Partners....

One thing about being in a small start-up......few people with strong opinions..........
We'll see how this turns out.

How to Write a Press Release

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Press-Release

The below is from an email I sent to the team:

The articles I read suggests emailing the press release.
If you make hard copies- double space.
Don't use fancy formatting.

At beginning put:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Company Name
Contact:
Cell Phone:
Email:

Outline:
1. Catchy Heading
2. 3 sentence summary of Who, What, When, Why, Where, and How
3. Body-
Intro sentence: Local Manufacturing is better for community, environment, and makes good biz sense.
Why better for community
Why better for environment
Why makes good biz sense
Wrap-up statement

Describe Company
Call to ACTION...come buy our stuff!!
 
At the end put: ### in center of line
(That is the journalistic standard for indicating you are done.)

Community Volunteering.

A great way to get your name out there is by getting out there and doing something good.
Soooooooooo I'm giving it a shot.
:)

Community Volunteering here I come.

Overwhelming.

Overwhelming.
That is the amount of work there is to be done.
It is an overwhelming amount of work.
There are infinate things that could be done.
There are nearly infinate things that need fixed.

Customers that need called.
Designs that need done.
Meetings to schedule.
People to meet.

It is really a lot to coordinate.
I've been working really hard on prioritizing.
Just picking 2 things that really need done for the day to be sucessful.
Just 2 and get them done as quickly as possible....without distractions......that is also hard...limiting distractions.

Company One Sheets

I had never heard of a "one sheet".....but simple concept...but everything important on one piece of paper...a snapshot if you will and have it ready to go for when customers ask!

Here are some examples:
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/ourcompany/pdf/Company_Fact_Sheet.pdf

http://www.gatorade.com/Content/pdf/2006_Gatorade_Fact_Sheet.pdf
http://www.sagenonprofit.com/company/fact_sheet

I liked the Coca-Cola Layout and used this as my model.

Sales Breakthrough!

I had lunch with a friend on Tuesday that I think directly lead to my breakthrough on Wednesday.  His comment was:  Maybe you need to do some informational interviews to better understand the market....

Brilliant!

I finally had my first REASONABLE sales call on Wednesday.  (I won't call it good until they ACTUALLY become a customer.)  The key is to get a hold of the right person and ask good questions.

They will screen me....but I also need to screen them.  If they have no power to buy...If they have no need for my product...or don't see VALUE in the things I have to offer....it is a waste of breath to go any further in the conversation. 

Asking good questions helps me get there fast. 
I am feeling MUCH better about doing sales now!
Hopefully things will go well tomorrow!!

My life as a Bad Telemarketer...

Sooooooooooo I think I'm a tele-marketer.
Yep.
I am pretty sure.

Sales are hard to learn.
We have a great product, and lots of people do and want to buy it....
but how do you find the people who have the desire and power to buy? 
It's an art.

I'm getting more comfortable making sales calls....but I still haven't been able to turn any of them into SALES.  Yikes!
More to learn...much much more to learn!