MABC Blog

"We Wish We Had Known: Everyday Tips from Consultants to Grow Your Business."

Chapter Three - A Business Plan: 50 Cups of Coffee - Mary Helen Conroy

MARY HELEN CONROY
Life’s a Daring Adventure
Chief Creative Officer
LifesaDaringAdventure.com / maryhelenconroy@gmail.com

I had my first cup of coffee on our senior class ski trip. If you asked for coffee, it was refilled for free rather than ordering the more costly hot chocolate. Coffee became a staple, and those who know me think that there’s an IV attached to my veins. I can drink it at 10 p.m. and sleep like a baby.

      When my career life ended, I set out living my new business’s name, “Life is a Daring Adventure, and you’re not done yet!” I was starting over. I was at an age some considered retiring.

However, not being done yet, meant I needed a way to begin again. It’s hard creating a coaching consultant business when you don’t have a huge mailing list or contacts. So, for my business plan, I began my 50 cups of coffee challenge.

      This 50-cup advice has been around for a while. In “What Color is Your Parachute,” 50 cups of informational interviewing can get you a job. Mark Susterhas a whole list of reasons why 50-cup challenges work from recruiting to finding venture capital.

      For me it was taking a positive step to meeting folks.

      For one year I would invite folks for a cuppa. Folks I met at networking groups, folks referred to me, folks I met almost on the street accepted my invitation. I wasn’t looking for work per se, I wanted to meet them and learn how they created their lives. Their personal and professional lives fueled me with passion. They shared their joys and sorrows, their wins and losses with me. Seven years later I still invite folks to have a cup and keep me and my business alive, even virtually.

      Whatever your reason, consider adding 50 cups to your business plan. You just might be amazed at what a strong brew might add.

 

“You will be the same person in five years as you are today, except for the people you meet and the books you read.”

Charlie Jones

      Consultants need to meet people. Mostly consultants need to listen. If our life is measured by the books and the people we cherish every day, then mine is indeed rich, like a Kenyan AA extra bold. What’s yours? Let’s have coffee and chat!

Take notes.

      Cups of coffee become a vehicle for contacts, ideas, dreams. I would ask three questions with all my cups. The answers taught me about resilience, learning and making my life and my business important.

• o   How did you begin?
• o   What was your biggest challenge?
• o   What did you learn?

Look for approaches rather than answers

      As you chat, look not only on how they answered their problem, investigate their approach. Did they use a team? What resources do they recommend? How did they face their hardest war story? Learning 50 different approaches to dealing with issues will make you an amazing consultant.

Don’t sell. Don’t ask for anything.

      Consultants are experts at giving advice. Over coffee, just listen and understand. Over coffee, absorb the gifts that are coming to you. Discover that everyone has a unique perspective and something to offer…even tea drinkers. Looking forward to meeting you!

MARY HELEN CONROY

Mary Helen Conroy, Chief Creative Officer of Life’s a Daring Adventure, is the bestselling author of “The Amazing Itty-bitty Retirement Book.” She is well known for her ability to inspire anyone to continue their dreams, regardless of the number of candles on their cake. Her life coaching signature program of Review, Retreat and ReInvent has assisted countless clients in recreating their lives.

Her own reinventions include a career as a public library administrator, a sales executive for the publication Women in Higher Education and adjunct professor for Cardinal Stritch University in the areas of team and change management. Mary Helen has been a sought-after keynote and workshop speaker. Her pandemic reinvention included becoming a publisher to two best-selling books. She holds a master’s in library science and is ABD in the area of adult education.

Meet Mary Helen and be ready to be inspired to (re)ignite your dreams and passions and discover how to live a life of daring adventure. Regardless of what she’s working on, her goal is to remind folks that life is a daring adventure and they're not done yet!

If you would like to purchase a copy of We Wish We Had Known - Everyday Tips from Consultants to Grown Your Business  click here.

For the 9th year in a row, InBusiness Magazine has recognized Tingalls Graphic Design as one of Madison’s most outstanding website development companies. Finalists are chosen by fill-in-the-blank majority vote by Madison executives, business owners, and community leaders, representing the best-of-the-best of the Madison business community.

Serving local businesses in their 23rd year, Tingalls Graphic Design has now helped over 1,300 small businesses, non-profits, and startups revitalize and rebrand their company’s logo, website design, and branding. Separating itself through its quick turnaround time, creative marketing solutions, and clear communication, Tingalls continues to provide top-notch service to local businesses.

Under the direction and leadership of Tara Ingalls, the owner and founder of Tingalls, the company continues to innovate in its marketing offerings, helping companies in a variety of ways. “We are so honored to be recognized for our Website Development services for our 9th year in a row. My firm offers a stress-free, creative website design process married with high-end professional copywriting. This helps our clients not only be found but also convert visitors to leads.”

One local business owner who hired Tingalls in 2022 was Wesley Morgan, the founder of Spoken Frame Media, who said, “We worked with Tingalls on a website for our video production company. The reason we chose Tingalls was because we wanted a website that was customized to clearly communicate our services and values. Tingalls delivered. With great communication and turnaround time we were able to get just the website we were looking for. Something that excited us from the beginning was the custom icon designs their designers created for each page. I would definitely recommend working with Tingalls for any of your website or graphic design needs.”

The entire Tingalls team would like to thank all of their colleagues and business executives who voted in InBusiness’s Executive Choice Awards.

A portion of Tingalls’ full portfolio can be viewed at tingalls.com

For additional information, contact:
Tara Ingalls, Owner, Tingalls Graphic Design, LLC
office: 608-268-5525 cell: 608-225-5525
2939 S Fish Hatchery Rd, Ste 100, Madison, WI 53711
tara@tingalls.com www.tingalls.com

You’ve been taxiing on the tarmac and you’re finally cleared for take-off! But gaining momentum for your business is harder than you thought. 

      According to Forbes, Americans see between 4,000 and 10,000 ads per day. That’s a lot of messages blowing around. The whirlwind of marketing channels and media can make any business owner reach for the eject button before leaving the ground. How do you get your customers to notice you in this storm of content? If you are consistent in your communications, and they land with your target audience, you’ll gain recognition and ascend.

     You can get to cruising altitude and breeze through marketing communications with a brand book – a navigational tool with a collection of waypoints that help you reach your destination. This important document explains who you are as a business and how you present your brand internally and externally. 

      Brand books provide the guidance needed to implement and uphold a strong brand. A brand is not just your logo; it’s the all-encompassing identity of your organization. It’s what you look like, sound like and dance like (well, maybe not, but it could!). All of these brand attributes are recorded in your brand book to ensure consistency across all your channels.

      Brand books help you and your staff with small marketing tasks and big business decisions. If you are trying to think about what to write for your next Facebook post, it offers inspiration. If you want to use a different font (we all want to) go back to the brand book and think, “will this help or hurt my brand?” (It will usually hurt it.) 

      Whenever you’re faced with a big business decision, reread your mission, vision and values and consider if they are in line with your guiding statements and principles.

      If you’re not convinced that consistency and a strong brand is key to accelerating your business and taking flight, here are a few more reasons.

·   Consistent branding across all channels increases revenue by 23% - Forbes

·   Eight out of 10 investors want the companies they invest in to have a strong brand - The Chartered Institute of Marketing

·   Brand color improves recognition by up to 80% - Forbes

• ·   A strong brand that is consistently represented both internally and externally can decrease hiring costs by 43%. - LinkedIn Talent Blog

Here are 10 brand elements to get your brand book started:

·        Mission

–   Your mission is what you are setting out to accomplish daily.

·        Vision

–   Your vision is why you are doing it and how you want to make an impact. 

·        Values

–   Your values are your guiding principles. 

·        Who you are

–   Your business history and why your business came to be.

·        Character traits you want your employees to show and your customers to experience

·        Logos and acceptable versions

·        Brand colors 

·        Brand fonts 

·        Brand voice

·        Examples of acceptable graphics or photos 

   

MARY JANE CONNOR

Mary Jane Connor is a partner and creative director at Bizzy Bizzy. She is a creative adventurer whose primary goal in life is to do good work and have fun doing it. A true extrovert, she is energized by meeting and collaborating with people. With graduate research in global visual communications and over a decade of experience in marketing at small and large businesses and nonprofits, she offers creative concepts that consider a broad range of perspectives. Areas of expertise include brand development, brand identity, graphic design and website design. 

Bizzy Bizzy is a creative agency whose high-energy signature services include the 1 Day® Website and the 1 Day® Branding, designed specifically for founders of fast-growing companies who want to accelerate their brands. Our team works in real time with you, using our innovative tools and collaborative process to help you launch your big ideas. 

Writing for the book

NAME YOUR TIP

Why is your tip important?

If you’ve not done so, read the 2021 edition of What We Wish We Had Known. Look at the author’s tip and how they created their idea. It’s a great way to give yourself a way to address your tip for the 2023 edition.

Pretend you’re sitting with a colleague, and they ask you why you think your tip idea is important to being a consultant.

1. Is there a short story (case study) when you discovered this tip?

• 2.     Talk about the pain point(s) of how you solved a client’s problem with your tip.

1. What did your tip do for your client? – save them money, inspire them, give them a new perspective?

How to start: Write your thoughts about your tip down. Use a personal casual tone. You want to engage your reader to learn more about what you’ve learned.

Use short sentences. Make short paragraphs. Most folks are skim readers and so make it easy for the reader to learn from you. This is more a book of quick ideas rather than a textbook. Notice what this page looks like. Easy to follow, easy to read, easy to learn about the tip.

Each page will have UP TO 250 words. Check “Review”-Word count to check your length. Use Arial 12pt for your document.

Action Steps and Resources

What are some quick ideas that the reader could put into action regarding your tip?

You can do two or three different expanded action tips from your tip always followed by bullet points.

• ·       The point is it’s harder to read sentences that are not preceded by a bullet point. This book is all about ease of reading.

Do you have a resource or two that you feel really would help the reader further use your tip?

If you use a website, please put the whole address in. Remember folks will be reading the book. We’ll also have an e-book where they can link to your resource.

• Your Next Action

You’ve written your two pages. Let them sit overnight. Give it to your family or share with one of the MABC members. Get their feedback. Revise. Let it sit.

When completed, please email to Mary Helen at maryhelenconroy@gmail.com

Congrats! You’re an author!!!

About YOU

This section is all about you. Our book will be a directory of MABC members sharing our expertise. We want readers to say, “Wow! I have to contact this person”.

Short Bio

What would your elevator pitch be to a new client? What are your superpowers as a consultant? What are your credentials? Think of how someone might introduce you to a group, what would they say?

Short Business Description

What makes your business unique? What do you provide for clients? How long have you been in business? Do you have a short testimonial you’d like to include?

• Contact Info
• How would you like folks to reach out to you? Web address/LinkedIn address/email/phone?
• Head Shot Picture/LOGO
• Send with your text a picture you’d like included. Please save your image at 300 DPI (dots per inch) or higher.

One of our best opportunities to share the expertise of MABC has been our #1 Best Selling book.

We Wish We Had Known was published in November 2021. We've sold 345 copies!

It's time to do it again!

As of August 2023, all members are eligible to write their best tip for our second volume. The first 30 members who sign on will be included in this volume. Whether you were in the first volume and have another idea, or if you're new to MABC, you are welcome to contribute. If you're thinking about joining MABC…wow! Please do it now!

Ready to commit? Please sign the commitment letter below and send to maryhelenconroy@gmail.com.

Action Dates:

• August 1: All commitment Letters are due.
• September: MABC meeting will talk about how to write up tips and tricks.
• October 1: All three pages are due!
• October 31: We press "publish."
• November 9: Formal launch date for the MABC book
  

Be an author! Share your expertise with the world through MABC!

GOALS:

• MABC known to a wider audience

• Share and applaud individual and collective expertise

• Co-author a book

WRITING:

• Theme: Smarter not harder, one focused tip in your area of expertise

• Teaching and learning text – Info, Explore, Create, Share format

• Page 1 - pain point and tip (250 words – double spaced)

• Page 2 – action to do, examples (250 words – double spaced)

• Page 3 – bio, company (250 words – double spaced)

INVESTMENT:

• No individual financial cost.

• All proceeds will go to MABC.

• Co-authored, but MABC will be registered owner.

• Time and expertise contributions are expected from all participants.

Signature: _________________________ ________                 Date: _______________ ___

Print: ____________________ ______________

#Personal Development
#Change Management

LAURA PAISLEY BECK
Wa’amWrites, LLC
Copywriter and Content Strategist
WaamWritesLLC.com / Laura@WaamWritesLLC.com

Have you ever found yourself stuck in that Talking Heads song?

Letting the days go by… And you may ask yourself,
“Well, how did I get here?”

      I have.

      Have you ever caught yourself in a default behavior that suddenly feels terribly unhealthy? And then you hear a voice recant the definition of insanity?

      I have.

      Feeling stuck has to be one of the worst feelings on the planet. So, I’m going to make grand claims here: You don’t want to be stuck. Your clients don’t want to be stuck.

      I sure as heck don’t.

      In a desperate attempt to help someone out of a downward spiral of depression, I bought a 52-page notebook and hand wrote a personal “Choose Your Own Adventure” book. I did research on places they dreamed of visiting and why and what they could do there. I fantasized about how they could end up meditating on a beach only 3.8 miles away from the house or waking up tied to a chair in a forced intervention with concerned friends. I created a code system to make sure every passion, nightmare and important friend in this person’s life was referenced and played out.

      Yeah. The cynics guessed it. He never read it.

      A few months later I realized it was more important for me to write my own adventure story, and it truly honestly (I am being 100% genuine here) saved my life.

      We land in a crossroads of quandary on a regular basis. The consequences of these decisions can vary greatly from award winning to devastating. Use this fun exercise to work out the radical paths your decisions may take you. This could be fun with the right client too.

Here’s how:

●      Grab an unused notebook (paper or digital).

●      On the first page, detail out your quandary.

●      Drop down the page and list out the different choices before you.

●      Think of choices you feel pressured to take vs. choices your heart requests.

●      Dedicate a page for each choice and bang out how each unfolds.

●      Repeat as necessary per scenario, watching the multiple adventures play out.

●      Reference these decisions by writing page numbers to turn to, creating your personal adventure story. (Example: “If you decide to quit the agency and write for a career, turn to page 5.”)

●      Don’t forget the decision to do nothing. Play that out too.

      Let it get wild! You could surprise yourself at your own creativity, humor in a tough situation, and passion that shines through. Your subconscious might speak up in unexpected ways. You’ll teach yourself what consequences you face with certain people, places and practices. Facts vs. feelings. Dangerous traps. Helpful resources.

      Heck, you could get eaten by sharks or win a Nobel Peace Prize! If you ever want to share stories or ask for help in this exercise, absolutely reach out to me. May your best adventure reveal itself.

LAURA PAISLEY BECK

Laura Paisley Beck is an award-winning salesperson who now writes copy for businesses. Owner of Wa’am Writes, LLC, she helps businesses lure their target audience to take the desired actions in their digital advertising, websites and other marketing strategies. She also plays well with designers who need wonder writers to help carry out their client’s message.

Laura has recently written feature articles for Natural Awakenings Magazine national and copy for several solopreneur clients. Current fiction books in the works include an interactive adventure book titled, “Licensed to Sell,” in which the reader is an insurance agent acting like a secret agent. She will be teaching sixth graders how to write their interactive adventure stories at a Writers’ Network and Young Authors’ Conference for the Waukesha School Districts, October 2021- May 2022.

Laura’s past writing includes many feature articles for Door County Living and a sassy dessert review column called Sweet Spot for the Peninsula Pulse in exchange for full color advertising. Other commissioned pieces for friends were paid in fine wine and dark chocolate.

Laura is no stranger to adversity and major life change. She is a native of Door County, current Madison resident, seasoned entrepreneur of many different business types (women’s clothing boutique owner gone Fortune 500, B2B salesperson to insurance agency owner), healing divorcee, and cheerleader/networker. She’d love a walk-n-talk with you!

Copyright © 2022 Madison Area Business Consultants

All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise — without prior written permission of the publisher, except as briefly quoted by reviewers, bloggers and other media, as provided by United States of America copyright law.

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of each individual author. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed. It is sold with the understanding that the author is not engaged in rendering professional advice. The ideas and suggestions contained in this book serve only to inspire.

The authors, collectively and independently disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use of and application of any of the contents of this book.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

 It began in a Zoom meeting. Little boxes reflecting our attendance at a meeting during the pandemic.

We listened that morning about how to fulfill our dreams. We heard that dreams can be attained by eating an elephant, one spoonful at a time. We understood that if you have others working beside you toward your dream you can be successful.

This book represents our collective dream of publishing a book. Thirty consultants generously shared their tip to help you grow your business. We thank Mary Helen Conroy for the inspiration, prodding and means to complete this task. We thank Ann Massie Nelson for her generous time in editing this work so we sound brilliant. We thank Mary Jane Connor for her cover sharing the wish we have to share our consultant knowledge.

We acknowledge all our families, our friends and mostly the clients we have all worked with through the years. Without any of you we would not have dreamed at all.

FOREWORD

Welcome to exploring the minds of Madison Area Business Consultants. We’re a relatively small organization and we attract people with big ideas. We discovered a way to unlock the brain power of 30 Madison area business consultants in this book. We all come to this group with the hope of connecting with people who can create value for each other and our clients, while creating a platform for giving to others.

In this book you’ll find an objective point of view, specifically presented to help you and your organization identify and analyze challenges that are in need of a solution. Some you’re aware of and others you might not be able to see or recognize. We can help you reduce inefficiencies, pinpoint solutions, save money, make money, improve overall performance, and facilitate the change necessary to achieve your goals.

Our organization was created to provide a shared learning experience for Madison’s best business consultants. Our focus is always on improving our consulting skill sets and finding great businesses that want to benefit from the knowledge and expertise our members bring to the market. We support each other.

Time to dig in and learn if there’s a tip or trick that you can add to your knowledge base.

Thank you for your time and interest in the life lessons brought forward by our expert professionals.

John Russell, President, 2019-2021

ANOTHER CHANCE TO BE AN AUTHOR!

We're doing it again! It's another opportunity to be an author! One of our best opportunities to share the expertise of MABC has been our #1 Best Selling book. We Wish We Had Known was published in November 2021. We've sold 345 copies! It's time to do it again! As of August 2023, all members are eligible to write their best tip for our second volume. The first 30 members who sign on will be included in this volume. Whether you were in the first volume and have another idea, or if you're new to MABC, you are welcome to contribute. If you're thinking about joining MABC…wow! Please do it now! Ready to commit? Please get in touch with Mary Helen at maryhelenconroy@gmail.com. Action Dates: August 1: All commitment Letters are due. September: MABC meeting will talk about how to write up tips and tricks. October 1: All three pages are due! October 31: We press "publish." November 9: Formal launch date for the MABC book! Be an author! Share your expertise with the world through MABC!

Jen Wilson, New Leaf Coaching & Consulting

https://consultnewleaf.com/

A university Dept of Nuclear Engineering was challenged by their external Advisory Board to create a bold 10-year vision and 5-year strategic plan that would earn them #1 academic ranking and position faculty as thought leaders in their field. Their last strategic planning retreat was 5 years ago and consisted of several senior faculty making presentations to their colleagues, and faculty feedback was that it was "deadly boring." Additionally, several new faculty were hired during the pandemic, and the entire faculty had not met face to face in years. The Dept Chair knew something different was called for, but he wasn't sure what. Our first steps were to assemble a faculty Design Team and create a POP (Purpose, Outcomes, Process) that centered relationships as much as product. Next, we conducted a departmental inquiry which consisted of 1:1 learning conversations with Dept heads and surveys (mix of quantitative and qualitative) for students, staff/admin, and faculty. The goals of the inquiry were to engage people in co-creation and allow all voices to be heard equitably. Based on the input we received, the Design Team crafted Guiding Questions to help faculty develop their 10-year Vision and converge on 5-6 strategic goals. The most important innovation was designing an experiential offsite retreat that strengthened relationships by maximizing interaction vs. presentation. Faculty were assigned to various groups throughout the day to ensure they mixed with colleagues both within and outside of their specialties, and long breaks and meal times were designed to support informal collegial interaction. In each round, groups grappled with Big Questions designed to spark innovation, creativity, and bold ideas. To support equitable process, the Dept Chair stepped back to listen and observe, and junior faculty were given facilitator roles to elevate their voices and visibility. The faculty emerged with a bold 10 year vision and alignment around 5-7 strategic goals to take into further strategic planning. Just as importantly, people felt connected and energized at the end of a long day and wished they had another full day together. This comment from a new faculty member illustrated the success of the relational design: "You know, I was skeptical about this day because as a younger woman in this field, I'm often not listened to even when I assert my ideas. But I found out that I have a lot more in common with senior faculty than I imagined, and I feel closer to my colleagues beyond my expectations."

Mike Schuster, FiddleSmart Marketing LLC, www.fiddlesmartmarketing.com

Mike works with clients to develop marketing that actually works. And makes it easier for the right people to learn about, buy from, and tell others about their business. A recent client approached him with a goal to increase sales through his farm’s online store. Mike worked with him to:
• Strengthen the message and story on his homepage,
• Improve the site's navigation to make it easier for people to shop the website,
• Build out enhanced product descriptions
• Add elements to improve visibility and rankings within search engines,
• Redesign the format of his emails to make them easier to read and showcase more products, plus
• Send targeted emails to segments of buyers.
As a result, online sales have significantly increased year over year. And the business is adding new customers who have not purchased from the business' physical location.