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Posts Tagged ‘jessie newburn’


Happy Labor Day and Some of the Best of Grow Smart Business

September 7th, 2009 ::

Here in the United States we are celebrating Labor Day which is the “unofficial end of summer” and when everyone is heading back from summer vacation ready to get back to work. We won’t be publishing anything else today but in the mean time there are two things we wanted to share with you:

Grow Smart Business Conference – Register Now!

Don’t forget to register for the first Grow Smart Business conference coming up on Sept 29 in Washington, DC at the Renaissance Hotel. Here is the summary on the event:

Join us for a premier one-day event featuring renowned small business leaders and well-known industry experts, including keynote speaker Chris Anderson.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs should attend to learn how to overcome challenges that all small businesses face. Attendees will hear from an outstanding group of panelists for concrete takeaways including:

  • Proven strategies for business growth despite the current economy
  • Executable, cost-effective ways to market and promote their businesses
  • Knowledge of what banks believe is the key to securing small business financing
  • Actionable ideas for integrating and leveraging social media into existing marketing and communications efforts

Presented By:

Great Content from the Grow Smart Business bloggers and contributors

Many of you come to the blog on a regular basis and know that Michael Dougherty recently joined the blog team on a regular basis. You might not be aware that we have a growing group of “Smart Business Contributors” who write on their specific area of expertise in small business. This is why we thought we would share some great posts from Grow Smart Business that you might have missed:

A Parable On Getting Your First Website by Michael Dougherty

The Entrepreneur’s Handbook – Start with these 10 Resources For First Time Entrepreneurs by Steven Fisher

What to do if you are downsized by Lorne Epstein

Evian babies in your face. Just like their GenX parents by Jessie Newburn

Email Marketing and You: So Happy Together by Monika Jansen

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Posted in small business | No Comments »

Introducing the Grow Smart Business Small Business Expert Network

August 10th, 2009 ::

Over the last month we have been reaching out to some very talented experts in small business many of them owners of their own small business. We began with leveraging our network on Facebook through the Grow Smart Business Club and asking some very smart people to contribute once a month and impart their expertise to you our Grow Smart Business blog.

We have about 20 contributors writing about topics such as capital access, small business marketing, technology and small business, marketing, pr, social media, customer service, accounting, taxes, business writing etiquette, health and wellness, generational marketing, business coaching and human resources to start. All of these contributors are experts have volunteered their time once a month to impart their wisdom and experience so you can build the best small business possible.

Starting today we will be publishing these guest contributors in addition to our staff writers and we would like to give you a preview of the upcoming week and future contributors.

Contributors for the Upcoming Week

Email Marketing and You: So Happy Together by Monika Jansen
Social Media: 10 Tips on Jumping In Feet-First Without Drowning by Michelle Riggen-Ransom
Evian babies in your face. Just like their GenX parents by Jessie Newburn
What to do if you are downsized by Lorne Epstein
The apple pie bakery that could teach you a thing or two about making a sale and loyal fans by Mayra Ruiz

Contributors Coming to the Blog in the Coming Weeks

Barry Moltz – Small Business Technology

Carla Briceno – Marketing to the Hispanic Markeplace

Carlos Diggs – Selling for Small Businesses

David McGillivray – Small Business Coach – “Coaches Corner”

Debbie Weil – Corporate Blogging

Toby Bray – Small Business Sales and Marketing

Jimmy Gardner – Small Business Technology

Erica Knoch – Small Business Marketing

Gary Honig – Raising Capital for Small Businesses

Harry Lalor – Small Business Strategy

Kristin King – Effective Business Communications

Liz Strauss – Social Media for Small Business

Pamela O’Hara – Small Business CRM

Would you like to be a contributor?

If you would like to be considered as a contributor, we would love to see if there is a fit so reach out to listen@networksolutions.com and point us to your blog or send a few samples of your writing and your bio.

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Posted in Capital Access, Coaches Corner, Compliance, Customer Service, Entrepreneurs, Generational Marketing, Health and Wellness, Marketing, Raising Capital, Resources, Rules for Entrepreneurs Series, small business, Technology, Workforce | 5 Comments »

Generational Communication Styles – Part 2 of our Generational Marketing Series by Jessie Newburn

May 27th, 2009 ::

Jessie Newburn

Jessie Newburn

Jessie Newburn a guest contributor to Grow Smart Business in the area of Generational Marketing and according to her bio, an Iconic GenXer, who provides strategic direction and business services to clients for almost two decades. Her work centers around integrative communications, social media and applying generational dynamics to current and coming organizational concerns.

Jessie has deep roots in traditional marketing and communications, along with a broad understanding of social media. This is the second part in a series of posts on the topic of Generational Marketing. This post deals with America’s extant generations and varying communication styles.

Impact on Communications is Huge

As the natural progression of generations occurs, the resonating style of communication in a culture changes as well. This shift happens about every 20 years. Looking at generations as groups of people who were exposed to world and national events in their childhood sheds light on the formation of their general world views when they are adults.

Communication Styles Across Generations

Here’s a quick look at the extant American generations and how, in very broad terms, they orient toward world issues and communications. This information sheds light on –

1.    how the different generations want to communicate
2.    what kinds of messages (and technologies) they receive more readily and
3.    strategic communication tactics that have a higher likelihood of being effective.

Silent Gen elders – Value nuanced communication, sensitivity to minority positions; they are masters of policy, committees and processes. They trust credentialed experts. Communication style: administrative, policy-oriented, letter of the law. Masters of the expert opinion, think tanks.

Boomers – Value vision and mission; believe in the importance of personal indulgence over institutional might. Communication style: megaphone. Brilliant message crafters. Good creators of content that aligns to purpose and values with appeal to higher purpose and meaning. Masters of radio and TV delivery.

GenXers – Value pragmatic, realistic approach to daily life. Now-oriented, tech-savvy, nimble. Interested in function, efficiency and resourcefulness. Communication style: independent, not connected to an organization; focused on micro-subjects and personal expression of style work. Masters of the internet, blogging and publishing resources.

Millennials – Value team, cohesiveness and their special mission as a generation. Collegial, conventional and deeply focused on peer-oriented activities for their full life course. Communication style: upbeat, rally together, focused on the activity and approval of their peers. Masters of mobile and hand-held devices.

Homeland Gen – Too young now, but will begin consuming media soon. To reach them, think Silent Gen (above), but with using new tools and technologies. Think virtual for reaching them.

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Posted in Customer Service, Marketing | 12 Comments »

What is Generational Marketing? – Part 1 of our Generational Marketing Series by Jessie Newburn

May 26th, 2009 ::

Jessie Newburn

Jessie Newburn

Jessie Newburn a guest contributor to Grow Smart Business in the area of Generational Marketing and according to her bio, an Iconic GenXer, who provides strategic direction and business services to clients for almost two decades. Her work centers around integrative communications, social media and applying generational dynamics to current and coming organizational concerns.

Jessie has deep roots in traditional marketing and communications, along with a broad understanding of social media. This is the first in a series of posts on the topic of Generational Marketing.

Generational Marketing Definition

Generational marketing is an approach to product development, CRM, communications and marketing that recognizes generations as archetypes. The approach also respects that the four generations experience each life phase (childhood, young adulthood, midlife and elderhood) during “seasons” of  societal attitudes and values that differ from what other generations experienced at the same life phase.

Short description of each generation

America, in 2009, is experiencing this particular constellation of generational dynamics:

Boomers, currently 49-66 years old, are just beginning to move out of midlife and into the early stages of elderhood. The broad generational personality that Boomers experience orients toward vision, values and religion (spiritual discovery).

GenXers, currently 28-48 years old, are just beginning to move out of young adulthood and into midlife. The broad generational personality that GenXers experience orients toward liberty, survival and honor.

Millennials, currently 7-27 years old, are just beginning to arrive as young adults in the American landscape. The broad generational personality that Millennials experience orients toward community, affluence and technology.

Homeland Gen, currently 0-6 years old, are just arriving as a new generation. They share the same broad traits with the elder Silent Gen, currently 67-84 years old. This generational personality orients toward pluralism, expertise and due process.

PLEASE NOTE: The information here is cursory in addressing large groups of people. From an historical perspective, the traits articulated above, speak to the legacies of generations passed, what’s been observed to date and the likely life courses of America’s current generations.

NEXT TIME: In part 2, we discuss the communication styles of the various generations and how you can use this to your advantage in your small busines.

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Posted in Customer Service, Marketing | 76 Comments »