We love the Holiday season here at Kocina Branding & Marketing Companies.  With Thanksgiving just hours away, we thought we would take a minute to show our appreciation. 

Here are a few of the things our team is thankful for this year:

-“…for my co-workers- they’re amazing and dedicated.”

-“I’d go crazy without our graphic designers.  They make my job so easy.”

-“I’m thankful that our MarketSmart Academy has been so successful!”

-“…the wild success of our Girlfriends Expo & Getaway last weekend! Our team, the vendors, speakers, emcees, sponsors and patrons were amazing!”

-“…that we have had the opportunity to work with such great companies and organizations this year.”

-“…for my healthy, happy family!”

-“I feel blessed to work with such strong and inspiring people.”

We’d love to know what you’re thankful for this year.  Share with us on our facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kocina-Branding-Marketing-Companies/93694901057

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

The holidays are approaching which can be a very daunting time to contact the media because this is the busiest time in the media calendar.  Here are a few pointers when calling the media around the holiday season:

1)  Take the time to create new stories to take advantage of events, holidays and seasonal activities.

2)  Remember the lead time for each media venue: radio, print, and tv-they all run on different schedules so figure out the best times to call and pitch them fresh ideas for the holiday months.

3)  Call and find out who handles the holiday gift reviews and get your product in the right person’s hands!

We’ve had a good stream of people attending the Kocina Market Smart classes.  The people walk through our office and stop by our desks and ask us questions about p.r.  It’s fun meeting new people and adding them to our twitter list!  Our next class is on Nov . 24 from 8:30am - Noon re: Developing a Brand Palybook-this is the class nobody should miss!!

The big weekend is finally here! Our Girlfriends Expo & Getaway starts tonight!

Let’s get the basics out of the way: 

Girlfriends Expo & Getaway at Treasure Island Resort & Casino (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl)

Friday November 20 5 pm - 9 pm 

Saturday November 21 9 am - 5 pm

Visit www.101expos.com/geg for discounted tickets and lodging package information.  *Half of all ticket proceeds are donated to the Breast Cancer Awareness Association.*

Ladies, the boys have had their hunting weekend- and now it’s your turn to have a fun weekend away.  Head down to Treasure Island after work tonight to enjoy a mini-getaway weekend in the tropics.  Bring your mom, your best friend, sisters and cousins and cruise the aisles of unique shopping opportunities we’ve set up for you.  Retailers from across the state will be in attendance- all for your convenience.  Flowers, handbags, cosmetics, travel, fitness, spas, home and interior design, intimate gifts, jewelry, scarves, bedding, cocktails - we have it all!You can also attend any (and all!) of our lectures and events at the Girlfriends Expo & Getaway.

*The Breast Cancer Awareness Association will be holding a silent auction throughout the show- with GREAT items to bid on.  (Who’s in for a luxurious spa package?)

*On Saturday at 1 pm- you can catch our Fashion Show featuring breast cancer survivors as models- dressed by The Hope Chest For Breast Cancer.  Elizabeth Ries of Twin Cities Live will emcee the show with The Hope Chest’s founder, Barbara Hensley.

*Job Searching? Just looking for a change at work? Check out our Finding Work that Works seminar on Saturday at 10 am - put on by the wonderful ladies from WomenVenture.  They will help you identify your strengths and passions that will progress your career in the direction you want it to go.

This weekend is a great chance to spend some quality time with your favorite women, and support local breast cancer charities.  Besides- with the extended family coming into town next week, and all of the cooking you’ll need to do - you deserve to get away this weekend!

We can’t wait to see you there!

It’s well known that women make most of America’s buying decisions. Fewer people realize that women also own a great number of Minnesota’s businesses, and are therefore poised to help our local economy rebound.

“Small businesses got us out of the big recession in the last century, and we can band together to do it again,” says Robin Kocina, president of Mid-America Events & Expos, Inc., producers of the upcoming Girlfriends Expo & Getaway, which features the Women’s Home & Interior Design Expo (www.101expos.com). “Minnesota tends to be at the business forefront,” she says. “Women business owners are a driving force, and what’s happening in our own business community is a good indicator of what’s happening across the country.”

According to results of a 2009 Economic Forecast survey, 31 percent of Women Presidents Organization (WPO) members say their businesses have grown since 2008; and 82 percent are optimistic about business performance in 2010. These women business leaders identified two of their greatest current challenges as customer retention and competition.

To help local small businesses succeed in these areas, Kocina is creating face-to-face marketing events specifically by and for women. “We just added the home show element to our upcoming Girlfriends event because we understand that that home-related businesses, many of which are woman-owned, are starting to recover. They need a platform to get in front of thousands of potential women buyers to that they can to start filling their sales funnel.”

Kocina has a life-long interest in helping women succeed, and has been recognized multiple times for mentoring women in our community. A current board member and past chairman of the board of WomenVenture; a member of WPO and the National Association for Women Business Owners, she offers her top three economic recovery tips for local women business owners:

• Be creative: what you did before might not be enough right now. “Look for new ways to create an impact including blogs, Facebook and other social media. Because they enable you to stay in front of your customers with fresh, relevant content, these promotional channels can positively impact both customer retention and set your business apart from your competition.”
• Find face-to-face ways to interact with your primary audience. “In-person events such as the Girlfriends Expo & Getaway accelerate the selling process. They are considered best for branding, creating name recognition, and building databases. With more prospects in your sales pipeline, you’ll be able to rebound faster for post-recession profits.”  
• Consider how you might want to re-position your product or service. “Buyers are still making buying decisions. This is a good time to go after those people who are re-evaluating their current buying decisions. If you have a high-end product, you might want to focus your messaging on durability instead of luxury, for example.”

Kocina believes that it’s up to the women of America to get the country back on track. “Women juggle their personal and business obligations 24-hours a day. That’s why we tend to be better at prioritizing and seeing the whole picture. Our ability to approach an issue from this broader perspective is one of our best business advantages.”

Those interested in participating in the Girlfriends Expo & Getaway featuring the Women’s Home & Interior Design Expo, may visit www.101expos.com or call Helen, at 612-798-7232.

In an economy like this one, businesses often need to have an “edge” of some sort to keep their customers coming back.  For most small to mid-sized businesses- garnering personal relationships with existing customers creates customer loyalty.  (Which of course keeps your business running.)  For some, face time with direct consumers may be rare- but we believe strongly here at KBMC that it is a business MUST.  Check out our top 10 reasons to participate in an Expo to get those relationships started.

Why should your company exhibit at the Expo?

If you think having a booth at one of our consumer expos is just about selling your product or service, think again! Having a booth is about branding and marketing.

We thought it might be fun to put together our own Top 10 list for why you should reserve a booth at one or more of our upcoming expos. To help illustrate the advantages of an expo booth, we’re comparing it with a traditional newspaper ad.

10. It’s a great value.   Far less than you’d spend for a single ad in a newspaper with a sizeable circulation.

9. Increase your company’s name recognition. Exhibiting at an expo means that people will see your company’s name repeatedly: in our magazine, on our Web site, and at the show itself.  How many seconds will your prospects spend reading your ad in the newspaper – if they happen to see it at all?

8. Feature your best product on our Web site. With our free and exclusive Shop at the Show, you can feature you’re a full color photo of your best selling product on our expo Web site along with a 35-word description. How much extra does it cost to run a four-color ad in the newspaper?

7. Explain your features and benefits in detail and in person. Exhibiting in our expos gives you the opportunity to give prospects details about your product or service, answer questions, and receive feedback. You can even provide a demonstration on our stage! Newspaper ads aren’t face-to-face or interactive. 

6. Increase your database. Exhibit booths are ideal for pre-qualifying prospects and adding their contact information to your database. We even help collect that information for our sponsors! Few people respond to a newspaper ad by sending you their name, address and phone number.

5. Focus your marketing on the right demographics. All of our expos are highly targeted – which means we market the shows specifically to the type of people you want as customers. Newspaper ads blanket the general population.

4. Network with other professionals. Many business people take time to get to know fellow exhibitors, and share marketing ideas. Some companies even use our expos to prospect for local distributors. Newspaper ads don’t provide this type of service. 

3. Expert marketing support. We support your expo participation by conducting a comprehensive marketing campaign to bring the attendees to you. We blanket the target market with live radio and TV interviews, print articles, ads, tickets, magazines, postcards, opt-in e-mails, posters, flyers and more. As a result, we achieve millions of audience impressions.  We’re happy to provide a marketing recap from a recent expo as an example. A newspaper ad can’t be as in-depth, and can’t reach people via any other type of media except print.

2. Demonstrate your company’s commitment to your target market. Many people attend an expo just to browse. Or they may come to see one particular type of product. But here is where consistency pays off. If they see your booth at each expo, when they are in the market for something your company carries, they will remember your name. They will be much more likely to either call you directly or make specific plans to stop by your booth at the next expo. You may also achieve this type of result with a newspaper ad, but it will cost you more.

1.    Point of purchase sales. Okay, just because our expos are excellent ways for you to brand and market your company, doesn’t mean you won’t also make some sales during the event. You should always be prepared to sell something on the spot. Someone reading a newspaper ad must still take some sort of action before they can purchase from you.

Visit www.101expos.com for our online booth reservation form.  Our Girlfriends Expo & Getaway is coming up quickly- and there are still booths available for YOUR company.  Check www.101expos.com/geg for more information.  

Need some additional marketing advice? We’ve got you covered here at KBMC.  Check out www.kocinamarketingcompanies.com/trainings for our upcoming MarketSmart classes! All free!

We’ve all heard the old saying, “it’s all about who you know,” but is it really?

To be frank, Yes.  It really is.

Networking- the act of connecting with others and forming a relationship (of any sort) - is beneficial in business settings, as well as our personal lives.  In the same way that your best friend “knows someone” and scored tickets to your favorite concert for you, having a great working relationship with someone (or a lot of people), can help your business score big.  Events are a fantastic avenue for networking.  A well-planned event will put other industry leaders and consumers in front of you, giving you the opportunity to connect and build a relationship.

While it’s easy to accept an invitation to an event, making sure that you benefit from attending can be tricky.  Networking can seem daunting and almost unnatural for some business-types.  The trick is to remember that everyone else at the event is a person too.

Think about interactions you’ve had with new people in the past who you ended up hitting it off with- what did you say at the beginning?  More often than not, you asked a question about the other person and they caught your attention (and vice versa).  Be relaxed, and don’t just think of the person you are meeting as a potential sale for your business.  A strong relationship can often bring you more revenue, an increased customer base and a stronger business in the long run than an immediate sale ever could.

Bradley Will, of Unstrapp’d (A resource for Gen Y entrepreneurs) gives the top three questions to ask to become a networking champion in his November 3 blog entry.  You can find them here:  http://unstrappd.com/2009/11/03/become-a-networking-champion-with-3-questions/

What do you think? What are your best tips for becoming a networking champion?  Do you have a networking success story?