• C:  Create
• C: Communicate
• D: Deliver
• V: Value
• T: Target Market (to the target segment)
• P:  Profitably

Your marketing strategy can be defined following this new mantra from Philip Kotler from the London Business Forum. This short little acronyms encompasses product management, brand management, customer management, open innovation, open technology, emotional connection, corporate social responsibility….

·

I came across this anonymous example of marketing that has been circulating around by email.  So here it is:

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, “I am very rich. Marry me!”
That’s Direct Marketing

You’re at a party with a bunch of friends  and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her & pointing at you says, “He’s very rich. Marry him.”
That’s Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and get her telephone number.
The next day you call and say,”Hi,I’m very rich. Marry me.”
That’s Telemarketing.

You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
She walks up to you and says, “You are very rich, I want to marry you.”
That’s Brand Recognition.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, “I’m rich. Marry me”
She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.
That’s Customer Feedback.

The counteroffer: $300,000 for 100% if Arlene will take charge of marketing.
Arlene refused so there was no deal.
Let us hear your comments!!!

I just received an email from Vivian Prokop, CEO of the CYBF – Canadian Youth Business Foundation on winning the prestigious “Country of the Year Award” by Kauffman Foundation and Enterprise U.K., founder of the Global Entrepreneurship Week. The announcement was made at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where CYBF represented Canada. CYBF competed against more than 100 countries, including the United Kingdom, Russia and the United States of America for the “Country of the Year” award.

As a CYBF volunteer business mentor, I am very happy for the organization. Without the funding assistance of CYBF, my mentee, a young lady in her early 20’s will never have the chance to launch her business.   The image on the top shows the different stages of business, and how CYBF along with a volunteer business mentor assist the youth entrepreneur with planning, financing and coaching.

“It is an honour to represent Canada at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Dubai,” said Vivian Prokop, chief executive officer of CYBF. “To have received this huge distinction proves the impact of CYBF in the global arena. We were deeply honoured to partner with outstanding like-minded Canadian organizations to advance a strong culture of entrepreneurship during GEW 2009, and are proud to be the official host of GEW Canada for the next three years (2010-2012).

The Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) is a national charity dedicated to growing our nation’s economy one young entrepreneur at a time. CYBF looks at character not collateral, when providing youth, age 18-34, with pre-launch coaching, business resources, start-up financing and mentoring, to help them launch and sustain a successful entrepreneurial business.

Founded in 1996, to date, CYBF has invested in more than 3,500 young entrepreneurs in communities across Canada. These businesses have generated over $92 million in tax and export revenues, and have created more than 16,900 new jobs. Through CYBF’s national network of community partners, CBYF was able to deliver their program coast to coast with more than 3,100 volunteers across Canada.

Read about The Rise of Self Employment in Canada.

Canada’s economic conditions have changed dramatically over the years. One of the most exciting aspect of this trend is the way in which women entrepreneurs have moved with confidence into the new economy.

BC has almost 360, 000 small businesses, and women own or operate about 35 per cent of them – the highest rate of small businesss ownership among women in Canada.

This is great news to the 2.8 million self-employed Canadians who now have access to special benefits “……because it was the fair and right thing to do,” said Minister of State Moore. “Families are the foundation of our great country. Our government believes that self-employed Canadians should not have to choose between their family and their business responsibilities.”

Those who choose to take advantage of EI special benefits will be required to register at least one year prior to claiming benefits. However, as a transitional measure in this first year, those who register on or before April 1, 2010, will be able to make a claim for benefits as early as January 1, 2011.

This measure is part of the Government’s commitment to make responsive and responsible choices to support Canadians through the EI program.

“Our government is helping Canadians who have previously had little or no income protection to cope with major life events. Our government has listened and has delivered results for self-employed Canadians who are an integral part of our economy and economic recovery,” said Minister of State Moore.

EI for the self-employed is the latest in a series of improvements that the Government has made to the program. In November, the Government extended the length of time long‑tenured workers can receive regular EI benefits.

To help those hardest hit by the economic downturn, the Government has undertaken other measures through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, including providing longer EI benefits, more efficient service and support for training, and protecting jobs through Work-Sharing agreements. The Government has also frozen EI premiums for 2010 at the same rate as 2009.

For more information, visit www.servicecanada.gc.ca/self_employed_workers.

Many small business, especially start-ups cannot afford to hire a full-time accountant.  This is when the services of an Accounting Troubleshooter Associate is most appreciated.  An Accounting Troubleshooter Associate can assist small businesses in the set up, training and installation of accounting software package, and let the business owner take over the daily recording of transactions.  The Associate is available to provide assistance as needed, without being employed on a full time basis.

Accounting Troubleshooters Associates are often called in to fill-in for employees on sick leave, vacation or family leave.    The group has the names of associates listed on their website, so companies requiring short term staffing need can phone these associates directly.

In an interview with an Accounting Troubleshooter Associate,  Shirley Shannon noted that she was often called in to solve some of the most toughest problems.  “In one case, the client’s accounting data was corrupted for 8 months before management know about it, so I had to recreate the data, while running parallel set of books for some time.  I always tell my clients to check their data integrity on a regular basis.”

Accounting Troubleshooters are not tied with a particular software company, so they are in a good position to recommend suitable accounting software.  Shannon said “I am both a Quickbook and Simply Accounting consultant, and I’ve had cases where a client phoned wanting to switch from Simply to Quickbooks, because they did not know that Simply can do what they wanted to do.  It is just a matter of customized on-the-site training.  Classroom training is usually very general, and does not cover all possible circumstances.”

Accounting Troubleshooters is a bookkeeping and accounting franchise operation. Each accounting troubleshooters franchisee operates independently under the umbrella name Accounting Troubleshooters. Franchisees pool marketing resources and share training support services giving them the strength of a team.

Bald Media is a company founded by a Canadian in Toronto, Ronnie Lebow, an award-winning art director and copywriter who has been working in the ad industry since 1994.   According to Ronnie:  “Guerrilla marketing is huge right now, everyone is straying away from television, and print is on the decline because of the web, so anything you can do to get into people’s faces right now just seems to work.”

The advertising message is printed on the bald heads using a combination of airbrush latex paints and temporary tattoos  that can be washed off in a shower.  Bald Media hires bald actors, and there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of bald heads.   The owner of Bald Media hopes that this concept can eventully be franchised.

Here is a video that shows how the process is done.

This car tells me the following:

1.  That the owner is creative, innovative, fun and has a sense of humour.

2.  That the owner wants my business and is willing to take risk.

3.  That this owner has a positive attitude and is on his way to success.

An effective vehicle sign works as advertising 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  It provides a conversation topic and you can be sure people cannot stop talking about it.

Above photo  – aerial view of an English Village in Korea.
In an effort to halt the flow of money out from Korea
by students studying English in foreign countries,
Korea now has several English villages offering English immersion in Korea.

The concept is run as a commercial venture in Spain and Italy, and is quasi-governmental in Korea.    The very first English village is a  pilot Italian program, first launched in Tuscany in 2005 but is now situated in Umbria, in a medieval village which has been restored using period materials to maintain its authenticity. It is located in the heart of the lush, green HighValley of the Tevere offering our “city slickers” a slice of the real country life.

In Spain,  an English Village was built in Villadavilla, Spain called Pueblo Ingles for English immersion studies.  Kids, teens come together to learn English.

Above is a photo of a stonehenge replica at the English Village in Korea, known as Clonehenge.

The first English village in Korea was opened in August 2004 in Ansan , Gyeonggi-do province. English villages in South Korea provide a short-term immersion English experience in a live-in environment where only English is spoken. This is intended to promote English learning and to build students’ Anglo-American cultural awareness.

English villages employ a mixture of foreign native speakers of English and fluent English-speaking Korean staff. They are intended to help students face the particular challenges of speaking English in the Korean context. Many families seek to improve their children’s English ability by sending them to study abroad in English-speaking countries. This results in a substantial amount of money leaving the country. The English villages are intended to reduce this loss, and make the immersion experience accessible to students from low-income families as well.

Every facility and training program encourages visitors to actively participate, and so it enables a natural English learning experience in the context of daily life. In a setting resembling a village in an English-speaking country, participants experience various culture from around the world, increase their international social consciousness and realize the value of English as a means of communication. Coaching by kind, native English-speaking teachers helps increase participants’ interest in English and boosts participants’ confidence in speaking to foreigners. Upon completing the camp, students will be more motivated to study English with greater interest and enthusiasm.

All facilities have been newly built to simulate a village in an English-speaking country. Students can learn English by enjoying a cultural experience in an exotic environment. Paju Camp is a model English village created by Gyeonggi Province. The more than 700 trainees and teachers residing in the village, and the hands-on training programs and facilities merge naturally in daily life through the 3Es (Education, Experience and Entertainment).

Hence, the term EDUTAINER has been coined to refer to education entertainment English teachers.

Why talk about this concept?  Because there is big money and entrepreneurs should be made aware of this opportunity.

Here’s a video clip of an English village in Korea.

and here’s another clip of  an English Village in Second Life.