Carol Flammer | Social Media, Public Relations, Horse Lover » Women Consumers

Tradeshow Survival Tips from #IBS2011

Carol — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:58:10 +0000

About half-way through the International Builder’s Show, I realized that my back already hurt and my feet were starting to hurt too. I found myself in the Professional Women in Building (PWB) lounge lying on my back on the floor! It was just then that Cindy Cepko entered the lounge and loaned me her EMS (electronic muscle stimulation) machine. Having never used one before I was completely surprised that this portable, light weight piece of equipment not only worked, but also fit into my purse.

A group of us started chatting and we quickly realized that Cindy was quite the prepared tradeshow goddess! In addition to her EMS machine, she pulled out of her brand new rolling bag extra shoes with Happy Feet insoles. These three items will be on the top of my shopping list for the next show I attend:

EMS machine
Happy Feet
A rolling briefcase

If anyone bought the top two items during #ibs2011, I’d love to have contact information for these vendors. I’m definitely in the market for these! And the sooner, the better!

My personal tradeshow survival kit for the show included:

Folders for each event or meeting – this allowed me to only bring to the show the files I needed that day and leave the rest at the hotel.
A giant case of water – I drank water non-stop during the show.
Snacks – apples, granola bars, tea bags, apple chips, yogurt and popcorn made nice quick snacks before during and after the show.
Multiple pairs of shoes – I changed shoes almost everyday before evening events. This helped my tired feet from getting too worn out.
Multiple changes of clothes – I also changed clothes before going out at night. There is nothing like clean clothes to perk you up for a night of networking, dancing and walking.
Take breaks – Make sure to take time out from walking to sit. It is even better if you can sit and enjoy the company of a friend!

I’d love for you to share you Tradeshow survival secrets with me. And please, please comment if you have a great source for an EMS or Happy Feet!

Quirky Things That Business Owners Do To Keep Employees Happy

Carol — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 04:35:08 +0000

Want to make your employees LOVE you? Recently I asked members of Professional Building Women LinkedIn group for the Quirkiest Things that Business owners do to keep employees happy. I received some fabulous responses and thought it would only be fair to share! (If you are a member of the PWB LinkedIn group, you can click through on these links to learn more about the people who are featured. If you are not a member, please join us!)

Todd Lincoln • I grill lunch or an early dinner for everyone on our job-sites, and make ice cream when it is really, really hot.

Linda Hebert • One of my sales agents was complaining that the stress of the market was taking a toll on her appearance and she couldn’t afford to do anything about it. I Really needed one of our models to sell at a price at the high end of a very tough market. Incentive? Botox. Outcome? Success! ….. And a very happy, motivated and younger looking, agent.

Terri Everhart • Take a ‘lunch’ break at the local driving range – - everyone gets a bucket of golf balls to swing out some aggressions. Doesn’t take much to organize this event; just pick up and go. And it’s fun for every level of golfer.

Katie Middleton • Once a quarter, we host Bingo Day with a potluck. The Bingo cards are themed around season or a holiday and our well experienced receptionist calls the “spots” through our phone system. Winners are given their choice of prizes from a selection of fun and unusual gifts. It’s great for morale to hear the laughter, BINGO, and all the other comments that come, especially when the same person keeps winning. We really have a good time and our customers get a kick out of it too.

Jenn Engle • We often do things such as bring in donuts, buy them lunch or dinner, keep a stash of candy bars, have family fun nights with pizza and a band, hold a safety meeting at an upscale place they have never been to, but I think the thing they all like the most is when we framed their certificates and hung a copy on our wall and gave the other one to them. They really feel like they are part of the team and so do we!

Amy Martino • This one is not quirky but very broad thinking. At the company I used to work for, the principal would go to the farmers market every weekend and bring in boxes of fruit. It would be gone in two days, but addressed healthy lifestyle while making everyone happy! In the opposite spectrum, years ago another company had a vending machine which they filled with beer. Happiness comes in many ways.

Darylene Dennon • In the summertime, on a very hot day we have brought cold watermelon to the job site and announced we are having a watermelon break. Needless to say this a surprise.

What Generation are Your Jeans?

Carol — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:53:17 +0000

The style and fade of your jeans may be more than just a mere fashion statement – It may be a sign of your age or at least your generation! There are many different styles of jeans on the market including: jeggings, skinny jeans, bell bottoms, low rise, mom jeans, ripped jeans and many more. Which style do you wear and why?

Jeggings are popular with what I like to call Generation Next, or the tweens. These are stretchy denim leggings that come in a variety of colors and are worn with anything you’d normally wear with jeans.

Skinny Jeans are super popular with the Millennials (or Generation Y). These snug jeans have a small leg opening which has given them the nickname pegs.

Low Rise Jeans have broad appeal with both men and women Millennials and Gen Xers. These jeans are designed to sit low or below the hips beneath the belly button. You’ll also hear them called hipsters, lowriders and hip-huggers.

Mom Jeans are jeans that have a traditional high waist, sitting either at or above the belly button. You’ll see both Boomers and Gen Xers rockin’ their mom jeans.

Which style of jeans do you wear and why? Are they bleached, torn, faded or blue? Jeggings, Skinny, Low Rise or Mom jeans? Please comment!

Chatty Cathie Replaced By Texting Tammy

Sisterhood of the Traveling Laptop: What Women Want Online and Onsite

Carol — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 02:40:52 +0000

In this month’s issue of Builder magazine, Editor in Chief Denise Dersin talks about the new face of housing. A recent report by real estate advisory firm RCLCO reveals that the role of women not only is changing, but has changed. In 1978, 60-percent of all college graduates were men. Today, 60-percent of all college graduates are women and they are also now the majority in the workforce. RCLCO predicts that by 2015, WINKS (Gen Y women with incomes over $50,000 a year and no kids) will dominate the urban landscape. So, what is SHE looking for? She prefers urban or urbanlite areas for both home and work. She wants to live in a walkable area with convenience to transit and she is willing to pay a premium to get what she wants. Dersin closes her article by saying “the most critical imperative (and perhaps the most difficult)? Figure out what women want. . . ”

Women influence 91% of home sales – so are you doing everything you can to attract them in your online marketing and onsite presentation?

This year at IBS, I’ll be presenting “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Laptop: What Women Want Online and Onsite” with Meredith Oliver and Kerry Mulcrone. Our session will show you how to appeal to the “power of the purse” with your website, social media marketing and onsite demonstration. Discover how to bundle your home’s convenience, health and safety features into an irresistible package designed for today’s multi-tasking woman. Join three of the industry’s top coaches to learn the inner secrets of appealing to these powerful decision makers.

Save the date, we hope to see you at the International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla.

Date: Thursday, January 13
Time: 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Location: West 311 E-F
Level: Intermediate

Looking Forward To Seeing Everyone at 21 Century Building Show

Carol — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:49:33 +0000

The North Carolina Professional Women in Building will be hosting a hospitality suite on Thursday, September 16 during the 21 Century Building Show and Expo. It is a great time to come out and find out more about PWB membership, and get some tasty snacks.

Additionally, PWB is presenting two seminars geared toward women during the show. Come join us, it should be a lot of fun. First Mitch Levinson and I will present Social Media for Home Builders at 10 a.m., then Tammie Smoot and I will present Sell To Women Through the Social Media Grapevine at 2 p.m.

Let us know what you’d like to learn during Social Media for Home Builders! Mitch and I are happy to cater the class to your requests and suggestions!

Don’t forget to register for the show at www.21BuildingExpo.com.

10 Tips to Attain and Manage Power

Carol — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:37:50 +0000

This post is for all the business owners and entrepreneurs in my life. My friend Karla Sinclair, Publisher of Atlanta Daybook shared this information from the Possible Woman conference held recently in Atlanta. It is really great information and I hope it will provide you with additional motivation to continue to be the shining star that you are.

Political commentator Donna Brazile gave the keynote address which focused on women attaining and managing power.

Ten Tips from Donna Brazile:

Know your power and believe in yourself.
Be true to yourself and visualize.
Identify role models and mentors.
Nourish your ambition.
Dare to dream and communicate clearly.
Set a strategy for success and write it down.
Remove stumbling blocks and remain steadfast despite the obstacles.
If you get knocked down, get back up.
Don’t be afraid of controversy.
Stir the waters. Sometimes making waves is the only way to move forward.

Purse Power

Carol — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:00:17 +0000

I don’t think anyone underestimates the buying power or influence of women. In fact, I recently Retweeted sheconomy, “Men, The Female Consumer is in Control. Listen or Perish. http://ow.ly/1zjvB.” My friend Aaron Hoffman quipped back quickly, “I think we understand that given that there’s 20 women’s stores to every guy’s store in the mall.”

Women influence all the major consumer purchasing categories from home furnishings to vacations to new homes. Here are the percentages:

All consumer purchases: 85 percent
Home furnishings: 94 percent
Vacations: 92 percent
New homes: 91 percent
DIY (do-it-yourself projects): 80 percent
Consumer Electronics: 51 percent

So, what is the best way to reach out to this influential demographic? Well, the Internet of course. Here of the statistics on where you can find us.

An April 2009 Women and Social Media Study by BlogHer, iVillage and Compass Partners shows that women are twice as likely to use blogs over other social networking sites for trusted information. Here are the findings from the study:

75% participate in social networks
55% were active bloggers
20% used twitter
36.2 million women actively participate in the blogosphere weekly
40% consider blogs a reliable source of advice and information
50% say blogs influence their purchase decisions

If you own a small business, now is the time to engage in social media. Start by launching a blog and creating a strategy. Next, interconnect all of your social networking sites together and stay on top of your editorial plan. Let me know if you need help! You can reach me at 770-383-3360.

Chatty Cathie Replaced By Texting Tammy

Carol — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:03:42 +0000

A recent study from Pew on texting reveals that teens preferred method of communicating is by text. The study shows that boys typically send and receive 30 texts a day, compared with girls’ 80 messages. The one exception is Girls 14-17 who typically send 100 or more messages a day!

Women have always been the more social or chatty of the two sexes, but it seems that Chatty Cathie is being replaced by Texting Tammy.

Overall, girls more fully embrace most aspects of cell-phone communications:

86% of girls say they text message friends several times a day, compared with 64% of boys.
59% of girls call friends on their cell phone every day, compared with 42% of boys.
59% of girls send text messages several times a day to “just say hello and chat,” compared with 42% of boys.
84% of girls have long text exchanges on personal matters, compared with 67% of boys.
76% of girls text about school work, compared with 64% of boys.

Among all teens, texting is used for many reasons, including communicating with friends and family (95%), reporting locations (89%), and coordinating meetings (85%). I’d say let’s “hear it” for the girls, but it seems that even girls are opting for less chatty options.

For more information on how I can help you reach America’s largest buying group – women – call me! 770-383-3360 or use the contact form on this site.

She Says: Sell Me But Do It My Way

Carol — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:56:51 +0000

Digital strategies provider Q Interactive enlisted its Women’s Channel, a pioneer in creating an online dialogue between leading brands and ideal women customers, to conduct a survey of more than 1,800 women — 82 percent of them mothers. The result may be as amazing as the women in your life! Women actually WANT ads to be directed and delivered to them to help them find the best deals. Women are busy and they want help finding the items they are looking for from the brands they trust.

Hghlights of the study include:

88 percent of women polled said they wished that brands they trusted would send them more tailored offers.
More than 65 percent of the women first think, “Cool! How did they know I wanted this?” when receiving an online advertisement perfectly targeted to them.
58 percent said brands need to “Give me something” in order to build an online relationship.
More than 53 percent believe they have relationships with sites and brands they often use online.
More than 37 percent consider the brands they encounter online to be “Good Partners” (send relevant ads that women need and use).
The five brands women specifically named as having the best online relationships were Pillsbury, Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Betty Crocker and General Mills.

Remember them is a key focus when it comes to online selling. They will read it if it offers them something. It needs to be about them, not you.

Have you targeted the largest buying demographic in America? Let me know if I can help you with your online marketing. Call me at 770-383-3360.

75% of Online Women Use Social Media

Carol — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:58:28 +0000

She Cooks. She Shops. She Works. She is Online and She influences about 90-percent of today’s consumer purchases. Best of all, She is willing to interact with your company online. She is using social media. . . . have you met her?

The BlogHer-iVillage 2010 Social Media Matters Study, co-sponsored by Ketchum and the Nielsen Company, indicates that 73% of online women are now active social media users, engaging weekly or more often with top social media platforms. Social media is playing an increasingly important role in the everyday lives of Americans, particularly when it comes to getting advice on consumer products, according to the new survey released today, with many consulting blogs or message boards before making purchases.

“The twenty million users who visit the BlogHer Network favor blogs over every other media source for reasons both personal and pragmatic”

Key findings from the study include:

Blogs are second only to Internet search as the preferred media source for product purchasing information for BlogHer Network users
Blogs dominate the attention of BlogHer Network users (96% read blogs weekly or more often)
BlogHer users are significantly more active with all three top social media platforms vs the average woman online (Blogs, Facebook, Twitter)
Message boards/forums are second only to conversations with friends and family as the preferred source of product purchasing information for iVillage community users
Among the iVillage community, 73% say that they are sharing topics on message boards/forums that they would not share on social networks. Of those, Relationships (61%), Health (45%) and Work-related (39%) issues were the top topics they would not share on social networks
Over one third (33.6%) of iVillage community members post on message boards/forums every day

The study shows that women rely heavily on both blogs and message boards when seeking advice and recommendations (Blogs: 21% of the total U.S. online population, 63% of the BlogHer Network; Message Boards/Forums: 38% of the total U.S. online population, and 92% of the iVillage community), particularly when looking for information to help guide purchases of new products (Blogs: 22% of the total U.S. online population, and 59% of the BlogHer Network).

BlogHer and iVillage, the largest interactive communities of women online, partnered on the 2010 Social Media Matters Study, along with survey co-sponsors Ketchum and The Nielsen Company. The objective of the study was to quantify and compare media usage patterns across different segments, including gender, generational use, blogging focus, and media channel preference. It also explored how different types of media influence purchasing behavior, comparing online to offline, but also different types of online media channels.

“The twenty million users who visit the BlogHer Network favor blogs over every other media source for reasons both personal and pragmatic,” said Elisa Camahort Page, BlogHer co-founder and COO. “Even as the scale of overall social media usage continues to grow, blogs continue to be a highly reliable resource for all women online as they exert their control over the household purse strings.”

“The study confirms that social networks are a key place to capture women’s attention on the path to purchase,” said Jodi Kahn, Executive Vice President, iVillage. “The days of relying on one source for information are over. Online peer-to-peer advice on message boards has increasingly become one of the most valuable sources for product recommendations. Marketers cannot afford to overlook this captive audience.”

The Executive Summary of the 2010 Social Media Matters Study can be found here: http://www.blogher.com/files/Social_Media_Matters_2010.pdf

Related articles from mRELEVANCE

A Woman’s Approach to Social Business Networking

Women and the Social Media Grapevine