What a terrific first year for the BBC 2009 was. The Bainbridge Business Connection went in directions that I never dreamed of – largely due to the good people that participate. It has become a habit for me as well as I am sure a good number of our regular participants. But what does the New Year hold for us? What kinds of programs and activities will we venture into? Who will come and share their wealth of business savvy with us so we can enjoy meeting our own expectations for 2010?

I bet by now you have deduced that I am heading in some direction – and you would be correct! Goals for 2010, only I am talking about your businesses / personal goals. How do we identify them? What is in scope – and out of scope? What is realistic – or unrealistic?

Who do we ask for advice? Certainly not the World Wide Web; “Get Rich in Thirty Days selling [dumps]” – Yeah, that’s gonna happen. “Lose 30 pounds in 7 days!”  Nope!

During our hard times – businesses that suffer the most are the ones that live by the services they provide, or by the margins and volume of their hard earned sales. When we find ourselves in these jams – the get rich schemes always sound so much more realistic – but their not. The age old rule to avoid money quick scams is “if it seems too good to be real – believe in your instincts, it isn’t.”

Now… this leads me to what we are planning to open up the BBC’s 2010’s meeting series this Friday, January 8, 2010.  Ponder this: there are only 3 ways to ensure business success (life success for that matter).

1. Have good Plan
2. Set Goals
3. Work Hard

What?  That’s right! The best and most expedient path to financial freedom is having a good plan, goals that are achievable and – hard work (ugh – 2 out of three isn’t bad).

So – this Friday, we will assume you have a good plan – or you wouldn’t be coming to our Friday morning meetings. And of course you work hard because you love what you planned to do right? That leaves often the toughest part of being an entrepreneur: Setting Goals.

Rather then try to tell you what your goals are, or listen to someone that already makes six figures – we are going to get into our now famous small groups and come up with some terrific ideas – together. Goals seem much more achievable when you can sound them off your business colleagues – especially the ones that you have built relationships with over the past year.

Bring your ideas and a new friend, and get ready for another fun (and usually rowdy) session. Don’t miss your morning cup of BBC!

Tim Longley
BBC Chair

Well, imagine my surprise when I found out that the BBC Google Group stopped working last week when I hadn’t taken notice that email addresses that ended in .ru and .ch were working overtime to fill up my “comments” box with interesting offers (you don’t want to know) and pleas for assistance with managing large sums of money from their recently deceased millionaire mothers, brothers, uncles, etc.  Those of you that have BLOG’s perhaps know what I am referring to. It’s nice to know that our little group on Bainbridge Island is so popular internationally. Arrrg…
So anyway, I have deleted them and we are back in business again. It’s to bad you are possibly receiving this email after today’s get together but that only reinforces our “making personal connections” mantra doesn’t it?

To catch up… Last week (December 11, 2009) a group of us were surprised by the local television station sending a reporter/cameraman for an interview regarding the BBC and what it is all about – I suspect Dave Beck had something to do with this…hmmm..  But talk about having to pull a rabbit out of a hat. I was reminded why I spent so much time with Bainbridge Island Toastmasters doing “Table Topics.” or how to spit out useful information without blathering and dotting every sentence with an “uh” or “ah.” Some of our members were interviewed also. I haven’t seen the result yet.

We also discussed a new (and long overdue) “Members” or “Participants” page. We have come up with a plan on how to put our “participating” member’s professional profile’s on the BBC Site. We don’t want to mirror LinkedIn however we do want to approach it from a more personal view of the business owner. Branding the owner vs. the business. Today, I hope to put the final touches for the draft member page.

I will send out the final recommendation and an electronic form to fill out and return for those of you that want to participate, and have met the criteria (established by the BBC Board) to participate. Go to https://www.bainbridgebusinessconnection.com/?page_id=364 and click eOffice Innovations LLC to see a draft page.

The next two weeks end in one holiday or another so the BBC will be taking its first Annual break (Christmas and New Years respectively). We will see you in the new year on Friday, January 8^th, 2010.

Finally, I want to thank you all for a terrific charter year of the Bainbridge Business Connection! We have had a lot of fun and a lot of challenges to overcome. I personally look forward to my “Cup of BBC” on Fridays so I can spend quality time with all of you remarkable entrepreneurs! On behalf of the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce and the BBC Founders, I want to wish you all a safe and joyous holiday season!

Friday November 20, 2009

Tomorrow we start our meetings at a new – Earlier Time.

We have become such a rowdy group that we needed to start a bit earlier so the patrons of the Blue Ocean Cafe’ just wanting to have breakfast could do so without participating in our activities.

So the new agenda from here on will look something like this:

• 7:00 – 7:30 AM– Blue Ocean Cafe’ Open for Coffee, breakfast, and Networking!
• 7:30 – 8:00 AM — Formal Meeting, speakers, workgroups, training, etc.
• 8:00 – 9:00 AM — Networking (and a time buffer just in case we go over time)

Now this may seem a litter early to those of you that like to rise a bit later but it does give you a jump on the day!

For Friday’s meeting, we will be getting back into our small groups to solve yet another marketing / business question. Bring your questions and thoughts – you may have the question we pick for general discussion. This is always a lot of fun and generates terrific brain storming!

Don’t miss your cup of BBC!

Friday, October 30th, 2009.  Jim Zindell is the owner of   Zindell Acupuncture and Massage and co-founder of the B.I. Healthy Living Expo.  Learn how his off-beat and sometimes ‘foolish’ marketing strategy transformed a one-room mom and pop into one of the northwest’s most popular destination healing centers.

According to sources, the concept of guerrilla marketing was invented as an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget.  The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and thought-provoking concept to generate “buzz.”

Guerrilla marketing involves unusual approaches such as intercept encounters in public places,  street giveaways of products,  PR stunts,  any unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources.  More innovative approaches to Guerrilla marketing now utilize cutting edge mobile digital technologies to really engage the consumer and create a memorable brand experience.

Don’t miss your morning cup of BBC!