Posted by rcipgh on 10:49 AM
Highmark First Night Pittsburgh will be kicking off at the turn of the new year, are you prepared for the festivities?
Feeling those annual pangs of New Year's Eve stress just pondering the party options, cover charges, wardrobe choices and travel headaches? We suggest you look no further than Downtown Pittsburgh for an Auld Lang Syne filled with art, culture and community.
If one of your resolutions is to make more time for art, then the best place to kick off 2014 is at Highmark First Night Pittsburgh. Bid adieu to 2013 and help mark two decades of First Nights Downtown at the 'Burgh's biggest New Year's Eve bash, which boasts some 150 events taking place in 50 indoor and outdoor venues located within the 14-block Cultural District.
From an immersive ice and LED labyrinth to a miniature city constructed from medicine cabinets, desk lamps, Victorian dollhouses and repurposed junk, Highmark First Night Pittsburgh offers arts-centric family-friendly programming from 6 p.m. to midnight.
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Posted by rcipgh on 9:18 AM
What do you do to keep your marketing campaigns on point? Take a look at these common marketing fails and how to avoid them:
Even after all the marketing, selling, messaging and posturing, it’s not working when:
At a chamber of commerce meeting you overhear a peer refer an ideal prospect to your competitor. When you ask him why, he asks, “Your company does that?”
The next day, you learn your vendor just suggested his friend buy from your arch rival instead of automatically pushing the work your way. When confronted, your supplier says, “Your company does that? I had no idea!”
Finally, your new employee hears and misses your client’s buying signals. You gently point this out, and she responds, “Oh, that’s right, I guess our company does that.”
This upsets you for three reasons:
Your offline and online marketing isn't working.
If the people you know don't know what your firm does, then who does?
You are needlessly embarrassing your colleague, vendor and trainee.
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Posted by rcipgh on 11:33 AM
Honor them by sending in a nomination for the Pittsburgh Business Times 2014 Women in Business Awards program. Winners will be honored at an event and in a special Business Times supplement in the spring of next year.
To qualify, the nominee must have a home office located in our region.
We're looking for women from every industry and profession, including non-profits, women who've blazed a trail and who are leaving a mark on Pittsburgh business. We'll also be considering community and social efforts of nominees, but the primary focus will be on the nominee's work experience.
The nomination process consists of completing a nomination form with basic contact information and providing narratives to several basic questions. The entire process is online.
And by the way, if you qualify for this prestigious award, don't be shy. Many of our winners from previous years are self-nominated. The program does not take into account who nominates the candidate or how many nominations are received for an individual.
Nominations close Dec. 20, 2013. The winners are notified by the end of the year. The names of individuals who are nominated but not selected are not publicized.
To enter a nomination, visit our Women in Business nomination page.
For more information, contact Richard Cerilli, rcerilli@bizjournals.com or 412-208-3815.
Posted by rcipgh on 11:03 AM
Often times, the most successful businesses thrive when leaders surround themselves with great advisors. Here is a great look into how to get create a board to help your company grow:
In 2011, my co-founders and I were looking to get into a market we knew little about: foreign investment. We saw an opportunity in helping Chinese investors find projects in Latin America (my home continent), but we had a few obstacles to overcome: Neither of us knew Chinese or had any experience in international finance.
Our solution? Get a rock-star board of advisors to provide expertise and connections. While having an advisory is often a necessity for startups (us included), nabbing a stellar team isn't easy.
For companies just starting out, here are a few tips on how to get advisors and best practices for leveraging your board:
Navigate your network. Like I mentioned, finding the right advisors isn't easy. How do you wrangle in top-notch people to work for free?
It was frustrating at the beginning. We met with more than 200 investors (we counted) who gave us a lot of great contacts and insights but no advisors.
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Posted by rcipgh on 10:04 AM
Accounting can be a difficult task for startups and small businesses. But there are some ways to simplify the process and make it more manageable.
1. Calculate a minimum monthly profit and write down your ideal monthly profit
You need to keep proper records of all invoices and payments to get an idea of what you make in a month and to figure out how much it will take to keep your business running. This is the first step to making it happen.
Keeping track of these records will show you when invoices are paid, how long it takes customers to pay you, and if you're having difficulties collecting payments from particular customers. By keeping track you can come up with an exact number you'll need to earn each month.
2. Keep your personal and business finances separate
The biggest mistake you can make is to mix business with personal, which can keep you from knowing the true state of your finances.
Avoid using your business credit card to pay for personal expenses. Maintaining separate bank accounts for your business and personal finances will save you time in the long run and make it easier to track expenses.
3. Maintain records
It is imperative to always keep all receipts, invoices, bills, bank statements, etc. If you write down a number for office expenses today and forget to keep your receipts, a few months from now you will not remember from where that number came.
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Posted by rcipgh on 9:59 AM
Have you ever wondered how incubators work to accelerate work? Here is a great infographic explaining how it works:
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Posted by rcipgh on 10:41 AM
The Pittsburgh job market has been staying strong recently, and is showing an uncommon growth against the national backdrop:
A private company's report singles out Pittsburgh as having the fastest growth in job openings in August.
Job search engine company Simply Hired said that Pittsburgh's 12.2 percent growth in job openings led its 50 markets surveyed across the U.S. That was nearly double the growth of the next nearest metro region, Austin, Texas (6.8 percent growth). Third on the list was Minneapolis, with 5.5 percent growth.
The Simply Hired report didn't explain the reason for the growth in Pittsburgh. It said there were more job openings in August than in July in 24 of the 50 metro regions. Transportation job openings rose the most with 25.8 percent growth, followed by retail with 12.8 percent. Also up were personal care, health care and legal job openings. Down in August were agriculture and human resources.
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