners?  More and more woman seem to be looking for that balance or harmony between their worklife and their family/personal lives.  They want their goals and aspirations to fit their lifestyle.

• According to the American Express OPEN report, click here to read more:
  * As of 2011, it is estimated that there are over 8.1 million women-owned businesses in the United States, generating nearly $1.3 trillion in revenues and employing nearly 7.7 million people.
•   *  Between 1997 and 2011, when the number of businesses in the United States increased by 34%, the number of women-owned firms increased by 50% – a rate 1 1/2 times the national average.

These are some very interesting statistics and very inspiring to women who are considering taking the jump into the world of entrepreneurship.

So now you can see why I am inspired to work with other businesses, women entrepreneurs to help other woman find their dreams.

I would like to share this great video from Savor the Success, a premium network for women entrepreneurs.

Here is a perfect example of what I just talked about above.  Here is a post from Entrepreneur that talks about a mom filling a need in the marketplace for personal hygiene products for boys.  How an Atlanta entrepreneur Marie Gelin launched Stinky Boyz, a line of sports-themed natural shampoos and body washes.

Why? “Boys are a truly deprived market,” Gelin says. Most boys share their deodorant and body washes with their father or end up using their mother’s products, she says. The inspiration for a solid product came from Gelin’s experience with her son, who would squirt her shampoo and body wash all over the shower: “a major waste.”

You can read more about the post here.

Welcome to our new team members! Marla Murasko Enterprises, Inc. is happy to announce that we are expanding our portfolio of services to our clients.

I would personally like to welcome Dawn Papandrea-Khan, who as a graphic artist, her talent’s go way beyond my expectations.  I used Dawn for my SpecialMoms Entrepreneur Club logo, ecover, optin and Facebook page welcome and was so pleased at her work, her professionalism and creativity, I decided to ask her to join my team.  I wanted to let others experience her wonderful work.  I think that is someone’s greatest referral is to ask them to join their team.

If you are interested in learning more about our new team members please visit them here.  However, if you are interested in any of their services, I would ask that you contact me directly at marlamurasko@gmail.com/

I came across a post on Facebook talking about a commercial that Proctor & Gamble did with a Special Olympics athlete in it.  I am a big advocate for special needs children, as my 5 year old son has Down Syndrome.  I was even a “buddy” back in high school for Special Olympics so needless to say the post caught my eye.

Well I went on to view the commercial, here’s the link.  I love how it mentioned “Proud Sponsors of Moms”.  As I mentioned in my website, Marla Murasko Enterprises, Inc. is passionate about supporting businesses that provide products or services that target affluent women, moms and focus on empowering mom entrepreneurs and/or making the lives of their families better.  Businesses are realizing that moms are a powerful and influential market.

Here are some interesting statistics:

• Women account for 85% of all consumer purchases including everything to purchasing homes to healthcare
• Women represent the majority of the online market
• 22% shop online at least once a day
• 60% of Moms used coupons in the last 24 months
• 92% pass along information about product deals to their friends and family through social media platforms
• 76% want to be apart of a special or select panel
• Nearly 50% of women say they want “greener” choices.
• Moms are very passionate about causes or events to foster awareness
• Moms love to blog and create their own little communities

So if your product targets moms entrepreneurs, moms and their families then why not market with Moms?  Partner with them on your product launches or create a marketing relationship with them to help ”get the word out” for you. 

As a mom myself I love the ability to sample products and provide my opinions.  As a mom of a special needs child and having a busy family life, we are always looking for better; more cost-effective ways to have a “better” life.

So I went on to do more research on the Proctor & Gamble website and I went to their page entitled “Core Strengths” and I came across this video “The Inspirational Power of Purpose”, where the P&G Global Marketing & Brand-Building Officer Marc Pritchard explains how the Company is using purpose-driven brand building and creative innovation to thrive even in uncertain economic conditions.  Some of the highlights I came away with from watching this video were:

1. Make a “shift from marketing to serving”.
2. Forced to getting to “know” your customers and about their lives in order to make their lives better.
3. Having customers become personally associated with the brand.

4. “Participation means purchase.”

Watch the video to understand how to create a “purpose-driven brand.”  It is truly inspiring about how some of the brands we use every day is truly making a difference in people’s lives.

Kudos Proctor and Gamble, it makes me feel so much better when I purchase your products, the dedication to your consumers especially Special Olympics and moms.  Thank you!

“Organizing Your Priorities”

How many times in a day, do you find yourself wondering, “where did the time go?”  Do you ever feel like you spend too much time doing and not enough time living?  With the fast-paced lifestyle, society has us in, it is no wonder you can find any time for yourself or what is important to you.  You spend all day doing for others that at the end of the day, you have no energy or time left in the day to do anything that is important to you.  It is time to organize your priorities.

Goal  #1:   Ask yourself what and who is important to me?  What do I want to accomplish in my
life?

Goal #2:      Create a list of your top ten priorities; these priorities should be what are important to
                        you.  You will realize all too quickly, that if you don’t know what your priorities are, then
others will decide them for you.

Goal #3:      Post them somewhere, so they will become visual reminders of what is important to you.

Goal #4:      Create a list of the activities (ie: PTA, tennis league, etc) that you are currently
involved with.  Then take this list and compare it to your top ten priorities list.  This should
help you to see what activities you can eliminate, to make room for your priorities.

Goal #5:       Take the time to schedule in your planner, activities that will contribute to you meeting
your priorities.  Making a phone call to a friend you haven’t talked to in a while, time to
exercise, date night with your spouse or maybe it’s just reading a book to your children.

Goal #6:       Learn when and how to say no!  Set boundaries and honor your priorities.

 “Live Simply.  Love generously.  Care deeply.  Speak kindly.  Leave the rest to God.”

Creating Good Business the SMART Way

S – Specific: be clear about what you want

M – Measurable (monetary): you need to know if you are  succeeding or not

A – Achievable: make goals that take into account how much free time and manpower you have

R – Realistic: choose goals that are possible

T – Timely: make short-term goals to compliment your long-term goals

You need to have a very clear, measurable plan so you can be accountable to yourself and others. 

Let me help you do that!

Contact me today at marlamurasko@gmail.com to schedule your free 30 minute strategic planning call to see how we can work together to help you to do business the SMART way.

Chief Executive Officer Ellen J. Kullman, 54, who took the helm of Dupont two years ago, has just landed a $5.8 billion deal to buy Danisco, a Danish company that uses biotechology to develop industrial enzymes that are catalysts used to make ethanol, food, animal feed, and textiles. The acquisition will make DuPont, already the world’s largest car-paint maker and the second-biggest seed supplier, the No. 1 producer of food additives and the second-largest maker of enzymes used to make biofuels.

The first woman to lead 208-year-old DuPont, Kullman says her experience as a parent helped her instill the discipline needed to bring her company through the recession. Kullman said she centered fearful employees by having them focus on what they could control, whether that was customers or costs or inventories. “I am a much better leader because I had three kids,” she said. “With kids, they don’t do what you want them to do when you want them to do it. Organizations don’t necessarily, either. You’ve got to listen. You’ve got to learn how to influence.”

You can read more on this article at: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_04/b4212017598520.htm?campaign_id=rss_null

Being Part of the Puzzle for Non-Profits

Non-profits are a critical part of our society and the communities we live in.  They each have different goals or missions.  Some focus on helping the needy, funding good causes or support education of our youth.  But for a non-profit to be successful they need to have the “correct” people involved, that play an integral role in the puzzle that makes up a successful non-profit.

Usually a non-profit is managed by an Executive Director who reports to a Board of Directors.  They have paid staff to run the day-to-day tasks and a volunteer support network to help with fundraising and awareness events.

So how does a Virtual Assistant play an integral role in the success of non-profits?  Virtual Assistants are not employees, so they do not need to become part of your headcount.  They don’t need any employee benefits, vacation or sick time.  VA’s are experienced professionals that can fill a very specific need for a non-profit.  They can be a Project Manager, or assist with a non-profits marketing initiatives.  The nice thing about a Virtual Assistant is that you only pay for the hours worked.  So for example, let’s say you have an awareness campaign that you need someone to oversee for 6 months.  You can hire a Virtual Assistant to manage that goal without having to “hire” a new employee, you just hire a consultant.  So when that work is complete you do not need to continue paying someone unless you have another project for them to handle. 

Therefore Virtual Assistants can be apart of that puzzle that makes up a successful non-profit organization, without having to worry about added costs.  Non-profits also have the ability to apply for grants that can cover the cost of a Virtual Assistant or Project Manager.

Here are some of the services I can provide a Non-Profit:

1. Research
2. Grant writing
3. Event Planning
4. Secure Speakers, Entertainers
5. Marketing & Communications
6. Data Entry
7. Surveys

Please contact me at marlamurasko@gmail.com with your needs or you can visit my website at http://marlamurasko.com/virtual-assistant/ to schedule a FREE 30 minute Strategic Planning consultation.

The holidays always seem to bring stress for retailers and business owners.  Many business owners question how they are going to boost sales and stay competitive during the holidays.

Well that would be by giving your customers a SPECIAL OFFER they just can’t refuse!

Everybody loves to know that they can get a special offer or even something FREE during the holidays.  Make your offer as attractive as you can afford to stay competitive.  The greater the value to the customer the more sales you will see.

Here are some ideas to help you create that SPECIAL OFFER during the holidays:

Special Holiday Discount – Provide your potential customers a holiday discount.  People love to see great discounts on items, generate a buzz by doing special advertising.  Use the social media sites to help create buzz.

Complimentary Bonus – why not provide your potential customers a complimentary bonus with the purchase of a particular item.  It shouldn’t cost you a lot, but people like to know they are getting more for their money.

Bill Me Later – promote a bill me later promotion to your clients that use a credit card.  Knowing that their credit cards won’t be charged immediately may promote customers to take immediate attention to your promotion.  Make sure they are aware of the deadline to your promotion.

The holidays come and go, so your opportunity to create sales and generate new clients is short-lived.  Make sure your advertising gives you the most bang for your buck.