Extra Credit Speaker Series

Today, March 30th, I attended the speaker series in the University Center. The woman who spoke was Jeannie Howe. She is an entreprenuer who focuses primarily on non-profit organizations. She started her own business as a private consultant, who's main client is "Every Man's Theater." Throughout her presentation, she spoke a great deal about the importance of networking and creating strong relations between people, whether they are clients or friends. She used these relationships later down the road as angle investors for her consulting business. Ms. Howe also stressed how significant it is to have a strong webpage. She said that having a webpage is important because it's a primary source clients use to research her. Another topic she addressed was having a solid business plan and in that plan she needed to know the fundamentals like how many clients one should have and how much to charge each client, etc. Overall, Jeannie Howe was a great speaker to hear from, especially if you were thinking of persueing a career in the non-profit sector.

Being a Leader

I applied the second Principle of being a leader from How to Win Friends and Influence People this past week on my younger brother.
Before I left for class in the morning, I cleaned all the dishes in the sink and made sure the kitchen was clean from everyone's breakfast (since I'm the last to leave in the morning). When I come home from school early that afternoon, I was greated with a mountain of dishes and crums all over the counter. Needless to say, I wasn't happy. When my brother, who I knew was the culprit, passed throught the kitchen I asked him, in a non-threatening tone, "were these dishes in the sink when you woke up?" He replied with "No" and I could tell he was confessing to his mistake. By using this the tactic of calling attention to mistakes indirectly, it helped my brother realize the mistake without me having to scold or penalize him for his actions.
I then went on to use the rule of the two "yes's" by asking, "You know mom would be mad if she came home to a sink full of dirty dishes, right?" I followed up that question with, "don't you think she would appreciate it if she knew you helped keep the kitched clean for her?"
How to Win friends and Influence People is possitivly helping me to realize the way I interact and speak with people. Overall, the outcomes have been more positive than negative.

Start-Up Financing Options

I started my search start-up finances by looking into my local bank. I know that getting a bank loan to finance a start-up business is a long shot because I haven’t been in business for at least two years, but It’s worth a try anyway. I’m withholding the name of the bank I researched for personal privacy, but I did find out who to contact with a loan application:
Loan applications:

Valarie Samuels
Head of loan department
(*Bank name Withheld*)
P.O. Box 123
Annapolis Junction, MD 20701-0123
301-497-7062 or
800-787-8328, ext. 7062

Secondly, I figured that since my Daycare Center centered on healthy activities for children, that Howard County Recs. and parks would be a strong Angle investor/sponsor for my locations in Howard County. After some research I found that Raymond Wacks is who I should contact in the Budget Office for HCRP. All the budget plans get reviewed by the County Executive who submits the proposals to the County Council each period.

Raymond S. Wacks,
Administrator
rwacks@howardcountymd.gov
Howard County Budget Office
3430 Court House Drive
Ellicott City, MD 21043
(410) 313-2077 (voice)
(410) 313-3390 (fax)

Revised One Year Budget

Updated Enterprise Values

Applying "Secret of Socrates"

I applied the Secret of Socrates method of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" this past Saturday at work. I'm the type of person who really tries to eat healthy, yet all the guys at my work place eat very poorly and everytime we get food, it always ends up being food that's really bad for you. Well, this past weekend I persuaded one of my coworkers to get a salad with me instead of jumping of the fast food badwagon. I persuaded him by asking him simple questions like, "aren't you trying to be on a diet?" and "wouldn't you feel better about yourself if you ate a salad instead of a fast food bacon cheeseburger?" In the end, I won him to my way of thinking and he was actually thankful to me for getting him to eat better food.

Enterprise Values

12 mo. Budget

Reporter Interaction

For this assignment, I spoke with a writter, of "The Retriever Weekly", named Gaby Arevalo. I saw Gaby's article on the fire in the engineer building and was entertained by her story. After I finished the article, I sought Gaby out on Facebook and sent her a message saying how much I enjoyed her story and tried to express genuine interest in her writtings. I used her name at the start of every message and complimented her writting style many times. In her responses to the messages, Gaby was genuinly appreciative of my words and I could tell that she really appriciated my compliments.

Updated Power Point

Marketing Budget can be found here

Enterprise Value

Apple: 890,553,729 x $78.20=6.96 per share

Microsoft: Enterprise Value= 32,000,000 x 3.00=$96,000,000
Outstanding Shares= 10,800,000 x 305.7=$3,301,560,000

SEO

To optimize traffic into my blog site, I decided the best way would be to create a link from my facebook site to my INDS 430 blog. I felt like this would be a good marketing tool for my blog because facebook is so highly viewed and creates unlimited networking opportunities for both friendships and business.

Social Interactions

After further practice using the ten principles of How to Win Friends and Influence People, I’ve learned that people truly to respond to a friendly face and genuine interest. I used the principles this week, the majority of them on Thursday during my time donating blood for the Red Cross. Over a two hour time period, I managed to be acquainted with various people. Most of the people I spoke with were donors, like me. The first guy, named James, was seated on the bed to my left; I introduced myself and after brief introductions, he went on to tell me about his numerous donation stories. Next, Steve, another donor, told me all about his family and his younger brother’s college plans. After more conversation, I learned that Steve and I had a mutual friend. I also talked with a guy on a bed across from me about a previous class we had together and how the rest of his classes were going. Dinisha, my nurse, was who I spoke with about her cell phone. She was texting on her iphone, which is the same phone I use, so I asked her how she liked her phone and the positive and negative attributes it has.
Over the weekend, I used the principles of a few other people, some of which were at work, and some were other retail employees. I used the principles further on my coworkers to try to get to know them better. For example, I learned that one of the coworker’s family owns a pub in Owings Mills. He told me all about the restaurant, including the menu options and stories about some of the regulars. I tried to use the principles for almost every interaction I could. I came to notice that people really do respond positively to friendliness and to someone who takes a sincere interest in them. Taking a few minutes to listen to someone does make them feel good and can strongly enhance networking ties.

Extended Powerpoint: Sports Daycare

Cell phone for my niche Demographic:

The cell phone I would associate with my niche demographic would definitely be a Blackberry. I say this because my demographic are working parents, constantly on the go, and who have a higher income. I also am basing my daycare in Howard County and I personally know that a majority of this demographic already prefer the “all in one” cell phones. People who are constantly on the go need to have instant access to all their connections because, more than not, their out and about and not sitting at home in front of a computer. Blackberrys and other similar phones make that instant access easy, with just a few buttons.

New 6 principle interactions:

Over the weekend I applied all 6 components of “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and once again, I got mixed reviews. The first two were positive experiences in which I tried, and successfully, learned more about two of my managers at work. The first was with my manager Jeff, I struck up a light conversation and learned a few things, like how he came to work there, and also briefly about his wife and kids. The second interaction was with another manger named, Ken. Ken was talking about his upcoming birthday and I showed a genuine interest in his plans and ended up learning a few things about him, which I wouldn’t have known otherwise. The final three interactions didn’t go as smoothly probably because I wasn’t already acquainted with the person. One was at a smoothie stand at Columbia Mall. I approached the young girl, smiled, said hello and went on to chit chat about how she liked her job. She seemed a little wierded out that a total stranger was interested in her life. Another attempt was at Panera off of route 40. I tried different approach, more subtle, hoping not to freak out the cashier. She seemed slightly more responsive than the smoothie girl, but still had a confused look on her face. Finally, the last attempt was with a cashier at Mars supermarket. She was the most friendly when she noticed I was smiling and not trying to be weird. I asked her if it was hard standing on her feet all day and then she went on to tell me about some of her break schedules and how the breaks really help her feet. Overall, I still find this technique to be really creepy and that people get really uncomfortable with total strangers approaching them this way.

Cell Phone Assignment

The person I approached and interviewed about thier cell phone was a guy named Matt, who is a coworker of mine. He has a MV2 by Verizon. Matt uses his phone for texting and calling. It's also his calender and alarm clock.

Based off the type of phone he has, I view Matt as an early adaptor, rather than an innovator. He has a new, "hott" phone that's popular in today's cell phone market. Also, because he uses his phone primarily for texting, which tells me he's up on the lastest fad, yet still his a follower because, now a day, it's not surprise that everyone uses thier phone for texting. When I asked Matt which phone he'd want, if he could chose anything, he didn't give me a specific answer. He did say, however, that he'd want a phone which has the internet.

Edited Entrepreneur Paper as of 2/13/09

“I came in to win,” says Combs. “This is why I stay up late while other people are sleeping; this is why I don’t go out to the Hamptons.” This, in a nutshell, is why Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, is an Entrepreneur. Garunteed
From the first mention of Entrepreneur at the start of the class, one man, in particular, came to mind; Sean “P. Diddy” Combs. I personally, don’t follow him as a fan, but I do, however, find him to be an excellent example of what it means to be an entrepreneur. Diddy, as he currently likes to be called, has strived as an entrepreneur with the creations of his many product lines. For example, Diddy has his own record company, “Bad Boy Records,” clothing lines, “Sean John” and “Sean by Sean Combs,” a movie production company, and two restaurants, all while continuing his own music career.
Diddy is probably most notable for his record label, Bad Boy Records, formally known as Bad Boy Entertainment. This east coast label, dealing mostly in rap and hip/hop was founded by Diddy in 1993 and turned out many multi-platinum selling artists, such as the Notorious B.I.G.
At first, it seems obvious who Sean’s target demographic audience is, but by studying him deeper and reading more into his background, I think his target audience has much more of a niche to it, more so than just Rap and Hip-hop enthusiasts. After a bit of research, I discovered that Diddy’s child hood and early adult years were really unpleasant, to say the least. Early in his adolescent years, his father was maliciously shot to death, and his brother had ties to some of our countries most infamous drug lords. This information leads me to believe that his target audience was troubled young African-American teens from New York, possibly those ranging in age from 14 to 20. By suggesting this age group to be his niche demographic audience, I’m sure he hoped his lyrics could be an inspiration to those having a rough childhood, like him.
What I admire most about Diddy and his entrepreneurial skills is his, stop at nothing, attitude. Diddy knew from an early age that music was his passion and, with hard work and dedication, he could someday become one of the world’s biggest names in rap and hip/hop. More recently, Diddy is known for his works as an entrepreneur, rather than his current music career. I feel that it’s an admirable characteristic that Diddy stepped aside from his music aspirations to focus on business and helping others reach their dreams. He proves to us that a strong knowledge in business and management can sky rocket you towards great success. If we look at the definition of “entrepreneur,” Diddy exemplifies all of the attributes; passion for an enterprise, dedication and he assumes responsibilities for any problems he encounters.
Mr. Combs, and his Entrepreneurial reputation, make is easy for me to relate his works, to the concept laid out by Geoffrey Moore in “Crossing the Chasm.” For example, early on in the book, it explains to us how we can tell if we are, in simpler terms, a leader or a follower. Needless to say, P. Diddy is definitely highlighted for his leadership skills and being an innovator. “Crossing the Chasm” defines an innovator as someone who is an early adaptor, rather than someone who is a follower, or part of the late majority. Being an innovator says wonders about a person’s character. I believe Diddy is a continuous innovator because he understands that changes need to be made in order to move forward in any endeavor. Not to denote continuous innovators, but to feel that upgrades can happen without changing behavior, seems to be slightly unrealistic. Anyway, by stepping up as a person with innovative ideas, Diddy shows that to be an Entrepreneur, you must be a “go-getter,” and be constantly coming up with new, fresh ideas to further your entrepreneurship.
Diddy may not be the first person you think of at the mention of “entrepreneur,” but he’s as equally admirable for his works as people like Bill Gates, Walt Disney, or Oprah.
I hope to someday be able to relate to Diddy and those other entrepreneurs because, like everyone, I have dreams and ambitions that I’d love to be able to capitalize on. Diddy has shown all of us that it is possible to reach our dreams, but that it takes hard work and a strong business savvy approach.

Works Cited:

1. Campbell, Monty. "What Makes This Album Work." A Review of Sean 'Diddy' Combs Press Play: an Entrepreneur's Great Business Move. Associated Content. 4 Feb. 2009 .
2. Moore, Geofrey. Crossing The Chasm. New York: Collins Business Essentials, 1991. 9-13.
3. Sean Diddy Combs Articles. Google. 3 Feb. 2009 .
4. "Lesson 2: Play to Win." Sean Diddy Combs Articles. Google. 3 Feb. 2009 .
5. FRANKEL, DANIEL . "Mogul builds empire on image, taste and savvy." Billion-Dollar Entrepreneur: Sean Combs. 30 Apr. 2008. Variety. 4 Feb. 2009 .

Edited Power Point