July 2017

July 2017







Important Upcoming Events!
Inside this issue:

Pitch Perfect: 5 Steps 2 Back by popular demand! Seating is very limited!
to A Perfect Elevator Speed Networking provides a unique opportunity to connect
Speech with other business professionals without the pressures of a
5 Ways to Avoid 2 typical networking event.
Writing Content
That Will Never How does the Boerne Chamber's speed networking work?
10:30am-11:00am: Check In (No walk up registrations are avail-
able for this event.)
4 Tips for Getting Your 3
Business Mojo Back 11:00am - 12:15pm: Speed networking begins. You will hve one
minute per round to tell who you are, what you do
How To Use Instagram 4 and how you can help others. You will change seats after every round to ensure you meet everyone in the
Live group.

Boerne Chamber 7 What can I expect from this event?
Welcomes our newest • A unique networking opportunity that will help you develop new connections
members
• A chance to practice and develop your elevator pitch strategy in a relaxed and fun environment
How To Measure Your 8 • To make more connections than any other typical networking event
Social Media Success

What should I bring?

E • LOTS of Business Cards
C
R • and an upbeat attitude
E Remember networking is what YOU make of it. Don’t miss this opportunity to energize your business, brand and future!
M
M CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
O
C

F The Greater Boerne Chamber of Commerce is hosting the area’s newest
O event planning resource expo on August 30th from 9AM-3PM at the Fair
Oaks Ranch Country Club.
R
E
B
M The Event Expo gives more than 40 event centered businesses the ability to
A Its your business! showcase everything the Hill Country has to offer. Explore the latest trends,
H preview venues and sample some of our top-rated caterers and breweries.
C These vendors represent some of the best venues, caterers and party vendors
in the greater Hill Country area.

E
N
R Don’t miss this opportunity to join us at this free event to meet these Boerne
E Hill Country businesses that are available to assist with planning your functions. Pre-register for FREE at
O www.boerne.org for a chance to win our GRAND PRIZE giveaway.
B

R PLAN ANY TYPE OF CORPORATE EVENT: Holiday Parties, Business Functions, Conferences, Company
E Anniversaries, Meetings, Trade Shows, Team Building, Award Banquets, Off-site Functions, Company Trainings,
T Excursions, Fundraisers, Corporate Galas, Parties and Celebrations, Retreats, Association Events, Product
A Launches, Premieres, Incentives and MORE!
E
R
G

Page 2 ITS YOUR BUSINESS!
5 Ways to Avoid Writing Content That Will Never Be Read by Anyone

James Parsons, www.entrepreneur.com
Any time you're writing content, wheth- Whenever you have a topic idea, vet it to see
er it's for your own site or for a guest what content already exists.
post on another blog, you want to pro-
duce the best quality content you can. Is there a ton of high quality content already
All the same, though, even excellent produced? If so, it might be a bad choice to
content can fade into obscurity if you're write. Are there good articles out there, but
not writing something original. I could they're light on content or out of date? These
write you an excellent book-quality can be good opportunities.
guide to PPC marketing, but when there
are a hundred other great guides and a Are there a few excellent guides available, but
thousand mediocre ones out there, how not a lot of competition? You can gain trac- want answered. What problems are people
would mine gain any traction? tion simply by approaching the topic from facing that they aren't able to answer on
another angle.
If the existing content is deep, go broad. If the their own, and how can you bring a high
How do you guarantee that your con- existing content is broad, go deep. Try to quality answer to them?
tent will be seen, will get the attention it think outside the box, and approach your top- People perform web searches when they
deserves and not fall by the wayside? ic from a novel perspective. want to perform a task and when they want
There are no guarantees in life, but you to gain knowledge. The former are great for
can certainly stack the deck in your fa- 2. Topic ideation landing pages and product pages, but less so
vor. Every topic idea needs to come from a search. for informational articles. Look for queries
1. Competitive research The way people find content on the web today where people want to learn; that's where you
is to have an interest and perform a web get the most interest.
It's hard to find a topic that hasn't been search. If no one is performing a search, it
covered at length, particularly in a doesn't matter how good your content is; no Click here to read
crowded, content-rich field like market- one will find it. Try looking for content ideas
ing. You need to go narrow, and cover in places where people ask questions they full article
topics that haven't seen a lot of love.


Pitch Perfect: 5 Steps To A Perfect Elevator Pitch
Josh Muccio, www.forbes.com

You know your idea inside and out. But to people.”
pitch it effectively to others you need to look at

the big picture and understand your product 2. Ask the
through someone else’s eyes. I propose that the question
perfect elevator pitch is one that’s crafted for an
audience of one. Here’s what to do. A great way
to teach any-

thing is through direct engagement with ers. I know they understand, because
1. Narrow down your idea to one sentence your audience. I recommend asking a ques- they just told me.
Early on, Airbnb’s one-sentence pitch was tion that people will reply to with a simple
“Book rooms with locals, rather than hotels”. yes or no (a yes is preferable). But, sometimes comparing your idea to a
SendGrid was pitched as a “Cloud-based email similar product isn’t beneficial. In this
service to deliver transactional emails.” For my company, The Pitch, the question scenario, try asking if they’re familiar
is always, “You’ve heard of Shark Tank, with the problem you’re solving or the
You should not give your full elevator pitch right?” — to which most people reply yes. ideal customer you’re solving problems
right off the bat. Lead with your one-sentence Then I say, “Well our show is like Shark for. In the SendGrid example, one might
pitch, then pause for a moment and let the idea Tank, but in podcast form.” People in- ask “Did you know that 20% of emails
sink in. If they ask a follow up question, mis- stantly understand and usually ask a follow don’t make it to their intended recipi-
sion accomplished. Otherwise move on to step up question like, “So people come on and ent?” In this case it’s okay that your au-
2: ask the question. pitch their ideas on your show?”—And I dience replies by saying “no.” You’re
simply reply, “Yes.” educating them while also helping them
If you’re having issues describing your product understand the problem.
in one sentence, know that you’re not alone. The amazing thing is that I just got the
Try asking a few of your friends and family how pitchee to describe my product to me. I Click here to read the full article
they’d describe your product and you’ll soon never wonder if they understand what my
understand how to pitch your idea to “normal company does or how to explain it to oth-

Page 3
4 Tips for Getting Your Business Mojo Back

Christina R. Green
When you’re working long hours and the for support when you’re going through the taking a break, be there. Enjoy that mo-
stress is compiling, your personal life doesn’t career doldrums but unless they have been ment. Don’t look at your watch and
go on hold. You still have familial responsi- through similar situations, your complaining think you only have five minutes. Enjoy
bilities, bills to pay, friends to see, and thou- will eventually turn tiresome. You need to those five and if they were 50.
sands of other things that are on your mind. surround yourself with people who under-
Let’s face it. There are times at work that are stand the pressure of business. Joining the
just harder than others. Even the best job chamber of commerce is a wonderful way to End Your Day with a Ritual
can feel…well, like work sometimes. It’s be around people who understand your level This is not about lighting candles and
hard to be inspired and do your best on the of stress and the growing pains of business. using incense (unless you want it to be)
job when your business mojo has taken a Unlike friends and family, they have likely but establishing an activity that you do
back seat to all the other been there and can every night to signify to your mind and
pressing issues in your help you get going body that it’s time to wind down. Parents
life. But if you’re going to and navigate when often do this with an evening bath for
be satisfied in your pro- your sails have lost their babies. Choose 1-2 non-electronic
fessional life, it’s essential the wind. things that you will do consistently every
you get it back. Here’s Take a Break night right before bed. This is your
how: brain’s signal to begin powering down
Vacations are incredi-
and turn everything off.
bly important to our
Remember Why You peace of mind. Yet,
Went into Business the number of people Work is work. Even those of us who
in the First Place not using time off is love it go through periods where it’s a
hitting epidemic pro- grind. If you’re currently in a slump,
Most of us have a reason portions in this coun- don’t give up hope. These straightfor-
for going into the indus- ward ways can help you get your busi-
try we’re in. Even if you try. In 2016, 54% of
Americans didn’t use ness mojo back.
fell into it and it was not all their vacation.
on your career most- Some of those people But if it’s just not working, remember
wanted list, there’s some- our careers are a big part of our lives. If
thing that has kept you even lost it because it you’re not feeling fulfilled there, it per-
wasn’t used. Small
there. What is it? Is it business owners are meates other areas as well. Don’t allow
helping people, seeing the particularly vulnera- yourself that level of unhappiness. The
smiles on their faces, years are too short for that.
crunching numbers, solv- ble because they al-
ways wonder who’s
ing problems, or something else? Remember running things when they’re gone. If you’re
what it is that drew you to your industry (or a mom and pop operation, you may not
the reason you didn’t walk away three days
in). Then find a way to get back to that. have taken a vacation in years.
Often by the time a business owner realizes
It’s possible you’ve lost your business mojo they need one, they’re so burned out that
because you loved helping people and may- taking a week off doesn’t even help. It
be now you’re a manager and you don’t deal may actually add to the stress because
with the customer directly unless there’s a
problem. You can either give up the man- they’re wondering what’s going on
with the business and they’re con-
agement role and get back to what you cerned about what they’ll come back
love—helping people—or you can find ways to.
to help people in your current role like be-
coming a mentor to junior members of the But vacations aren’t the only way to
team. take a break (although, if you can, you
should). Most people go too long be-
Figure out what you originally loved and tween vacations. They end up working
find a way to bring more of it into your cur- many long hours before and after to
rent position, even if it means taking on take one. Some even take work with
another role or reworking yours slightly.
them. Instead, try to find ways to take
breaks throughout your day. Go for a
Surround Yourself with People Who walk at lunch. Start your day off with
Understand meditation or reading a chapter in a
favorite book.
It’s nice to lean on your friends and family
When you’re doing those things and

Page 4 ITS YOUR BUSINESS!
How to Use Instagram Live

Kristi Hines

Interested in adding live video to your Insta- #1: Start an Instagram Live your Instagram Story settings before
gram stories? Looking for a guide to get you To start an Instagram Live broad- you go live. Tap the settings wheel
started? The latest update to the Instagram cast, tap on the Your Story pro- icon at the top left.
app includes Live video, a new feature that file photo (with the + sign next to
lets you connect with your Instagram audi- it) at the top of your Instagram Then make sure all of your Insta-
ence in real time. news feed. Or if you’ve scrolled gram settings are in order.
These settings let you configure
Why Instagram Live? down your news feed and don’t whom you want to see your Insta-
In a nutshell, Instagram Stories allows you to see that bar anymore, tap on the gram story and who can message you
create media that appears at the top of your camera icon at the top left of your about your story.
followers’ news feeds for 24 hours. Instagram screen. Note that the Save Shared
Because the Instagram news feed is now con- This takes you to your Instagram Stories, Photos setting doesn’t apply
trolled by an algorithm similar to the one that where you can choose from three options: to your live video. Your live
controls the Facebook news feed, keeping Live: Video that disappears after the broad- video will be lost after you
your Instagram story fresh can help you stay cast ends broadcast. If you want to
at the top of your audience’s Instagram app. Normal: Photo or video disappearing in 24 record your broadcast,
hours you’ll need screen recording
Audience members who haven’t turned off Boomerang: Time-lapse-
live notifications get this message when you like video created from a software for your
go live. burst of photos smartphone such as Screen-
Flow for Mac for recording iPhone
Anyone who wants to be in the now with Use your finger to slide screen activity.
you (i.e., your followers who already like Fa- over to Live to get to Flip Your Camera
cebook Live videos or any of the other live Instagram’s Live broad- Is your camera pointed the wrong way?
broadcasting sites) will want to hop on and casting feature. Tap the icon to the right of your Start
watch while you’re live. Hopefully, they’ll Check Your Instagram Live Video button to flip your camera.
engage with you while you’re live because Story Settings
live videos disappear after you end your You’ll want to look over Click here to read the full article.
broadcast.

Page 5

Page 6
The Best Email Tools for Small Businesses

LaurenAbraham

Whether you’re sending out emails to potential er, we think the free version alone is still like your subject length to help improve
clients, current clients, or just to your co- extremely helpful! the overall quality of your email. The
workers, being able to see if and when your How it Works only downside is that in order to access
email was viewed is a game changer. This can the “advanced features,” you have to
tell you when it’s appropriate to follow up! In Let’s say you were writing an email to a upgrade to their Pro or Premium plans.
case you haven’t heard, there are read receipts client or a potential partner, and realize Another great thing about Boomerang is
available for email, and we’ve put a list together it’s 4:45pm and the workday is almost their reminder feature! This feature al-
of three of our fave email extensions: over. Instead of leaving your email in lows emails to reappear in your inbox if
drafts, which you’ll more than likely
Boomerang forget about, you can a certain amount of days have passed
Boomerang is a super schedule the email to and there’s no response. It can get hard
helpful extension for be sent at a later to keep track of all the emails you sent
Gmail users. It allows you time. and who has responded or who hasn’t,
to send an email at a later Boomerang offers a so if you’re someone who sends out a lot
time, receive follow up few different options of emails each day, this feature is super
reminders, and even helps for you such as send- helpful!
you to craft the perfect ing it tomorrow Although we use Boomerang for Gmail,
email! Just as the name morning or tomor- they also offer other products such as
states, a little boomerang row afternoon, and Boomerang for Outlook, Boomerang
icon will appear in the you also have the Calendar, and inbox pause.
right-hand corner of your ability to customize
browser once it’s been when the email is To read the full article
installed. Boomerang is sent! Plus, when click here.
offered as a free exten- writing an email to that potential partner
sion, but you have the ability to upgrade (which or client, Boomerang Responsible
gives you access to additional benefits). Howev- (which is a built in feature) rates things

Page 7
Boerne Chamber Welcomes our newest member investors!


Please click on the business name for more information.
Legacy Mutual Mortgage

Joint Ventures Incorporated

La Quinta Inn & Suites - The Dominion

From Scratch Farm

Sharon Ramey Minister/Counselor

The Ingenhuett on High

Rockin' B Ranch

Casitas at Madrona Ranch

Catrina's Interiors

Trinity Adult & Pediatric Orthopedic Specialists

Emerald Homes

101 Mobility

North Park Lexus at Dominion

Bank SNB

Smoothie King

Cleary Zimmermann Engineers

Foundation Physical Therapy

Vogt & Co. Realtors - Keller Williams Boerne

Rodan and Fields- Shannon Huffman

Acacia Landscape & Design, Inc.

Joli Boutique

Trio Marketing

Bella Sera of Boerne Inc



Click here to see
some of our latest

Ribbon Cuttings!

Page 8 ITS YOUR BUSINESS!

Board of How To Measure Your Social Media Success

Directors www.bdc.ca
Executive Committee Here are some of the best do-it- 2. Return on investment
isn’t clear, ask how the person found
Baron Houser, Chair yourself practices for measuring the Determining your return on social you. You can:
StoneHouse Builders, LLC effectiveness of your social media
media efforts can be difficult because include a field in your contact form
Susan Allen, Chair Elect efforts. it may be hard to establish what role
Jefferson Bank 1. Online traffic they played in a customer’s decision asking how customers found you

Patrick Cohoon, Immediate This is the simplest metric for meas- to purchase. However, you can still track your website traffic from social
Past Chair try to get an indication of your return media sites
Leger Ketchum & Cohoon, uring your results. Get traffic data
PLLC on your social media efforts using in a couple of ways. determine what percentage of total
free tools available on most social You can create a dedicated Internet leads come from social media, and
VACANT, Secretary
sites and blogging platforms. You landing page or promotional code break this data down for each social
Mary Jo Floyd, Treasurer can also use the free Google Analyt- available only to the followers of media page
Broadway National Bank
ics tool to get detailed data on traf- your social media pages, then track track and compare how many leads
fic to your website from your vari- just those sales and see if the income you get per follower on your various
Board Members
ous social media sites. Monitor such from those sales exceeds your social pages to determine where you’re
Jacques DuBose information as: traffic volume met- media spending. The drawback to being the most effective.
American Red Cross Hill rics, such as the number of visits, this approach is it doesn’t include
Country Chapter 4. Customer service
page views and fans engagement other purchases that your social me-
Jo Lynn Fisher metrics, such as the number of dia fans may have made. Calculate how much you’re spending
Ebensberger-Fisher Funeral on customer service, then determine
Home comments, liked posts or favor- An alternative metric is correlation.
ited/shared tweets versus your Create a timeline where you plot your daily cost per issue resolved.
George Monroy page’s total number of fans compet- Track this figure for your social me-
Monroy Information your social media activity (new or dia sites versus other channels, such
Technology Services itive position (compare your en- relaunched social pages, special pro-
gagement metrics to your competi- as phone, email and web support.
Steven Pollack motions, ad campaigns, etc.) and Also factor in peer‑resolved issues in
Jennings Anderson Ford tion’s) length of time visitors stay sales results. Look for possible corre-
on your page sales conversion rates lations, keeping in mind that correla- social media discussion forums that
Kat Flores for social media followers versus didn’t need in-house attention.
Digital Wheelhouse tion doesn’t necessarily mean causali-
those from other sources number of ty (i.e., other factors may have influ- Successfully using social media takes
Kevin Thompson content downloads; sign-ups to an time and patience. Consistently lis-
Centennial BANK enced sales fluctuations).
email list, blog or newsletter; con- 3. Sales lead generation ten, measure and learn. Then adjust
Mick Mazour tact form submissions; contest en- your strategy on the basis of what’s
Cibolo Creek Brewing Co. tries; and survey responses.
The key for this metric is to track the working best. It’s a continuous cycle.
source of your leads. If the source
Advisory Board Members:
Misty Mayo, President
Boerne/Kendall 25 TED Talks for Creative Entrepreneurs
County EDC
www.itspinkpot.com
Linda Zartler, Asst. City
Mgr.
City of Boerne Running a business is not an easy Inspiration:
job and it can wear you down at Steve Jobs: How to live before you die
Daryl Lux times if you let it. I do love my Heather Payne: How to Turn Your Side Project Into a Full-Time Gig
Kendall County Judge
work and I am grateful that I can Leah Busque: Have Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals And Take Baby Steps
do what I love everyday, but as in Paula Scher: Do What You’ve Never Done Before
every profession, there are days
when I feel less inspired. On diffi- Productivity:
cult days, its easy to give up as Jason Fried : Why Work doesn’t happen at work
you feel exhausted and burnt out Shawn Achor : The happy secret to better work
but its important to keep going. Scott Belsky: Is It Urgent, Or Is It Important?
During such times, I find it useful Kelly McGonigal: How to make stress your friend
to look outside for inspiration. A Business:
good, inspiring TED talk never Jeff Bezos: What matters more than your talents
fails to lift my soul and leave me Tina Roth Eisenberg: Don’t Complain, Create
feeling energized and motivated. Rilla Alexander: Without the Doing, Dreaming Is Useless
For those times when you are in Simon Sinek: If You Don’t Understand People, You Don’t Understand Business
need of a little push and a little Seth godin: How to get your Ideas spread
motivation, here are 25 TED
talks to get you back on track: Click here to read the full article.

Page 9

Page 10 ITS YOUR BUSINESS!

Page 11

Page 12 ITS YOUR BUSINESS!