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#TinShingleTips on Boosting Your Self Confidence Featured in Verily Magazine

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At Tin Shingle we know that the secret to ongoing business and buzz building success doesn't lie solely in strategy.  A large part of what gets you going, keeps you going and empowers you to keep "going for it" is your self confidence and personal strength.  Your competitive edge can be largely attributed to a strong eternal flame that keeps you pumped up and moving forward when things are going well, and helps you keep doing the same when things are difficult. 

Because we know everyone's ego and self-confidence could use a boost from time to time we recently shared six actionable, use-now tips to do just that, which were featured in Verily Magazine this week.

Read our exclusive tips here, print 'em out, and hang them over your desk the next time your mind needs a refresher course in confidence building!

Category: 
Press Features Tin Shingle

SNAGGED: So This Happened…2 Members Score Major Press Today on GMA and in Star Magazine

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Very exciting Thursday here at Tin Shingle HQ. One member, Kami Darnell of Simple Sarongs has been working on a press placement with O, The Oprah Magazine for months now, thanks to the education she tunes in for every week with her Tin Shingle membership, (like this #TuneUp about using Twitter to boost your PR) and thanks to her Tweeting skills,  she grew a relationship with O's favorite guy, Adam Glassman. Today was the day that her segment aired on ABC7 in New York for Tory Johnson's Secret Sales. We're going to interview Kami for the full story of how she made this happen.

Simple Sarongs on GMA

A few hours before that happened, Tin Shingle member Jackie Berlowski, founder of BiziBubble, the amazing monthly subscription service for women's "that time" was featured in Star Magazine!  Yes, you can order pieces and parts from boxes of your favorite brands so that you don't have to pre-pay for boxes that may go to waste!

Bizi Bubble in Star Magazine

 

Category: 
SNAGGED!

TuneUp Recap: Better Organization of Your Samples with Jamie Espertin of MAYVIEN

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TuneUp Recap Jamie Espertin

We had the great pleasure this week of talking with Jamie Espertin, General Manager of MAYVIEN. MAYVIEN is an app that helps you manage the samples you are sending out to magazines, bloggers and TV shows.
 
When I first saw the app’s website, I thought: “Oh great, this is a really pretty place to organize this stuff.”
 
Jamie EspertinBut then Jamie wrote an article for our Expert series called “Better Sample Management of Your Press Samples Can Add Value” and she talked about data and tracking – you know my interest was piqued. Jamie is into metrics and data, and applying that to samples management.

We really appreciate Jamie taking the time to share some of her best practices and strategies with us. We covered loads of great content during this #TuneUp call including:

 

 

  • Who are samples typically sent to? An intern? A photographer? How many hands can it pass through?
     
  • When you send a sample these days who pays?  Should one send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope or shipping slip for them to return it when they’re done?
     
  • At which point should you gift a sample to someone at a magazine? Should you discuss this with them up front, before it gets sent?
     
  • What type of information do you recommend tracking in your samples outreach?
     
  • Do you think that businesses should send an inventory slip with their delivery so that people are clear what you sent (and know that you are as well)?
     
  • How soon do brands typically get their samples returned to them? Should a business offer to include shipping materials for their item to be easily returned back?
     
  • If a sample is lost, how hard core should one fight? Is it better to let it go and salvage the relationship with the editorial department?
     
  • Some of our members have very expensive products, such as jewelry into the thousands of dollars.  That said no matter the price point should more luxury items be sending release forms or some sort of insurance form?
     
  • How does the MAYVIEN app help with all of this?

To get the full recap of this #TuneUp, head over to the Member Forum. Not a member yet? Check out our membership benefits including exclusive Members Only weekly #TuneUp calls like this one, and much more!

We have a discount available to members of Tin Shingle in the Member Discounts area. It offers Emerging Designer prices $200/mo vs $1000/mo), and a deeper discount just for Tin Shingle members.

Visit Member Forum for Recap

Quote: How to Have a Simple Life

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We love this great infographic about how to have a simple life as an entrepreneur from Anna Vital, Startup Evangelist at Funders and Founders.

  • Let go of the past
  • Consume less
  • Say no, when you mean it
  • Let go of perfectionism
  • Turn off the phone
  • Sever unhealthy relationships
  • Have an alter-ego (to deal with complicated things)
  • Purge your belongings
  • Wear minimalist clothes
  • Move closer to where you want to be
  • Walk more
  • Run slowly, and you will get there faster
Category: 
Quotes

Mother's Day Gift Ideas #SmallBizChicago Style

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Chicago is a pretty cool place, and we wanted to know what the hipster moms wanted for Mother's Day (in addition to our national gift guide). So we checked with my sister, Kimberly McClain, a hip new mom who lives in Chicago, and here's what she wants: subscriptions, classes and projects:

Mother's Day Gift Ideas for Chicago Reklaimed WoodWindow Box Making Class & Flowers (with roots, not cut ones)
I typically use Mothers Day as an excuse to buy flowers for my yard. Kim had just built a table using reclaimed wood from Chicago's Rebuilding Exchange.

So I figured that moms might like to make a flower box/rooftop garden plot from that reclaimed wood, and buy flowers from the big local outside market in Chicago, Green City Farmers Market. Sure enough, Kim knew that Rebuilding Exchange was hosting a Mother's Day class in making window boxes! Perfect!

 

 

Green Market Farmers MarketGreen City Market Cookbook
Pair the gift above with something from Green City Farmers Market, one of Chicago's most popular farmer's markets and in the heart of Lincoln Park. We've been told that you can buy gift cards that can be used anywhere in the market.

Or, you could give The Green City Market Cookbook for recipe ideas sourced locally.

 

 

Drink Deck ChicagoA Deck of Cards That You Can Eat & Drink!
Get Mom a deck of cards - each card features a locally owned restaurant in the city. Each card is good for $10 off the meal from restaurants you may not have known about or tried yet.  The deck is good for a year. Says Kim: "When I got my first deck, I think I went through about 30 cards - that's 30 new restaurants I checked out in a year. Ah, life before a baby." But it doesn't stop there - they now have a Drink Deck equivalent - buy one get one free for every card - all locally owned bars. Just $20! And they aren't just in Chicago, but are in several cities! Even London!
 

InstacartSubscription Local Grocery Delivery Service. AWESOME.
Instacart: a membership to local delivery of groceries. It's an app and connected to all of the local grocery stores: Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Cosco (and you don't need a membership to Cosco!) You can order 150 diapers and it's on your doorstep in an hour. Really good prices. And, Instacart is in several other cities!

Category: 
SmallBizStyle
SmallBizSnacks

#SmallBizProud Video Highlight Reel: Inspired by Those Staying True to Passions [Partner]

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Capital One SmallBizProud

Torie Partridge, founder of Cherry Blossom Creative in Washington D.C., is one of several entrepreneurs featured in short features of the #SmallBizProud tour across the United States, and her quote illustrates a few entrepreneurial themes that we’ve noticed emerging from each of these short features produced for this campaign by Capital One Spark: power, passion and possibility.

Torie Partridge Quote
 

Torie is one of several small business owners in these short features who listened to her inner voice to guide her to start her business - after years of doubting that she could make a living from it. Finally, after listening to what she wanted to do, instead of being told how she should make a living, she is thriving in her creative agency. As addicted as we have become to the #SmallBizProud in-depth peeks into businesses across the country, we narrowed down today’s “highlight reel” collection to get inspired by the startup stories of business owners who stuck to their passion when starting their business.
 

TURNING PASSION INTO PROFIT
The stories below are from companies that couldn’t be more different, yet what has helped them succeed is the same. From an outdoor climbing gym, to a pizza restaurant to one of the only hat makers left in NYC, each of their stories are tied together by a similar decision: they turned their passions into profit.  Some, like John Wygul from High Point climbing gym realized this very quickly, others, whose stories you’ll see below, had longer professional journeys but eventually came to the same conclusion.  For each person, the things that made them tick, that happily kept them up at night and that brought them joy and excitement have also become the things that make them money.

Capital One DC - Cherry Blossom CreativeCherry Blossom Creative: Washington, DC
Though always an artist at heart, Torie Partridge didn’t originally follow her dreams. Instead, she began a career that took her across the globe to the Middle East, where one night amidst the mortar shells she realized she was not in the right career.  What happens next is a classic story of what happens when you let your passion be your compass.  Spoiler Alert: You CAN make a living as an artist.


Music City Pizza12th & Porter: Music City Pizza: Nashville, TN
Want to combine business and creativity?  Get inspired by Keith Hayman’s story.  Like Torie’s, this Tennessee entrepreneur is also rooted in passion, though Keith started as a musician, though realized that being a musician required a lot of hard work for sometimes little pay.  His story of how he finally found a way to make money while immersed in what he loves to do (and squeeze in jam sessions now more than ever) is awesome.  Also awesome?  His strategy of giving “record deals” to multiple bands and charities, creating a win-win opportunity for everyone involved.  Watch his story to find out how he did it!

 

High Point Climbing Gym: Chattanooga, TN
This is the story of how a passion and a hobby turned into a multi-million dollar climbing gym for a recent entrepreneurship school graduate and a seasoned business man who united as business partners. The gym was formerly a movie theater, and an original investment of $200K grew to a $4.5 million investment, and began profiting two months after opening. There are so many cool pieces to the story of John O’Brien and John Wiygul’s success, it’s hard to fit them all into a few sentences.  The most important part? You guessed it. Though decades apart in age, their visions blended perfectly and what they did with that old movie theater is not only amazing - it’s the first of its kind in the world.

 

Capital One New York CityJJ Hat Center: New York, NY
Working at the original JJ Hat Center was just a job for the soon to be owner after he quit being a banker on Day 1. Embarrassed to tell his wife that he’d quit the bank, he got a sales job at the hat store. Soon his wife got a job there too, and eventually they bought the place. Enter their son, Sean O’Toole, who was encouraged by his mother not to enter the family business. So he became a lawyer, a chef, and then tricked his way into a part time job at the family store, of which he is now owner. JJ Hat Center is the only hat store left in Manhattan and almost folded after 9/11.

 

Capital One - Shreveport, LouisianaThis Just In!
As of this blog post, the newest video from the #SmallBizProud tour has gone live from Shreveport, Louisiana:
These highschool sweethearts, Andrew and Lindsay Nations, owners of Great Raft Brewing, share their story of bringing the first brewery to their hometown of Shreveport since before the prohibition — and how they handle the hard work that comes with being in high demand, which included needing to shut down after they ran out of beer!

Past Episodes:  
You can catch up on other past short features (warning that will have you glued to your computer! but are super short) as well as follow the team in real time by following their mapped out route, their YouTube channel and their social media feeds: Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.
 

Capital OneDisclosure: The #SmallBizProud content series is sponsored by Capital One Spark. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Capital One.

[Partner Blog Post]

Category: 
SmallBizProud [Partner]

Pitch Perfect: How Maria Pitched Inside Edition and Almost Got Featured on the Show

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We love hearing from our small business members because we get a direct look into how people like you are growing your business every day.

Early one morning, we got an email from Maria Moss Davidson, who was jumping up and down with excitement (or would have been if we could see her on the other side of the email). Maria is the Director of Communications and Marketing for VERG (Veterinary Emergency Group in Brooklyn) and is a member of Tin Shingle. She attends our weekly classes (even when home with a sick child!), participates in our community, and has been through the Pitch Whispering program.

The night before, she had cold-pitched Inside Edition. Inside Edition had not only responded to her pitch, but were interested in sending a camera crew out to cover the story. Says Maria: "If I hadn't joined Tin Shingle I would have never had the confidence to send out all those emails last night. You're the first people I told. :-)" 

Maria gave us permission to share her email pitch with you because it was so on-point, we wanted to dissect it and show you why it worked. Take a look. This was Maria's first time cold-pitching the show:

SUBJECT LINE:
Exciting veterinary procedure happening in Brooklyn tomorrow

Hi Alison,

I hope all is well with you. Sorry to send you a pitch with such short notice- but this is so cool I thought you might be interested. It's pretty hot so I'm typing this to you on my iPhone, forgive me!

Tomorrow morning, a 4 year old dog is going to walk in our hospital almost completely blind.

-having cataract surgery on both eyes
-the cataracts were genetic
-hasn't been able to see his owners in months
-the following morning, this same dog will be reunited with his owners who he will be able to see perfectly clear
-cataracts are somewhat common in dogs
-some get so severe that they completely lose vision
-most people don't know that veterinary ophthalmologists exist and can cure this problem.

Have a great night! Call my cell if you would like more info! xxx.xxx.4954

Best,

Maria

WHY THIS PITCH WORKED
Usually you don't want to send a pitch to the press at 9pm, from your iPhone where you can't format and bold things very easily. But - the pitch was very timely, was to the point, and pulled at the emotional heartstrings, aka "the hook" of the pitch. Here's a recap of why this pitch worked:

  • She got to the point quickly.
  • She acknowledged that yes it was short notice but she still thought they would love this story.
  • She got to "the hook" quickly – the way she described a dog walking into the hospital blind, and would leave seeing his owners after not seeing them for the past few months pulls heartstrings immediately.
  • She knew this was just the type of story that Inside Edition loves (know your pitch’s audience).
  • She bulleted out the main points of the story, rather than write in a long paragraph.
  • She shared how the producers could come and get great visuals (TV Is always about visuals).
  • She showed that they were flexible and easy to work with, even when it didn’t end up making it on air, Maria proved herself to be a great asset for stories and an easy person to work with.
  • She went for it!  You’ll never land a story if you don’t start pitching!

Good news for her?
The show ended up having a scheduling conflict, which is common for daily programs. Even though she didn’t land the pitch, Maria DID land a new press relationship, and that’s even more powerful.  She now has a member of the press who knows her and sees she is fast and flexible.  Now when she pitches them stories in the future, she can be sure they’ll recognize her name and most likely respond.

 

Category: 
Strategy

The Only Mother’s Day Gift Guide You’ll Need & it’s Small Biz Strong!

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Moms, like dads, have accepted all sorts of gifts from us through the years, from the DIY to the “DI-what?” and if your mom is anything like mine, each present was accepted gratefully (and without flinching).  Now that I’m all grown up I love discovering Mother’s Day presents that are gifts my mom will love as well as just being cool stuff in general.   In fact, I would be lying if I told you I didn’t buy a couple of these things the list below for myself while shopping for mom, and why not?  They’re all from small businesses which in mind qualifies as guilt-free shopping!

Whether your mom is a sucker for sweets or sweet intentions, our picks below have you covered.

Honey Rose and KHoney Rose & K for UpCycling Jewelry
Do you have grandma's brooch or does mom have her favorite great aunt's earrings lying around? Honey Rose & K will work with you to repurpose and “upcycle” these vintage family treasures into something modern and fabulous. This is a great way to breathe new life into pieces she loves that have been sitting in her jewelry box for years. http://honeyrosenk.com/

 

Flying Wish Paper Wishing Kits
I love gifts that create memories, and that is exactly what these Wishing Kits from Flying Wish Paper do. Created to celebrate, empower and inspire, the kits invite you to write a wish or intention on their special paper, light it, and watch your wish fly off into the heavens.  Each kit comes with 15 sheets of wish paper along with 5 launching platforms, which means you can even launch wishes together if you and mom are nearby, or pick a date that you can both launch your wishes from your respective hometowns on the same evening!  Write it, light it and watch it fly! www.flyingwishpaper.com/

 

Barefoot and ChocolateBarefoot & Chocolate
If your mom has a sweet tooth look no further! Barefoot & Chocolate is home to lip-smacking, Fair Trade chocolate spreads made with sustainable, honest ingredients and guaranteed to leave mom with a buzz that only amazing chocolate can give you.  These spreads are perfect for everything from crepes to fruit dipping though I also highly suggest renting a movie, grabbing a spoon for you and mom and going to town! Choose between their Hazelnut and Almond Coconut or buy mom both and let her pick her favorite! www.barefootandchocolate.com/

 

My Other Bag - Designer Inspired Totes
Mom doesn't always want to take her leather handbag to the gym, supermarket and the beach, so snag her an equally cool (people are going to stop her and ask her where she got it) yet considerably less pricy My Other Bag? Retailing at $25-$55, these designer-inspired reusable totes are perfect gifts for mom! And they are printed with vegetable ink so they are eco friendly too. www.myotherbag.com/

 

Yoola Designs DIYYoola Designs DIY Jewelry Kits from designer Yael Falik
Do you have a crafty mom or one who aspires to be a “creator” of things she can actually use and wear?  Perhaps your mom already has a creative streak, or simply a love of stunning jewelry.  If any of these things describe your mom than you’ll want to snag her a DIY Jewelry Kit from designer Yael Falik of Yoola Designs, who after selling her line of unique, hand-wired crocheted jewelry (gold filled, silver and copper) is now making it possible for anyone with a crafty heart and soul or a desire to dip their toe in the world of jewelry making to create their own.  Her DIY Crafting Kits, patterns and tools are a perfect, no experience necessary find for mom and if you think she wants to cut to the chase without any work on her end, be sure you check out her finished products on her site as well. www.yooladesign.com/

 

HipKnoties
Does your mom enjoy having a lot of options?  How would she feel about having a lot of clothing options without taking up a lot of closet space?  It’s time she meet HipKnoties.  Quite simply, it’s one outfit that can be worn over 30 different ways.  It can also be folded up and packed in the smallest of carry-ons, slips on and off easily, comes in a rainbow’s variety of colors and works with every body type!  Don’t want to miss out on HipKnoties in your own closet?  Order a three-pack and give one to mom,  save one for yourself and gift one to a lucky gal in your life!  What’s not to love? http://hipknoties.com/

 

Mombomb Happy Home Stationery
As a company, Mombomb had me at their name alone, which they define as “a woman who is filled with energy and enthusiasm for all that she loves”.  They clearly know their moms (and what mom likes).  We’ve got two picks from their collection in this year’s gift guide, the first being their Happy Home stationery, the designs of which are a collaboration from three different moms which means you have a range of style options to choose from, though each design is eye-catching and beautiful.  Grab some for your mom (and some for yourself) and begin a letter writing tradition between the two of you! http://mombomb.com/

 

Little Gifts for all the Mom’s in your Life

We created this category in our gift guide so you can stock up on small tokens of love, recognition, and “you go Mom” gifts for all the friends and family in your life who are moms themselves.  They’re all affordable as well as useful, because mom has no room in her life for things that don’t make it better or more enjoyable!

Mombomb Candles
Another gem from the mombomb team, these sassy candles come in tins that are decorated with phrases like “Quit Blaming the Dog” and “Stinky Kids Everywhere” along with a few even feistier phrases we’ll let you discover for your own on the site.   With scents including vanilla and kiwi mom will be able to mask any unknown scent in her home while getting a little laugh in at the same time. http://mombomb.com/

Purely You Minerals
Leave the stickiness to your kid’s fingers and not your makeup!  We kid you not, this makeup will blow your mind (and the minds of all the Moms you gift it to).  Created by a mom herself, Purely You’s color palette, ingredients and ability to create perfect, stickiness-free lip glosses will earn you brownie points when you gift them! www.purelyyouminerals.com/

Perfect Beauty Tweezers
Another small gift that will make a big difference in mom’s life.  Who has time to sit and get her brows done in a salon?  Snag this mini-Mother’s Day gift for the many mom’s in your life (and pick out a style that suits her personality) and she’ll have the power of perfect beauty in her hands to use whenever she can squeeze in some “me time”.  Bonus points: these tweezers are the favorites of Lupita Nyongo’s makeup artist as well, which means you’re giving mom the star treatment! http://perfectbeautytweezers.com/

Category: 
SmallBizStyle

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