Coffee Talk with Stan Muschweck & StandOut Marketing

               Today I had a coffee with one of my clients Stan Muschweck, owner and founder of StandOut Marketing.  Stan is an accomplished marketing consultant, with over 30 years experience in brand and strategy development  for  Retail, Packaged Goods, Business to Business, Energy, High Tech, Non-profits, Sports Marketing and Entertainment, to name but a few.   Stan has led agency teams in both big agencies and creative boutiques.  He began his career as a copywriter and he has also written and produced television and radio commercials and print ads.  An entrepreneur, he ventured out on his own three years ago and formed StandOut Marketing.

I try to meet each of my clients on at least a quarterly basis to learn about how their businesses are doing, where they are making their money, who their hot accounts are, and basically to find out how I can help them, if at all.  I remember once someone told me that in any networking coffee/lunch meeting you should always ask the question, “How can I help you?”  

                    I also try to get my clients to reiterate for me “In Plain English”  what they are doing, what products they are selling or services they are rendering and to whom (i.e., keeping their business in the top of my mind).   Remember how I wrote about it’s not who you know, or what you know, it’s who knows what you know?    Regarding Stan, in essence, if you are launching a new product or service or want to enter a new market, Stan and his team, among many other things, can assist in the development and/or implementation of a marketing plan.  Over the years he has assembled a team of professionals to assist in the execution and production of any campaign.  He has an impressive list of clients.     He has both built and grown  businesses, with innovative and insightful strategy, combined with hands-on experience and knowledge.

Most people know that I keep up with social media trends.  Stan is adept with both digital and Social Media tactics, and constantly monitors developing pathways that reach and influence consumers.   Because his business is marketing (one of my secret intellectual passions), our coffee talks are usually pretty boisterous.

Stan and I were also talking about using our time and talent for community projects that are important to us.  While I talked about efforts to education students about the use of social media education, he told me that his community involvement and media negotiation contributed greatly to the recent Mike Tomlin campaign for the Extra Mile Education Foundation.   This Foundation supports elementary schools in Pittsburgh’s toughest urban areas.  Stan has always wanted to help disadvantaged students; Stan led the teams that produced Extra Mile’s new website, tv and billboard campaign.  Stan was able to take a few thousands of dollars in media investment and multiply it more than tenfold.

Stan is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, father of two daughters (one of whom was an actress in the Pittsburgh film The Perks of Being a Wallflower), a reincarnated Viking warrior from the ninth century, and loves what he does in helping businesses and organizations stand out.

To learn more about Stan and his team, check out his website www.beastandout.com or stan@beastandout.com or 412.889-2823.

Using Social Media: Do You Know Your Neighbors’ Names?

SOURCE: Mackenzie Carpenter, http://www.post-gazette.com

A few years ago, I heard at a lecture at Pitt Law school in which the well-known speaker predicted that the future trends in technology will be SOCIAL, MOBILE, LOCAL, and VIDEO.  Lately, I have become more acutely aware of these trends.

LOCAL.  I was exercising this morning and listening to the Daily WSJ Podcast (just call 1.800.975.3916) for the latest news of the day.  The WSJ reporters were talking about the private social network for your local neighborhood called NextDoor.  http://www.nextdoor.com.   Here is a WSJ article re: the nextdoor.com website.  It is a basically a site through which you can efficiently communicate with your neighbors, using an interface that is better than an email distribution list or listserv.   The journalists threw out the statistic that 28% of us do not know our neighbors’ names.  Do you?

The evolution of technology and social media never fails to impress me.  This nextdoor.com website is a stellar example of how tech wizards keep dreaming up new ways for users to utilize the Information Highway in ways that will have a material impact on our lives at a much more local level.

MOBILE: While at the American Bankruptcy Institute Spring Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. two weeks ago, I was impressed when the event organizers announced the ABI SM2013 smartphone app that attendees could download to keep abreast of conference events and times and to download pdf materials for each of the CLE lectures.  If your business or event, doesn’t have a smartphone app, maybe it should.

When I giving a presentation to high school students yesterday at my alma mater, one of the video clips I played said, “It not going to be choice of whether we will be using social media;  it is going to be a question of how well we use it.”

How have you seen technology trends become more social, mobile, local, or video?  Is your business keeping up with times?  How well are you using social media?

Growing Up in Weirton, WV: My 20-Minute Conversation with Gretchen Weir

NOTE:  This post is not necessarily related to business or bankruptcy.  But, on second thought, maybe it is.  Just short of its 100th birthday, Weirton Steel Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling) on May 19, 2003.   Here is the NY Times article published the day after the filing.  As detailed in the Weirton Steel wikipedia entry, by bankruptcy court order, the assets were auctioned with most being acquired by ISG. ISG then formed a new division called ISG Weirton Steel. On April 5, 2005, ISG completed a merger with Mittal Steel.  Then again in 2006, Mittal Steel completed a merger with Arcelor thus resulting in a new company known as Arcelor Mittal. While I was practicing bankruptcy in Philadelphia at the time of the initial bankruptcy filing, I relocated to Pittsburgh in 2004 and work for a boutique commercial bankruptcy firm who served as counsel to the creditors’ committee in the Weirton Steel Ch. 11 case. 

E.T. Weir on the Cover of Life Magazine

So I attended the Weirton Festival of Nations this past Saturday.  I had to man the Rotary booth.  I brought along my children.

Weirton Steel

I had the privilege of sitting next to E.T. Weir’s lovely wife Gretchen at the Festival.  Her late husband was the grandson of E.T. Weir, who founded the Weirton Steel Corporation.  He is the man after whom our town and high school were named.   Gretchen Weir traveled here with her dynamic daughter from New York City to donate memorabilia to the Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center and to address the audience as a part of the opening ceremony for the Festival. She and I talked about many things.  I told her what it was like growing up in Weirton and what it is like now.  I have reflected much about my upbringing in Weirton and my continued close bonds with my childhood friends.Gretchen asked me to what extent the mill was still operating and I said I wasn’t exactly sure but, to my relief, I see smoke sputtering out of a few remaining stacks.  I told her my mom and I drove down Main Street just on Friday and shuttered when we noticed another part of the mill had been demolished.

Festival of Nations

                       I explained Weirton was, at one time (and probably still is), one of the most ethnically diverse towns in the state of West Virginia.  There were numerous ethnic enclaves- Italian, Greeks, Polish, Serbs, etc.  The Festival this weekend was a celebration of this diversity.  Performances, foods, booths, etc.   My children and I thoroughly enjoyed it.   When I was a kid we used to have the “International Food Festival” each July.  It was a 3-4 day event.  I used to LOVE it.  I still have my “half-Italian” red, green and white pin.     I told Gretchen that Weirton was so unique because there were not significant economic disparities (i.e, the haves and have nots).   Most all of our pops, of course, worked in the mill; our moms had to quit working once they got married (!!! ).  Most families were in the middle class and experiencing a similar way of life.  Weirton native Anna Egan Smucker wrote a lovely children’s book titled NO STAR NIGHTS about growing in Weirton, this way of life.   I happened to borrow it from the local Mary H. Weir Library (originally built as a result of a $450,000 donation from E.T. Weir) and have been reading it to my children for the past few weeks.

Me at my Law Office in Weirton

Gretchen and her daughter were kind and interested and enthusiastic about urban renewal and where Weirton can go from here.  Gretchen even let me take a photo with her to post to Facebook!!

Although I typically write about business trends and success stories, this is a turnaround story about urban renewal and the evolution of a small steel mill town.   TO BE CONTINUED …

Weir High School Logo

The American Dream: It’s Who Knows What You Know

It’s not who you know.  It’s not what you know.  It’s who knows what you know.

I had the privilege of attending again the 2nd Annual Outstanding Women Lawyers Roundtable in Dallas, Texas this weekend, sponsored by Cordell Parvin.  It is an intimate event with about 15 women lawyers from all over the U.S. and Canada.  It is always a worthwhile trip.  Cordell is on the cutting edge of lawyering in this modern age.  I am always energized when I return back home.

He kept telling us:  It’s not who you know.  It’s not what you know.  It’s who knows what you know.

This advice has really stuck with me lately.

I am a believer in the “American Dream”.  What is the American Dream?   I guess  each person probably has a different definition or understanding of it.  Self-made.  Upwardly mobile.  “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it” -William Arthur Ward    …. and so on.

          Take Britney Spears for example. I love this t-shirt she is wearing. A little girl with a charisma, rhythm and a big voice. Boom. The American Dream.

To me, the American Dream means that anyone from any walk of life can accomplish whatever dream it is that he or she conjures up, no matter what race, sex, geographic or economic background.  Idealistic, or accurate?

What has influenced my own personal definition? I grew up in Weirton, West Virginia, one of the most ethnically diverse areas of West Virginia, a steel mill town just outside of Pittsburgh, PA.  With a dream for a better life and opportunities in America, our grandparents or great grandparents immigrated here from Eastern European countries to work in our steel mill.  With scholarship and my parents’ generosity and support, I made it through undergrad.   While I continued to sponge off my supportive parents, I borrowed a lot of money, and I mean a lot of money, to complete MBA school and law school at Villanova.

• For the first decade of my career, I tried to learn as much as I could about business and bankruptcy law, shoring up WHAT I KNOW. The learning, of course, always continues.

• What about WHO I KNOW?  I used to think about the phrase, “riding on the coattails” of those who have gone before you, or connections–  WHO YOU KNOW.   If you have those connections, great.  If you do not, then you have to build them.  I think of Keith Ferrazzi’s useful book Never Eat Alone and he instructs how to do exactly that.

• But lately, with the encouragement of lawyer coach Cordell Parvin, I really have been embracing the notion, and advising my own clients and colleagues, that getting clients is making sure many people KNOW what YOU KNOW.

Social media is an instrument you can use to do exactly that– make sure people know what you know.  Demonstrate what you know by creating valuable content utilizing your expertise and then disseminate that content widely using social media.  So what will you be doing to let people (customers and referral sources) know what you know?

Cordell advised me to start another blog,  yes another blog, from scratch to write about my personal area of expertise— business bankruptcies.    So here I go:  1 Blog Post , 0 followers, 0 hits, 0 comments.  I am sitting in a geographic location between WV and PA and I practice actively in both bankruptcy courts; so, I am calling it the Steel Valley Bankruptcy Blog.  WISH ME LUCK.

Cake&Whiskey Joins the Rebellion

Written By: Katie Imler, Legal Clerk at MazurKraemer

 

On March 19^th, the Cake&Whiskey Pittsburgh Ladies held the first Gathering of 2013 at the Wigle Whiskey Distillery. Wigle Whiskey is one of six organic distilleries in the United States and one of two Rye Whiskey Distilleries. The evening kicked off with a tour of the distillery, in which we quickly learned the history of Whiskey. Did you know that Allegheny County used to produce 1/2 a barrel of whiskey for every man, woman, and child in the US in the 1800s? And, until Ben Franklin offered land in Kentucky (and other states) to get people to move there and produce whiskey (actually bourbon because it’s made with corn), most whiskey was made in Pennsylvania? Fun Facts.

 

Over 40 women attended the event throughout the evening. Many of the woman learned of the event through friends of friends and word of mouth. They were curious as to what Cake&Whiskey is about. And boy did they found out! The overall group was fabulous. All ages, all industries. We had women from the food, restaurants, and bar industries, teachers, lawyers, real estate developers, direct mail firms, Veterans Marketing firms, bed and breakfast owners, photographers, non-profits, and many start ups to name a few. The conversations were amazing and genuine. 

 

After some mingling time, the women got to know each other through an icebreaker. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, the women shared three types of pictures with three new women: a picture most recently taken, a funny one, and the most meaningful picture. This got everyone talking, laughing, and sharing their photos. Afterwards, two free subscriptions to the magazine were given to the woman whose business was most recently in the news and whose birthday was closest. We then toasted to “The Sweet & Spirited World of Business” and ate lots of food! The food was delicious – steakhouse bruschetta, bourbon meatballs, meat, cheese, and olives. Plus, one of the top Pittsburgh Bakeries donated cupcakes and my mom made an incredible Chocolate Bourbon Poke Cake – many women, including myself, had 2 pieces it was so delicious!

 

Half way through the evening, everyone gathered around for the Hot Topic Discussion. In groups of 5-6, we discussed questions based on the Articles in the Spring Issue of in the magazine. After a couple questions, everyone switched groups and did the next set of questions with a new group. The women truly got to mix and mingle. Questions included:

• “What is behind every good man?” Of course at once everyone shouted, “A good woman!” However, the discussion was directed towards how to interact and influence men in the workplace or home environment.
• Share a time when you had to Rewrite the Rulebooks to achieve success.
• Everyone knows that hindsight is 20/20. What would you write to your third grade self?
• We all want to have our cake (and whiskey) and eat it too. What does “Having it All” mean to you?
• Every woman in this room is a mover and shaker in her own right. What is your Next Advancement? How do you chart that course to get you there?

 

The conversations that were flowing were incredible. It was such a blessing to hear women connecting on such a deep, real, and personal level. Breaking the groups up from their discussions was a challenge!

 

The next Cake&Whiskey Pittsburgh Gathering will be in June so mark your calendars! It will most likely be at Cure (one of the best restaurants in Pittsburgh, and highly rated nationwide). We’ll be doing something extra special to celebrate the summer. Marie Petriello, from Stir Society, is going to teach us on how to make the perfect cocktails! Marie’s lessons on mixology are something you won’t want to miss!

 

Keep up to date with what entrepreneurs and business women are doing all over the country on the Cake&Whiskey Facebook Page.

Thank you to J.Elizabeth Photography for the amazing photographs!

 

Entrepreneurs Making a Pitch For Funds: 15 Questions Sharks May Ask You

             Last night my mom and I attended the Entrepreneur’s Pitch Contest in Downtown Wheeling, West Virginia.   It was an event sponsored by the Gary E. West College of Business  and the Center for Entrepreneurship at West Liberty University  (I am an advisory board member for the Center).  It was held at the Capitol Music Hall  (yes historic concert venue where Johnny Cash and June Carter played-we named our son, Jackson, in part after this Johnny Cash tune).

Basically, it was similar to the SHARK TANK tv show, although we did not have  investors sitting on a panel; the whole audience could ask follow-up questions! Local entrepreneurs and small business owners were given 5 minutes to pitch their business to the audience.  The audience was given an opportunity to ask questions about the business and then the audience voted for the best concept.   The entrepreneur with the most votes was awarded a $2,500 cash award from sponsors.  At the end of the event, attendees could also contribute to any entrepreneur if they so wished.

What a dynamic night!  Entrepreneurship is alive and well in this Ohio Valley.

There was a cocktail hour with hors d’oevres and then a keynote speaker Eric Carl, founder and president of http://www.fundable.com talking about crowd funding . Here is his powerpoint presentation that he kindly shared with me.

The pitches started at 7 p.m.   I wanted to share thoughtful questions audience members (a/k/a/ SHARKS) had  so that if you are an entrepreneur you could better understand what to expect at an event like this (there will be more in the future) and ask yourself some hard questions about your business concept:

1. How will you actually make money with this business?
2. What are your expenses?  Will you need employees?  Office or warehouse space?  What will be your profit margin?  For each product or service, how much will you have to spend or incur in order to make how much?
3. Who is your customer base?  Men? Women? What do they do? How do they spend their time?
4. Is there enough traffic in the targeted area to draw the customer base?
5. Did you research patents?
6. Are there pending government regulations or laws that may negatively impact your business?
7. Are there cultural or technological trends that may make your product or service obsolete?
8. How does your product or service actually work?  Explain to us better how it functions.
9. How are you different from your competitors?  Why would I use you rather than your competitor?
10. What is the price point for your product or service? Is that reasonable?
11. How do you plan to use the proceeds from tonight? Where will you invest your money? What do you need next to take your business to the next level?
12. Do you have an advisory board put together?
13. How did you come up with this idea?
14. Could there be security issues with your product?
15. Have you sold any of these products yet? Have you tested this service yet?  What was the response?

If you were a shark in the audience, what would be some of your questions?  Come to our next Pitch event!

Kathy Kesich Glover pitching KIND Walk, an online platform to assist corporations, non-profits to FUNDRAISE. http://www.kindwalk.com

The Influence of Walt Disney on My 12 Year-Old Self

First Look at Magic Kingdom

I love to travel.  Last week, I was in Disney World with my family.  I had been to the theme parks twice before-   once in 2003 with friends and then for the first time in 1986, when I was 12 years old on a 2-week family vacation to Florida.

The trip in 1986 inspired me.  I felt at that time that I could do anything, be anything.  I remember walking through Epcot, reading the quotes of Walt Disney that are posted all over the place, the peppy music, the fireworks.

So this time around, I wanted my small children to experience this same sense of wonder, empowerment.  Although they seemed laser focused on buying toys and candy and riding buzz light year rides, I do hope that some of the wonder of the place rubbed off on them.

Since I pal around with so many entrepreneurs and out of the box thinkers, I wanted to share this quote to which I can relate; I read it on a wall in Magic Kingdom.

“I can never stand still. I must explore and experiment. I am never satisfied with my work. I resent the limitations of my own imagination.” —Walt Disney

Has a vacation or trip ever profoundly change you as a person, a parent, a business owner, a student?