JULY 16th 2010 — “So easy, an adult can do it.”

Jan Kragen of KragenU (kragen.net) will do a workshop & presentation on setting up your own website/web-presence, free and easy, using weebly.com as her example website user interface (similar to using google.sites or, for a small fee, WordPress.) Jan will begin promptly at 8:00, so come early.

And, as always,

there’s a delicious morning cup of BBC

just waiting for you!

PSE spokesperson Krysti Nice will address the BBC on energy cost efficiency for your small/home business.

Do you sometimes forget to turn off your coffee maker or robot-maker in your home-office laboratory? Do you sometimes leave the lights on downstairs when you’re upstairs in your castle workshop making … stuff?

There are an estimated 18 million home-based business owners, 24 million telecommuters, and an unfathomable number of unemployed folks conducting job searches from their own PCs. For the growing number of these Americans working from home, higher energy bills for combined home offices and residences are on the rise and taking a big knick out of precious resources—and our pocket books.

Higher electricity bills to power office equipment and lighting, heating and cooling, are an inevitable cost of doing business from home. Trips to the kitchen for meals and snacks and to other areas of the home for various needs also suck up electricity, especially when lights, appliances, and electronics in other rooms aren’t turned off (or unplugged) when they are no longer in use. The challenge of keeping home office energy bills from eating up our profits is particularly tough during this weird weather we have had, and now a hot summer that will inspire home workers to run air conditioning for longer periods.

Given these challenges, PSE (pse.com) has tips for home-based entrepreneurs, telecommuters—and even job-seekers—to help reduce energy costs while staying comfortable and “taking care of business.” PSE’s  Krysti Nice will be visiting the BBC tomorrow and has asked that we bring a copy of our power bills so she can analyze what people might consider doing to save money on future bills, as well as being kinder to the environment.

Join Us At: Cafe @ The Pavilion
403 N. Madison Ave.
Bainbridge Island, WA  98110

7:30-8:00 – coffee, tea, delightful food, visiting, informal networking, sharing

8:00-8:30 – formal meeting

8:30-9:00 – more informal networking and sharing

And, as always, there’s a delicious morning cup of BBC, just waiting for you!

Join us July 2nd for a cup of BBC, where we will discuss anything and everything BUT the 4th of July.

It should be fun!

Isn’t it always?

At the BBC?

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS: We do have some interesting upcoming events this summer.

JULY 9th — Puget Sound Energy (pse.com) will present … something … relevant … something about how to keep your energy green.

JULY 16th — “So easy, an adult can do it.” With Jan Kragen of KragenU (kragen.net). Jan will do a workshop & presentation on setting up your own website/web-presence, free and easy, using weebly.com as her example website user interface (similar to using google.sites or, for a small fee, WordPress.)

And, as always,

there’s a delicious morning cup of BBC

just waiting for you!

Thanks to our own BBC Regular Steve Kersten, his friend Matt Smith will give an “improv” presentation this Friday.

http://matt-smith.net/

Among other things, Matt Smith is a “Communications Process Facilitator and Trainer” — he does workshops for businesses in team building, stress management, change management, and conflict resolution, based on improvisational theater theory.  He also just finished a sold-out series of shows at Seattle’s Hugo House, called “All My Children.”  And he’s an accomplished, much sought-after auctioneer at Seattle area venues, including Bainbridge’s “Auction for the Arts” a couple of years ago.

Matt will speak to us about how he applies improvisational theater theory to his work, his auctioneer business and generally how he manages to survive in this world without any bosses.

Matt co-founded the legendary Seatle Improv in 1985, and Stark/RavingTheatre with Ed Sampson in 1988. They created and toured numerous shows including award winner Here/There.

His acclaimed monologues include My Last Year with the Nuns, Helium, My Boat to Bainbridge, and Beyond Kindness. Among his screen credits: Outsourced, Spiderman, Sleepless in Seattle, Whiteface, Northern Exposure, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Almost live!.

He lives on Bainbridge Island with his wife and their youngest daughter.

Legend has it Matt Smith is simply lots of fun!

See you all tomorrow for your morning Cup of BBC!

The 4th Of July Is Still Coming!

18 June 2010 — We will continue to discuss our BBC 4th-0-July booth. We still have last minute planning to do.

Go to the “BBC 4th-O-July Discussion Page” link (top right menu). Peruse the information there and then click the link for the “Sign-Up for BBC 4th Booth” page. Think about what time slot you’d like to sign up for. Ideally we should have three people in the booth for each time slot — though at least two.

What we still need to know is your thoughts and ideas about the BBC Fliers and the booth banner.

Our 4th-0-July booth is going to be a fun event and present a great networking opportunity to the general public that doesn’t usually know how many and what a variety of entrepreneurial businesses exist on Bainbridge Island and in Kitsap County.

Up-coming BBC event: On the 25th of June, Puget Sound Energy will give a talk on energy savings for home and office.

___________________________________________________

By The Way: The deadline for getting your personal BBCRegulars webpage information in to Dave Kragen (email: [email protected]) is still Friday June 25th. ONE MORE WEEK!!!! Even just a scan of your business card, a small picture of yourself (your mug shot) and an nice image of your business logo; include your preferred contact information too. But Don’t Panic!!!! Not until next Thursday!!!!

First: let’s see how many show up without any newsletter to announce anything about this Friday’s BBC.

Second: we’re going to discuss in open forum the idea of establishing a BBCBC — that is, a BBC Brain Czar.

Third: there will be a brief update on the BBC 4th of July Booth.

See ya’ll tomorrow, Friday, 4 June 2010, for your next cup of BBC!

Tim Longley
BBC Chair / Talking Head

Edited by KaveDragen Ink, LLC

At: Cafe @ The Pavilion
403 N. Madison Ave.
Bainbridge Island, WA  98110

7:30-8:00 – coffee, tea, delightful food, visiting, informal networking, sharing

8:00-8:30 – formal meeting

8:30-9:00 – more informal networking and sharing

Greetings BBC Members,

Last week I challenged you all to write a referral for a BBC member and bring it to the next BBC Meeting (which is this Friday, May 28, 2010). There will be prizes for the best 3 written testimonials — read to, and voted on, by the membership at large.

For those of you that were not able to be at our last meeting, what we are trying to develop are the skills necessary for providing testimonials that actually mean something to a reader or prospective client that the recipient (a BBC Regular) can proudly display on their marketing materials or web page. Testimonials are some of the most powerful marketing tools for both the recipient using them and the testimonial provider as well.

“WHY” you ask? There are a bunch of reasons:

1. You are helping your fellow entrepreneurs market themselves to a wider audience. Let’s face it, when you put good stuff out to the world, good stuff comes back. Call it what you will, but it is just plain reality in action. (Throw a ball against the wall — it comes back. Throw a mud pie at the wall, well; it sticks to the wall to remind you how stupid that move was….)
   
2. The recipient of your kind words may reciprocate with similar kind words for you to use on your marketing materials. But let’s remember — don’t give a gift expecting one back.
3. If your name shows up on other local businesses enough, customers and other business people tend to think you are a “Go to” person. Trust me — I found this out a couple of years ago.  It’s a good thing though.
4. You feel energized when you do something good for someone else in need. It is powerful medicine that will energize your business as a benefit.
5. You learn by writing. Dave Kragen will tell you this. You keep writing, you will get better and better at it. Writing and rewriting, this is what will get those stalled creative juices flowing — so typically vacant once we become set in our ways. And, writing about other people, can help you write about your own business.

SO…what is a “Good Testimonial?”  Let’s start with a basic principle that I have NO idea who wrote it originally — but it just makes complete sense:

Remember the “4 S’s”: Great testimonials are specific … short … sizzling … and signed.

Avoid the “4 L’s”: Long, lame, lazily-written, and lacking a point.

Here’s A Good Testimonial: (OK… its mine but I like it)

“I sleep well knowing that Dave Kragen has proofed, edited, and ensured that my message gets out in a highly professional manner. Dave has the gift of emulating his client’s written voice without detracting from their message. I believe that KaveDragen Ink is a necessary component to successful business writing.”    —Tim Longley

Here’s An Example Of A Bad Testimonial:

“Dave Kragen has been a neighbor of mine for 13 years and he likes to write and do well system projects and he is a good pool player. HE also likes cats and his wife is a teacher so he must be purdy smart. So if you want someone to write stuff for you – call him. “—Anonymous

Yeah that’s gonna work.  So bring those testimonials about a BBC member and see if you can win a prize. But remember, you will take away a lot more than that.

See you Friday for your next cup of BBC!

Tim Longley
BBC Chair / Talking Head

Edited by KaveDragen Ink, LLC

At: Cafe @ The Pavilion
403 N. Madison Ave.
Bainbridge Island, WA  98110

7:30-8:00 – coffee, tea, delightful food, visiting, informal networking, sharing

8:00-8:30 – formal meeting

8:30-9:00 – more informal networking and sharing

“DON’T PANIC!”*

Consider the alternatives: peripatet, palaver, ponder, pray, play pinochle. But don’t panic. Other ways not to panic? Other ways not to panic about your business? Discuss.

Greetings to visitors and BBC Regulars!  This is the second week of the second year of Bainbridge Business Connection.

But some of us don’t believe in numbers, so you may not exist, or I may not exist, but we all KNOW Thuy Nguyen exists because there’s coffee, espresso, tea and all sorts of breakfast goodies not far from this website in the Bainbridge Pavilion.

Cafe @ The Pavilion
403 N. Madison Ave.
Bainbridge Island, WA  98110

• 7:30-8:00 – coffee, tea, delightful food, visiting, informal networking, sharing
• 8:00-8:30 – formal meeting
• 8:30-9:00 – more informal networking and sharing
  

The BBC is a Creative Strategy Roundtable offering storefront and home-based Bainbridge business owners and managers a focus group for strategy testing, honest detailed critique, and community support.

Quote Of The Bi-month: “If the human mind was simple enough to understand, we’d be too simple to understand it.”   —Dr. Emerson Pugh (author and IBM research scientist and executive for 35 years)

Today’s Discussion will concern how: 1) not to panic; and 2) to use the following alien script to best advantage in YOUR business. The KRELL language is useful for communicating to your prospective clientele the serious nature of YOUR products and services. Find out more exciting uses of KRELL in the workplace and the marketplace. KRELL – “Software, Hardware, KrellWare.”

BBC Business Brainstorming Session Today

Who’s Next For A Dynamic BBC Leadership Presentation?

What’s Next For Your Business?

Who’s On First?

Creative Strategy Roundtabling! (Roundtabling? Is that a word? What’s it mean? What’s it all mean?)

… ………. . .. . .. ……. .. . . ….. . ……

At: Cafe @ The Pavilion
403 N. Madison Ave.
Bainbridge Island, WA  98110

• 7:30-8:00 – coffee, tea, delightful food, visiting, informal networking, sharing
• 8:00-8:30 – formal meeting
• 8:30-9:00 – more informal networking and sharing
  

The BBC is a Creative Strategy Roundtable offering storefront and home-based Bainbridge business owners and managers a focus group for strategy testing, honest detailed critique, and community support.

Quote Of The Bi-month: “If the human mind was simple enough to understand, we’d be too simple to understand it.”   —Dr. Emerson Pugh (author and IBM research scientist and executive for 35 years)

What is the Bainbridge Business Connection? What exactly is it that the BBC does for its members?  What’s in it for the community?  What are the standards that have been established over the last year?

BBC has evolved from a bunch of local business people getting together to share a waffle and an “iLearning Global” video to a much larger group of Bainbridge Island entrepreneurs.  What a year!  What an outcome.  I think it is time to take a moment to reflect back on who we are and what we are doing now — and maybe a look ahead into the future a little.  Sort of a State of the BBC message from your humble talking head (Tim).

My friend, colleague, co-founder of the BBC, and staff writer (Dave Kragen) put it better than I could myself.  “We are a community of small (and/or home) business entrepreneurs encouraging one another, person-to-person.  We seek to offer:  general business tips (via guest speakers/presenters); a place to learn and hone communication skills and market-place experience; a place for honest critique of one another’s advertising ideas, company marketing strategies, and general web presence.  We are also a place to discuss the general market environment both locally and nationally.  We are a community resource for local business just starting out or growing or changing.”

What we don’t want to do is spread our business cards around, hound each other for sales, and expect referrals from each other while we sit quietly in the corner.  We also do not want to be a place of unqualified judgments about one another’s products, services, or potential markets.  We especially do not want maligning of or negative gossiping about any member’s reputation, character, or products/services — for any reason!  We are here at the BBC to focus on one another’s strengths as colleagues, founders of new opportunities that we can share, consultants for better business practices, and ultimately “growth promoters.”  We are, after all, each other’ most powerful sales force.

At our weekly Friday morning breakfast gatherings, we continue to learn about one another as people struggling with making a living in a complex marketplace. We are all about encouragement. And as we become comfortable and respectful of our member’s products/services, we may find ourselves making a referral — but a referral with heart and credibility — because we are learning to know each other better.  It is a very powerful marketing strategy.

Again, Dave K:  “We at BBC are about HOW to be more successful and credible business people contributing in positive ways to our communities.  It’s not so much about WHAT we sell or WHAT services we offer, as about HOW we do business with integrity on Bainbridge Island and in Kitsap County.  We are just plain business folk getting together to cheer one another on and to be the best business people we can be.  But that’s what we love about the BBC!  A couple hours each week that we can feel really great about!“

Don’t miss your morning cup of BBC!

Tim Longley
BBC Host

David Kragen
BBC Editor & Chief