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podcastcoach · 5 years ago

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How Does Your Podcast Compete Against Giant Show?

Table of Contents

01:29 How Do You Compete Against Large Networks?

06:44 25 People Vs 1

09:42 Two Things That Kill Podcasts

11:52 Buying an Audience

15:32 Life Without the School of Podcasting

17:01 So How Do You Compete?

19:24 Jet Ski vs Cruise Ship

21:53 Downloads are only ONE way of measuring Success

24:28 Free Webinar 2/26

25:01 Golden Mic Announcement

34:23 Where I Will Be

34:45 Question of the Month

I hear this question a lot:

How am I supposed to compete? It'll be something like I've been podcasting for three years. There are these other podcasters who I'm pretty sure are buying their audience. They're spouting their numbers, and they're gigantic. How am I supposed to compete with somebody like that?

I totally understand that question. Here are some things to consider:

You Can't Compete

Because its a good visual. How would a seventeen-year-old boxer compete against the champion who has held the title for six years? You don't put that kid in the ring. He's going to get killed. The experience, the stamina, he just isn't ready. He is completely out of his league.

But I've Been Podcasting For Three Years

But Dave, I've been podcasting for three years. You say that in some cases, you know people who are really starting to make a difference with their podcast at three years mark. To this I say"Uh-huh," but here are some things that we need to think about. We never know what's going on behind the scenes with a podcast. You might have a job (or two) and a spouse and some kids. The other podcast may not have any of those. Can you imagine how much free time you would have to promote if you didn't have any other activities and could focus on your podcast 100% of the time?

So if you look at podcasters from the outside, there's a person with a podcast here, and another podcaster over there and you think they are the same and they are not. We have no idea what is going on behind the scenes. They might have a background in selling and your background is in teaching.

Radiolab thanked 25 people at the end of their show. I am an army of one. Can I compete? In 2015ish I was up for a Podcast Movement Podcast Award and one of the shows in my category was Reply All. I was competing against them. I've also had my Logical Weight Loss podcast compete against Jillian Michaels. Can we compete? Yes. The minute you turn on the microphone you are competing. Some of the things these teams of 25 use you don't need (original music?). While great production is like icing on a cupcake, if its all icing (and no cupcake) that doesn't work (see serial season two).

The Two Things That Kill a Podcast

BABIES

Babies are so selfish. It's all about them. All they scream is feed me, wipe my butt, I want a nap. That can really get on your nerves (kidding).

COMPARTING YOUR PODCAST TO OTHERS

When you say "how do I compete" at the hear you are comparing your show to others, and that can seriously do nasty things to your content. If you ever feel yourself comparing yourself - STOP.

STOP COMPARING YOUR SHOW TO OTHERS.

You need three things to create good content:

Your attitude

Your health

The support of those around you

(see this episode for a deep dive into this subject).

There is no competition

I am a co-host on the Podcasters Roundtable with Daniel J. Lewis and Ray Ortega. Technically both of these people are my "competition" but they are not. Why? Because you can listen to me on Monday, Daniel on Tuesday, and Ray on Wednesday. As long as you deliver value, you're safe and don't have to worry.

You Can't Buy An Audience

You can buy an opportunity for people to hear your show, but you can't pay them to listen. Your podcast needs to provide value so they will come back because they want more.

Holly Barey is beautiful. In 2004 they put her in a Catwoman suit, spent a million dollars to my $82 million (a loss of 18 million). On Rotten Tomatoes the movie has a ranking of 9 out of 100 with 197 people voting.

In 2009 Disney worked on a movie called John Carter based on a popular book. According to Wikipedia is the most expensive movie ever created. It was a super popular book. It's kind of a sci-fi fantasy thing. It had a young, hot actor from Friday Night Lights, which was a very popular TV show here in the States. Yeah, they lost $200 million on that movie

You cannot buy an audience.

And upon the release, it received a mixed critical reception. In other words, it wasn't any good. There are great visuals. It had a great soundtrack. It had great action sequences. But the biggest criticism was toward the characterization and this thing called the plot that movies have, and you kind of need a good plot, you need a story.

It's the content. It's delivering value. And apparently, this movie did not deliver value because it lost them $200 million.

And I remember seeing all the ads for this movie, that all the promotion.

Before You Start Spending Money to Grow Your Podcast

I see a lot of people who say, "I'm not getting enough downloads and they turned to Facebook ads or advertising an overcast or Spotify or Castro (all podcast listening apps). They are trying to get the word out about their show. You can buy eyeballs/earholes but you can't buy an audience because an audience is someone who comes back for more.

Do What Your Big Networks Can't

Answer every email (in my travels big shows don't do this)

Get your audience on the phone. In the book Superfans (and in the Colin Morgan Interview on Podcast Juinkes) Pat Flynn and Colin Morgan talk about reaching out to random members of their audience via the phone (you can get a free Google Voice number, or Podcast Voicemail to mask your real phone number). How do you provide great content? You know who your audience is. How do you know what they want? You talk to them.

You are a Jetski, they are a cruise ship. You can change your content in record time. They can't. You are much more flexible. They are not. You need to identify your weaknesses and your strengths. You also need to identify your "competition's" strengths and weaknesses and don't try to cover the same area whey they will unquestionably squash you.

Go to where they are. In some cases, if a show is so big they can't go out in public. You can, and while you're there you can get feedback on how to make your show better.

Be sure to poll your audience. This can be as simple as "what do you like about the show, what do you wish I would do differently?" If you want to ask, "How did you learn about the podcast" so you can do more of that.

There is More Than One Way To Measure Success

Keep in mind there are more ways to measure success than downloads. These includes:

Is your show successful (are you achieving your "why?"

Comments on your website

Email responses

Social marketing interactions

Business metrics (new customers)

The Right Podcast Equipment Webinar

On February 26th there is a free online webinar at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/webinar where we will go over podcast equipment and the best option for you. If buying the right equipment has been a hurdle for you this will help you get over the hurdle. See www.schoolofpodcasting.com/webinar

Life Without the School of Podcasting

Today I helped someone who randomly contacted me on Facebook. They hadn't purchased enough storage space for their show. They were exporting their files in the wrong format. They didn't know how to export in the proper format. They were using the wrong format for artwork. Podcasting can be fun and fulfilling when you don't have to band your head against a wall to release a simple episode. At the School of Podcasting, we show you in videos how to export your show in the proper format. We show you how to order the right plan for your podcast so your media host matches your strategy. We help you podcast frustrating free. Join today at www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start

The New Academy of Podcasting

Let's start off with the positive. Wondery, a company with 82 employees and revenues (according to growjo.com) of around 15 million per year organized a new "Academy of Podcasters" and will launch a Golden Mic awards in 2021. Per their website, "The Academy is professionally run by an Executive Director and an Account Manager. These roles are overseen by a volunteer Board of Governors who set the strategic vision and goals of the organization. 17 Founding Members will establish the organization and guide its initial creation with a goal of 1) moving The Golden Mics into a key recognition position and 2) encouraging growth and networking of the Academy and the industry. Members are individuals in the podcast industry who are part of one of the Academy’s Peer Groups; each Peer Group will vote on its respective categories for The Golden Mics."

So it's great that big companies with big budgets are going to be promoting podcasting. This is a good thing.

Someone Needs to Learn How to Google

The companies listed above need to learn how to do some Google searches. When you come in with a "We've arrived" mentality, you can easily offend those who have already been here working in the trenches. I mean who do you think you are the pilgrims?

The larger media companies keep saying things that seem to just ignore history. For example, an article that came out THIS WEEK stated that " Born in the halls of public radio, podcasting has emerged as one of the fastest-growing businesses in media over the past few years." Podcasting was NOT born in the halls of public radio. It was born in a hotel room where Dave Winer and Adam Curry met. In the past, I've just let them roll off m back, but I remember someone from one of these companies who stated there weren't any women podcasters in the early years (completely erasing people like Mignon Fogerty and Murr Raferty. Who can forget Steve Jobs referring to podcasting as "Amateur Hour."

So when I approached Hernan Lopez the founder and CEO of Wondery that there HAS BEEN a “completely peer-based, not for profit, fully representative" awards show and I had won such an award he apologized.

I'm Not Saying Get Off My Lawn

Lopez was at an educational conference stating a lack of education. I'm not saying get off my lawn. I'm saying Marc Maron didn't invent podcasting (nor did Serial) and if you want me to greet you with open arms, it would be much easier if you would stop kicking me in the balls.

To the best of my knowledge, the Adamy of podcasters which controls the Hall of Fame is still in existence. It hasn't had a ceremony since 2018 due to a lack of sponsorship. This is sad. While some may feel this is just a bunch of friends slapping each other on the back, if you do some research that it's not just old white guys but women and people of color (granted the majority of the recipients is middle-aged white guys because when podcasting first started THOSE WERE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE PODCASTING.

So I look forward to seeing the spotlight the new academy will point at podcasting, and just ask them to quite saying things that make use feel invisible or worse, erase the past.

Speaking of the past, here is a link to the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame

New Podcasters Academy

Question of the Month

How did you get past the "Nobody will listen to me?" see www.schoolofpodcasting.com/question

Start Your Podcast Today

Go to www.schoolofpodcasting.com/start and start your podcast worry-free with our 30-day money-back guarantee

Check out this episode!

#podcasting #podcast #coaching #new media

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unixcommerce · 6 years ago

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The Ultimate National Small Business Week 2019 Events Calendar

On Sunday, May 5, the U.S. Small Business Administration National Small Business Week 2019 kicks off with a week long celebration.

And once again, Small Business Trends is proud to be named a co-sponsor of National Small Business Week.

National Small Business Week 2019 celebrates and recognizes the contribution of small businesses in the U.S. for the whole week until Saturday, May 11.

And with so many events, promotions, and deals to be had, the Big List of National Small Business Week is designed to help you find what is taking place across the country.

The list will highlight events and give organizers a platform for submitting their own promotion, deal or event during the week.

You can share your event, promotion, or deal by submitting to our list. Please write to [email protected].

National Small Business Week 2019 Events

Friday to Sunday, May 3 to 5

#SmallBusinessWeek Hackathon

This year’s Hackathon is going to bring the SBA and Visa together to address disaster recovery.

Come to the hackathon and participate in the development of apps and concepts to help business owners prepare and/or recover from major natural disasters.

Join entrepreneurs, designers, and developers to solve real business challenges using API’s from Visa, the U.S. Government, and third parties to build new tools.

If your app delivers, you can win one of the top three cash prizes, up to $25,000 and two $5,000 giveaways.

The Hackathon will take place in Washington D.C. starting on Friday, May 3rd through Sunday, May 5th.

Sunday, May 5

National Awards Ceremony for SBA Resource Partners

As part of NSBW, the SBA will present national awards to its Resource Partners. The awards will be presented to the following individuals and organizations.

Jody C. Raskind Lender of the Year

Small Business Investment Company of the Year

Awards to SBA Resource Partners

Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Excellence and Innovation Award

Veterans Business Outreach Excellence in Service Award

Women’s Business Center of Excellence Award

SCORE Chapter of the Year

Disaster Assistance

The Phoenix Award for Outstanding Contributions to Disaster Recovery, Volunteer

The Phoenix Award for Outstanding Contributions to Disaster Recovery, Public Official

And Phoenix Award for Small Business Disaster Recovery

You can watch the award ceremony live on the SBA’s Facebook page at 6:15 pm ET.

Before the award ceremony, you can also watch the Next Wave in Digital Commerce Workshop on Facebook at 4:00 pm ET.

Monday, May 6

Federal Procurement and Small Business Awards

The SBA recognizes individuals and businesses across the U.S. who have excelled during the past year. This includes Exporter of the Year and the Small Businessperson of the Year.

The award for Small Businessperson of the Year is given from a pool of companies selected across the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Federal Procurement Awards

Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year

Small Business Subcontractor of the Year

Dwight D. Eisenhower Awards for Excellence (Services, Research & Development, and Manufacturing)

8(a) Graduate of the Year

These awards will also be streamed on the SBA’s Facebook page starting at 12:45 pm ET.

Another workshop will take place before this ceremony at 10:30 am ET. This one is titled, Social Media Tips for Your Small Business Workshop.

Tuesday, May 7 – Wednesday, May 8

2019 National Small Business Week Virtual Conference

The SBA and SCORE will host a 2-day virtual conference designed to provide a range of resources for business owners.

The event will include free educational webinars, mentoring, and networking opportunities. Experts from Visa, Constant Contact, Square, Google, Chase, and the SBA will speak during the two-days.

If you can’t attend in person, you can take part in the virtual conference from anywhere. All you need is an internet connected device. Register for free and watch starting between 11:00 am – 5:30 pm ET/ 8:00 am – 2:30 pm PT each day.

Wednesday, May 8

Turn Small Biz into Smart Biz: Technology for Growth, Productivity, and Customer Experience Webinar

Comcast and Entrepreneur are going to present a webinar to discuss the impact of smart technology on small business growth, productivity, and customer experience.

The webinar will cover customer experience, employee productivity and operations, and marketing strategies.

The Turn Small Biz into Smart Biz: Technology for Growth, Productivity, and Customer Experience webinar will be held Wednesday, May 8 at 12 pm EST | 9 am PST.

Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

As part of the University of Chicago, the Polsky Center will hold a month-long celebration of discovery and entrepreneurial endeavors. This will include National Small Business Week.

On Wednesday, May 8, 2019 from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm the center will host entrepreneurs, innovators, and small business professionals. This will be an opportunity to learn about the resources available to the Polsky Exchange and the Chicago community.

Click here to register and get more information.

Friday, May 10

NSBW Twitter Chat

On Friday, May 10th at 12 pm ET, the SBA will bring industry experts to help entrepreneurs on how they can start or grow a small business.

The event will share tips and tricks so your entrepreneurial journey will have fewer bumps.

You can follow the conversation at #SmallBusinessWeek.

Small Business Week of Eastern Missouri

Small Business Week of Eastern Missouri, Inc. is a not for profit organization created to help the SBA plan events during the week in the eastern half of Missouri.

This year the events will include:

Impact Investments and Local Businesses: Your money. Your return. Our community on May 6th from 3:00 pm– 4:30 pm at the Justine PETERSEN, 1023 N. Grand Blvd., St Louis, MO.

(Davis) Bacon & Eggs: Understanding Prevailing Wage Compliance! on May 7th from 8:00 am– 9:30 am at the St. Louis Development Corporation, 1520 Market St, 2nd Floor Boardroom, St. Louis, MO.

Financing Your Small Business on May 8th from 9:00 am– 11:00 am at the St. Louis County Library, 1640 S Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis, MO.

To get the complete list of events for the entire week click here.

The Small Business Development Center at Champaign County EDC

The Illinois SBDC at Champaign County EDC will hold 13 free events this year.

It begins on May 6th from 4 to 5 pm with a workshop to boost your marketing for the 2019 farmers’ market season.

On May 7th the SBDC will hold info sessions on business grant programs, CCRPC’s financing programs, and a workshop on branding.

All of these and the remaining events will be held across different venues, so click here to find the time and location.

The 15th Annual San Francisco Small Business Week

The city of San Francisco is putting on its annual event coinciding with the NSBW to support the more than 120,000 small businesses which call the city home.

Events will take place starting Monday, May 6th with a City Hall Pop Up Shop and go all the way to Sunday, May 11th ending with Neighborhood Sales Experiences.

You can click here to register and see the full schedule of events.

Image: U.S. Small Business Administration

This article, “The Ultimate National Small Business Week 2019 Events Calendar” was first published on Small Business Trends

https://smallbiztrends.com/

The post The Ultimate National Small Business Week 2019 Events Calendar appeared first on Unix Commerce.

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taleshalance4 · 6 years ago

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TECHSHOW 2019 Review

Just one month ago, the annual ABA TECHSHOW kicked off again here in Chicago. Attendees left with tips, tricks, new tools, new connections, and plenty of cool swag. Now that they’ve had some time to process the takeaways, we asked our panelists to give us their thoughts on TECHSHOW 2019 and suggestions for TECHSHOW 2020.

Our Panelists

Dennis Kennedy (DK), Gyi Tsakalakis (GT), Alexander Paykin (AP), Allison Shields (AS), and Greg Siskind (GS).

What do you like best about TECHSHOW?

DK: TECHSHOW has built an amazing community over the years. It is my favorite show for “learning in the hallway” experiences. Speakers are very accessible and there are a variety of events that allow attendees to meet up with like-minded legal tech enthusiasts.

GT: In a word: people. I have been very fortunate to meet a lot of great people at TECHSHOW over the years. The mindset around networking, learning, and yes “innovating,” is particularly conspicuous at TECHSHOW.

AP: The EXPO. It’s an opportunity to see hundreds of vendors and discover new technologies and solutions that didn’t exist a year ago…

AS: It’s tough to pick just one thing—there is so much to do and see! One of my favorites is the excellent opportunities for networking; seeing people that I usually see only at TECHSHOW and meeting new people, from presenters to vendors to attendees. I love seeing which hot new products are out in the EXPO and meeting the faces behind the products and services.

GS: The program speakers and exhibitors cater especially to smaller and mid-sized firms which makes it a lot easier to apply what we learn back in our offices.

What new experience sticks out to you about this year’s event?

DK: I found the increased attention on the use of tech in legal education and teach tech in law school to be a great addition to TECHSHOW. It’s great to hear about what is actually happening in the classroom these days.

AP: While this year did not showcase any new or ground-breaking technologies, it was good to see a lot more competition in various vendor fields, including especially many more remote receptionist services. It’s great to see a larger choice of vendors with similar products, as this has a great downward effect on price.

AS: I love the idea of Startup Alley and the Pitch Competition; it’s fun to see the new ideas people have in the works! While it isn’t technically part of ABA TECHSHOW itself, the Women in Legal Tech event held on Wednesday was a fantastic event with some excellent speakers and lots of great networking. I was happy to be a part of the luncheon honoring the LTRC’s Women in Legal Tech class of 2019.

GS: On Saturday morning, there was an excellent panel—”60 in 60″—that went session-by-session and noted some of the key points from each. Very helpful if you missed a session you wanted to attend.

What were your favorite sessions/tracks?

DK: I mentioned the legal education track, but, truth be told, my favorite experiences were chances I got to talk with leading legal techsters in the halls and in the EXPO.

GT: Julie Tolek’s session, “Is Your Web Presence Customer Friendly?” and Jess Birken’s session, “Mastering Google Adwords,” stand out. Admittedly, as their co-presenter, I’m biased.

AP: As always, the “60 in 60” session provided a good overview of legal must-haves, without spending too long to spoon-feed the audience as to each app.

AS: I did not have the opportunity to attend too many of the sessions this year, but I thought the academic track was especially interesting, and I think it is important for TECHSHOW to include the law schools and programs for them to encourage and support technology education and innovation for law students. The sessions I attended in this track were definitely enlightening and I look forward to more in the future.

GS: “Automation Tools for Law Firm Operations” (Trending Tech track), “Practical Magic: Actual Uses of Artificial Intelligence in Real Law Firms,” (Trending Tech), and “The Human Side of Technology Implementation” (Choosing and Using).

For someone who hasn’t attended TECHSHOW before, what would you tell them?

DK: I’m not buying your excuses for not attending in 2020. If you want to up your technology game by learning what other legal professionals are actually doing, TECHSHOW is a friendly, practical show with takeaways that you can use as soon as you get back to your office or, with your smartphone, maybe even before you get back.

GT: Meet people. I find myself saying this a lot. The tech is cool, most of the sessions are valuable. But most of that stuff can be found online too. The reason you go is to meet people, pick brains, build relationships. That’s the true value of TECHSHOW, and really, any in-person conference. Otherwise, you read the posts, get the decks, and attend the webinars from the comfort of home.

AP: Get the EXPO Only pass and check out all the new tech!

AS: Here are my suggestions:

Keep an eye out for early bird pricing for next year’s event and, at the very least, go for the EXPO if you can’t afford a full pass that would include all of the educational sessions.

Plan ahead to make sure you take full advantage of the time the EXPO is open, and if you aren’t attending educational sessions, or if there is a time when there are no sessions that interest you, use that time wisely in the EXPO—you’ll likely get much more attention from the vendors when there are fewer people on the floor. Some vendors will even let you schedule a time in advance for a demo or meeting to discuss your specific needs.

Make sure you visit the bookstore to see the latest titles from the Law Practice Division as well as those tried-and-true “evergreen” titles—all books sold at the event are sold at the member price even if you are not an ABA or Law Practice Division member, and attendees get $10 in “Book Bucks” to use for any book they choose.

Plot out the educational sessions you’d like to attend so you know when you’ll be free.

Bring lots of business cards for networking and for vendor giveaways!

Download the app for easy access to schedules, info about social and other events, and session materials.

Don’t forget to follow up with all of the great contacts you meet at TECHSHOW.

GS: Spending a lot of time in the EXPO getting to know the products. Networking is one of my favorite things about TECHSHOW. I’ve made a number of good connections after attending year in year out. There are plenty of opportunities at various social events. And, of course, try to get to as many sessions as you can.

TECHSHOW 2020 will be held February 26-29 in Chicago, IL. Join all of our wonderful panelists in attending! Go to TECHSHOW.com for more information.

The post TECHSHOW 2019 Review appeared first on Law Technology Today.

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eliaandponto1 · 6 years ago

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TECHSHOW 2019 Review

Our Panelists

Dennis Kennedy (DK), Gyi Tsakalakis (GT), Alexander Paykin (AP), Allison Shields (AS), and Greg Siskind (GS).

What do you like best about TECHSHOW?

AP: The EXPO. It’s an opportunity to see hundreds of vendors and discover new technologies and solutions that didn’t exist a year ago…

GS: The program speakers and exhibitors cater especially to smaller and mid-sized firms which makes it a lot easier to apply what we learn back in our offices.

What new experience sticks out to you about this year’s event?

What were your favorite sessions/tracks?

DK: I mentioned the legal education track, but, truth be told, my favorite experiences were chances I got to talk with leading legal techsters in the halls and in the EXPO.

GT: Julie Tolek’s session, “Is Your Web Presence Customer Friendly?” and Jess Birken’s session, “Mastering Google Adwords,” stand out. Admittedly, as their co-presenter, I’m biased.

AP: As always, the “60 in 60” session provided a good overview of legal must-haves, without spending too long to spoon-feed the audience as to each app.

For someone who hasn’t attended TECHSHOW before, what would you tell them?

AP: Get the EXPO Only pass and check out all the new tech!

AS: Here are my suggestions:

Keep an eye out for early bird pricing for next year’s event and, at the very least, go for the EXPO if you can’t afford a full pass that would include all of the educational sessions.

Plot out the educational sessions you’d like to attend so you know when you’ll be free.

Bring lots of business cards for networking and for vendor giveaways!

Download the app for easy access to schedules, info about social and other events, and session materials.

Don’t forget to follow up with all of the great contacts you meet at TECHSHOW.

TECHSHOW 2020 will be held February 26-29 in Chicago, IL. Join all of our wonderful panelists in attending! Go to TECHSHOW.com for more information.

The post TECHSHOW 2019 Review appeared first on Law Technology Today.

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jazminhupp · 6 years ago

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CannaInsider Podcast Interview with Jazmin Victoria Hupp

youtube

In this podcast from 2015, I share all the information on why women will be successful at running cannabis businesses and how to get started.

Key Takeaways: 1:25 – What is Women Grow 2:47 – Jazmin talks about how Women Grow came about 4:30 – The different areas in the cannabis industry in which women can get involved 5:41 – Can women get in the industry if cannabis isn’t legal in their state yet 7:03 – Jazmin talks about Lobby Days 9:44 – Jazmin talks about women’s purchasing decisions in cannabis 10:39 – How do you make cannabis products women friendly 13:26 – How will Women Grow evolve over the next few years 14:48 – Jazmin explains what a Women Grow event is like 17:32 – Success story of Women Grow 18:41 – Women Grow sponsorship opportunities 19:59 – Jazmin talks about her key takeaways from her travels around the country 22:34 – Contact details for Women Grow

Full Transcript

Matthew: Hi, I’m Matthew Kind. Every Monday and Wednesday look for a fresh episode where I’ll take you behind the scenes and interview the leaders of the rapidly evolving cannabis industry. Learn more at www.cannainsider.com. That’s www.cannainsider.com. Are you looking for a fulfilling and lucrative career in the cannabis industry? Visit www.cannainsider.com/careers. That’s www.cannainsider.com/careers. Now here’s your program.

Women Grow connects, educates and empowers cannabis industry leaders by creating community and events for aspiring and current business executives. I am pleased to welcome Jazmin Hupp, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Women Grow to CannaInsider today. Welcome Jazmin.

Jazmin: Thank you so much for having me.

Matthew: Sure. To give us a sense of geography where are you today?

Jazmin: I am mostly based out of a suitcase. Today I am in New York City. Women Grow was founded in Denver. The majority of our national staff are there, but I have bases in New York City and San Francisco, but I’m mostly on the road. We have chapters operating in 20 cities, and my goal is to visit every city at least once a year.

Matthew: Wow. For listeners that may not have heard of Women Grow in the past, can you just give us a high level overview of what it is?

Jazmin: Sure. Women Grow is a professional networking organization that supports female leaders in all segments of the cannabis industry. Our goal, as you said, is to connect, educate and empower women to lead America’s fastest growing industry. Our largest program is the signature networking events which our held on the first Thursday of every month in 20 cities across the country. We also hold cooperative events with the top conferences, host webinars, publish a lot of content. And on February 12th we recently brought together 76 women in cannabis in Washington, D.C. Then I flew to San Francisco, held an event for 200 entrepreneurs and investors called Creating Cannabis Products for Women featuring 6 of the top female cannabis business owners in the Bay Area. And then I went to the Emerald Triangle and met with women organizing in Humboldt. That’s a pretty typical month for me in Women Grow.

Matthew: Jazmin you’re so lazy. We’re going to have to talk to somebody about that.

Jazmin: Of course.

Matthew: Now I want to rewind a little bit. I want to talk about the, you know, making cannabis products more friendly to women, but I want to rewind a little bit to back in the very beginning with you and Jane. What was the impetus to start Women Grow? What was the conversation you were having with Jane, and how did women grow spark? What was the first spark where you said we got to do this?

Jazmin: Sure. And you’ve interviewed Jane before so I will have to reference your listeners to her edition to get her perspective on it because of course it’s a little different from mine. But Women Grow was announced at NCIA’s national conference last June by Jane, and I was sitting in the audience. Jane had organized the top women business owners in Colorado who wanted more women to join the industry but had run out of steam to do it in their spare time.

She had been producing events for international organizations like UNICEF and G Medical. I had launched six businesses before this and had about a decade of practice in branding and communications. And I had been working with an organization called Women 2.0 based in the Bay Area. And Women 2.0’s mission was to get an equal amount of venture capital funding for women in technology, and I had helped Women 2.0 from grow from the Bay Area to do events in 6 countries for about 100,000 entrepreneurs. But even after 9 years of Women 2.0 only about 4% to 6% of venture capital funding goes to women which severely limits the types of technology products we see on the market. The script for how technology funding worked had already been written and it wasn’t inclusive. Coincidentally Jane had fashioned the Women Grow launch after Women 2.0. So we decided it was meant to be and started collaborating right away.

Matthew: Great idea. Now there are a lot of different areas under the cannabis umbrella where women can get involved, but they may not be aware of all the different ways they can get involved in the cannabis industry. Could you name a few to help add some color around that?

Jazmin: Sure. Well your audience is probably a lot more sophisticated about the types of cannabis businesses out there because you’re interviewing all these great people. But a lot of people start out thinking that there’s only two jobs in cannabis. Either you’re producing cannabis products or you’re selling them. And the truth is that this is a multibillion dollar industry with dozens of different specialties.

Some of the areas that I don’t see a lot of competition in, but I think women are particularly great at are cloning banks, trim crew services, HR services, marketing and training. We have a webinar that should be available by the time this podcast is released. It goes into depth about all the different industry opportunities and how to decide which one might be right for you.

Matthew: Great point. We also interviewed one of the founding members of Women Grow from Cannabis Trainers, Maureen McNamara. And she’s an excellent trainer. So that’s to your point, you know, there is a lot of opportunities in training as the other aspects you mentioned. Now for women that are in states where cannabis is currently not legal, what should they do? Should they just wait or is there any opportunities to get started doing something now?

Jazmin: Yeah, you’ll notice that a lot of the successful business owners in cannabis actually came from the legalization movement. Working to legalize in your state will instantly connect you with other like minded people, educate you on all the issues and give you the confidence to move forward. Additionally having women help write this legislation make it more likely that the final results appeal to women who are often cited as the swing vote in legalization. And it helps make sure that the final results are fair and inclusive.

So if you’re in a prohibition state, find the legalization organizations near your and volunteer. Some of the groups that we partner with are NORML, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Marijuana Policy Project, MAPS which is the Multidisciplinary Associate for Psychedelic Studies and so on. And so get connected with those folks and start volunteering and start making a difference.

Matthew: That’s an excellent point about the volunteering and activism because you are dead right. There is so many people I’ve met that are really leaders in the space from a commercial side that have their origin story in the activism. So it was a natural progression. So a lot of people out there what are listening that are wondering how to get in that is an excellent suggestion. Now you were recently at Lobby Days, what is that and why is it important?

Jazmin: We just had our first annual Lobby Day event, and it was a fantastic experience for everybody that attended. To steal a line from my friend Joe Brezny, “If you’re in the marijuana business, you are now also in the policy business”. And the cannabis industry is one of the most closely regulated, and we don’t expect that to change any time soon. Unlike most developed industries where multibillion dollar companies pay hoards of lobbyists, there are actually few lobbyists involved in cannabis. So each individual person can actually make a big impact on how we get to serve patients. After 80 years of Reefer Madness, the staffers creating marijuana policy may know very little about what we do and why we do it. So we have to show up and tell them.

As you would expect from an industry that is legal at the state level but illegal federally, there are a lot of conflicts to be resolved in a short term. So as your listeners probably know, access to banking for cannabis businesses is spotty at best. One of our founding members,Brook leads the Live Green Group in Colorado, and they’ve lost 34 bank accounts over the last five years. Last year they did over $10 million in revenue and didn’t have banking services for half of that. So forcing these cannabis businesses to be conducted in cash benefits no one, and that’s why we were there supporting HR 2652 which is the Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act of 2013. Notice it’s of 2013 because we’re still trying to get this passed.

The second major conflict that we were working on is the section of the tax code called 280E. I don’t know if your listeners are familiar with 280E.

Matthew: Sure, you can cover that briefly.

Jazmin: Well so 280E prohibits businesses involved with drug trafficking from deducting normal business expenses from their income. This was written so that drug cartels couldn’t write off their speed boats for example. Unfortunately the IRS has interpreted that to apply to our state legal cannabis businesses. So many dispensaries pay 50% to 70% of their net income, not profit, income in federal taxes because they can’t write off salaries, health insurance, retirement benefits, business equipment, rent, marketing, utilities, so on. Cannabis business owners want to pay their fair share of taxes, but we need to make it fair.

Matthew: Gosh that is totally unfair. You’re right. Now you have somewhat of a controversial position on women’s purchasing decisions of cannabis. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Jazmin: Yes. Women are going to be the dominant cannabis product buyers after national legalization. Right now it appears that more men than women consume cannabis, but that’s mostly related to its illegal status and the types of products on the market, not because there’s anything about cannabis that’s better for men versus women. Once prohibition is lifted cannabis products become just like any other household good, and we know women already control the majority of household spending. On top of that women are more likely to be diagnosed with a chronic illness, more like to try alternative health therapy, and are more likely to be in charge of the wellness decisions for their families. One on five women will face depression. One in eight will face breast cancer. There is no scenario where I can imagine where women don’t become the dominant buyers of cannabis products.

Matthew: Right so make your cannabis products very women friendly and how do they do that?

Jazmin: Well the first step is to get more diversity on your leadership and marketing teams. Having an inclusive team where people of all genders and colors are heard are going to help you make the best decisions day in and day out for your brand to attract an inclusive audience. I especially encourage you to pick a woman to run your social media marketing. We’re seeing a ton of brands take the easy route for quick attention by posting bikini babes with bongs. If you’re treating women like decoration to attract men instead of serious customers, you’re missing out on a loyal audience. A loyal audience that very few brands are actively serving. I think anyone who probably picked up a podcast with Women Grow on it gets this, and I can’t wait to see the new products and services you come up with. The guys with their heads stuck in the sand will be quickly surpassed.

Matthew: Now is there any examples you’ve seen recently of companies that have put out in the market women friendly cannabis products that you were impressed with?

Jazmin: Absolutely. We’re seeing a lot of great work being done on the edibles front to serve a more diverse customer than just candies or cookies. So in Colorado one of our founding members is Julie Dooley, and Julie’s Baked Goods specializes in gluten free edibles with no refined sugar. Which honestly she was just a patient on the market who had to be gluten free herself due to a health concern, and there were no products available on the market for her. And so she brought those products out to the market and they’re wildly popular. We have another brand called Auntie Delores out of California who sponsors Women Grow who is going to rapidly expand into multistate operations because they’re creating products that just nobody else was in a brand that’s friendly to both men and women.

Matthew: You know one other thing that Julie Dooley is doing that’s interesting is she actually names the strain too on her edibles so you know exactly, it allows you to dial in your experience which is very helpful which I don’t see a lot of edibles doing. I know Julianna and Lauren at Auntie Delores, you know, they talk a lot about their ingredients and being very transparent with the ingredients and that’s helpful. And they also talk about, you know, doing things that other people aren’t doing. They’re like hey there’s a lot of chocolate bars out there, we’re not going to make a chocolate bar. So being innovative in that way I think really helps you stand out. So great points. Now Women Grow is still a young organization. Where do you see it going? I mean even since we had Jane on, maybe Q3 of last year, it’s changed. The scope has changed. How are things evolving? Where do you see it going in the next few years?

Jazmin: I mean it was just since you’ve interviewed her we really seen what an amazing opportunity we have to create a new industry with a new script that’s diverse from the very very beginning. This is an industry that’s going to serve people of all colors, of all genders, of all ages, and the best way to do that is to invite all of those people into the industry. So from our humble beginnings as a professional networking organization we’re now working to create programs to push women into the cannabis and up to the top.

Our monthly events in 20 cities are a great introduction to the cannabis industry for women. They can learn a bit about the industry in a supportive environment without quitting their day job or investing $1,000 up front. We hope that our events and content online are part of a very successful research phase that convinces them to get their first job or launch their first company in cannabis. From there we hope they attend one of our national events like our leadership summit which teaches women how to grow and expand their businesses to rise to the top of the market. And we’re just going to keep going from there.

Matthew: So walk me through what it’s like to attend a Women Grow event. For someone that’s walking in for the first time, what can they experience? What’s it like? What do they do? How long do they last? What’s the vibe like?

Jazmin: So our monthly networking events in these 20 cities across the United States are the first Thursday of every month. So you have a consistent time and place that you can plan to, you know, make your first entry or your fifth entry into the cannabis market. And that was something that no other organization across the country was offering was a consistent, pre-planned time to meet which seems so simple, but consistency is one of the things that this industry is lacking on many levels.

So when you arrive we hope that you will be greeted with a crowd that is the exact opposite in ratio from what you would see at a typical cannabis industry event. The majority of cannabis industry events are about 80% men and 20% women, and our events are the exact flip of that. So you’re going to have 80% women and about 20% men at our events. You’re going to have time to mix and mingle. And again these people tend to be very open and welcoming. The marijuana industry is blue ocean right now, blue sky. There’s no reason for us to even treat each other like competition because the market is going to be large enough that there is room for everyone right now. And then we listen to an industry speaker and get a current perspective on what’s going on in the market.

This is an industry that’s difficult to research online. Remember it was illegal not too long ago, and it’s still illegal in a lot of states. So there’s not a ton of information available online. You really do have to show up in person and talk to the folks doing this and do the research on your feet to really get a sense of where the market’s going and where you might belong in it. So you’ll get some great information from an industry speaker. And then we do some sort of activity at almost every meeting that will force you to introduce yourself to as many people as possible. So for example my meeting here in New York, we go around the room and everyone gets up for 15 seconds and just says who they are and what they’re interested in so that after we have the speaker people can just jet over to meeting new people. When is the last time you went to a networking event and knew all 50 people in the room, that’s the type of event that we hope to create.

Matthew: Do you have an example of a woman that came to Women Grow and didn’t have any background or history in the cannabis industry and was successful in kind of breaking into it, because I want to leave listeners with actionable information or examples on how they can get into it. You mentioned a little bit about the social media and women tend to gravitate to that because they’re good at it. That’s an excellent way you can provide value I think out of the gate. Do you have any other examples of how women kind of busted into the industry with no previous background into it?

Jazmin: Sure. I think a lot of people think that you know you had to be an underground grower for the last 20 years to be a part of this industry, but the truth is the vast majority of people getting into this industry are new to the industry. They’ve got great professional backgrounds in maybe related fields, but being new doesn’t make you unqualified. It just makes you kind of like everybody else. And so one example is we had a member come out to our Denver chapter named Lauren Gibbs, and she runs a business that does social media strategy and was able to very quickly assess what the cannabis industry needed in comparison to our other clients, and now has cannabis clients within her larger social media strategy business.

Matthew: Now there’s a lot of cannabis companies out there that are looking to get their brand out there in a national way, and you offer some sponsorship opportunities that I think do this well because everything is so compartmentalized in states or cities. Can you talk a little bit about the sponsorship opportunities you have?

Jazmin: Absolutely. Like you said there are very few national organizations in cannabis. I actually was just in Humboldt County last week, and the women there asked me well what are the women doing at a national level. How are the women organizing at a national level? And I kind of looked over my shoulder and I was like oh shoot we are the women organized at a national level. There really isn’t anybody else. And that applies to the industry in general is that there’s only a very few organizations working on a national, and we’re lucky enough to be one of those.

We’ve been really fortunate to have nearly 50 companies come out to support making cannabis an inclusive industry, and in order to make our events as affordable as possible we depend on this companies who want to be known for attracting female customers and female employees to sponsor us, and that covers the majority of our expenses. So if anything I’ve said resonates with you and you want to be part of creating something awesome, email [email protected] to talk about those sponsorship options. The cannabis industry will never be this small again. And so your small gesture now can make a big change to our collective future.

Matthew: And before we close, you were just on a bunch of trips all around the country. Can you just give us a few nuggets of what you learned or key takeaways, you know, visiting different people in different parts of the country?

Jazmin: Oh wow. I mean I think the thing that you learn the most is that this is a very very local industry, and what is so stunning to me is how different everything is, you know, in Colorado versus Washington and Washington versus California. And then once you get within California the difference between Humboldt and L.A. they’re just different planets. So I guess my first advice is to recognize that to the outside world we may look like one cohesive industry, but there is actually so much happening and so much that varies depending on the local level, and that’s why we do have these local chapters that can talk to people about what’s happening locally in their state because a program that I might give in San Francisco that generates a ton of interest… so for example we did Creating Cannabis Products for Women for 200 in San Francisco and we got great feedback from people who said yes I’m going to start my business now, yes that really encouraged me to start fundraising, yes that was exactly what I wanted to hear. And then I drove up to Humboldt and started talking to women there about becoming executives and leaving the industry and they were like hold the phone, we don’t think of ourselves as executives. We think of ourselves as farmers. We don’t think of, you know, we’re not out here to lead an industry. We’re out here to protect our families and to protect our livelihood. It’s just a whole different mindset and a whole different set of priorities. So I think the first tip is just to remember just how actually diverse the industry is.

Matthew: Now for women listening right now, you said 20% of the people that come to you, the different chapters are men, do men come? What are the reasons that men come?

Jazmin: Men come because they are very smart and they know that what we’ve got going on is pretty powerful. Many come just as a support or maybe they’re business partner is often very common, but the other guys who come on their own without a female friend, you know come because they tell me that they understand how well connected and how fiercely intelligent the women are that are a part of this industry, and they want to be a part of that. They’re looking for female cofounders. They’re looking to add women to their team, and we’re a great event for that.

Matthew: Now as we close how can listeners learn more about Women Grow online?

Jazmin: Definitely go to www.womengrow.com and sign up for our list. That’s how we publish all of our future events, all of our content. Go to our blog and just read everything I’ve ever written about how to research the industry, how to figure out what event is right for you in the industry. We also encourage you to make a plan to attend a national conference this year if you haven’t already attended a national conference. It’s a great way to give you a good picture of the industry, and we host kick off events for the largest of the national conferences. So you can join us in May in Chicago. In June we’ll be in both New York City and Denver, and in November we’ll be in Las Vegas, and we do these kick off events to set you up to be more successful and make connections there. You can also follow Women Grow on Facebook and on Twitter.

Matthew: Jazmin thanks so much for being on CannaInsider today. We really appreciate it.

Jazmin: Absolutely. Thank you Matt.

Matthew: If you enjoyed the show today, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes, Stitcher or whatever app you might be using to listen to the show. Every five star review helps us to bring the best guests to you. Learn more at www.cannainsider.com/itunes. What are the five disruptive trends that will shape the cannabis industry in the next five years? Find out with your free report at www.cannainsider.com/trends. Have a suggestion for an awesome guest on www.cannainsider.com, email us feedback at cannainsider.com. We would love to hear from you.

CannaInsider Podcast Interview with Jazmin Victoria Hupp was originally published on JazminHupp.com

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westernmanews · 8 years ago

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SPRINGFIELD — Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. invites business owners, managers, and human-resource professionals to an informative webinar outlining ways to review compensation practices to address gender pay-gap issues and minimize legal liabilities. The webinar will be held Wednesday, April 5 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. and hosted by attorney Amelia Holstrom of Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C.

“The National Committee on Pay Equity has declared April 4, 2017 ‘National Equal Pay Day,’ and the time has never been better to look at how your organization determines employees’ pay rates and identify any gender or other disparities that could put you at legal risk,” Holstrom said.

The Department of Labor recently issued a final rule for government contractors directing them to eliminate secrecy about pay. The purpose of the rule is to help level the playing field when it comes to equal pay and eliminate discrimination, particularly with women who generally earn less on the dollar than their male counterparts.

The Department of Labor is not the only agency taking steps to eliminate pay disparities. Massachusetts passed pay-equity legislation in 2016 that, among other things, bars employers from screening applicants based on their past salary history. A similar regulation was passed by the City Council in Philadelphia. Although a pay-equity bill in New Jersey was vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie, the national trend appears to be toward pay-equity regulation.

Holstrom will discuss federal and various state laws relating to pay; the current status of pay-equity laws at the federal level, and how these laws and new developments are likely to affect organizations’ compliance obligations going forward; how organizations can examine and evaluate their own pay practices to determine if there are gender or other compensation gaps that need to be remedied; how sex discrimination and the gender gap in compensation can undermine the company, increase turnover, and erode trust; why transparency can be a good thing, and how to communicate effectively regarding wage determination; legal issues that can arise around pay disparities; and how to avoid a sex-discrimination lawsuit by getting the company’s compensation practices in order.

Those interested in registering for the course can do so online at HR Hero Store (click here) or by calling (800) 274-6774.

Holstrom has assisted employers in remaining union-free, represented clients at arbitrations, and defended employers against claims of discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and wrongful-termination claims, as well as actions arising under the Family Medical Leave Act and wage-and-hour law. In addition, she frequently provides counsel to management regarding litigation-avoidance strategies.

The post Webinar on April 5 to Help Businesses Address Gender Pay-gap Issues appeared first on BusinessWest.

#Western MA news #westernmanews