Brainstorming Sessions

January 10, 2013 by Raul Colon

Every year we try to come up with new ideas to implement for our business and come up with new projects to help us create more connections with people who might have the same interests.

As a small business, instituting new projects or revisiting old ones and putting a different spin on them has helped us maintain our heads above water when the well has run dry. At the end of last year, Raul decided that we were going to do small brainstorming sessions after various small business people asked him for some advice about projects they wanted to get off the ground.

Brain Drain Game

Raul gets countless of calls from friends and acquaintances that want to do what we call brain drain; pick your brain for ideas, go forth with them, and never contact Raul or myself to know if they were successful.

After many years of playing the brain drain game, we decided to start creating sessions that would serve many purposes.

Disruptive Approach

One purpose would be to help individuals with an ongoing or new project that needed a creative or disruptive way of tackling the obstacles they were facing to get the project off the ground.

The Right Technology

A second purpose was to push entrepreneurs and small business owners to identify the right type of technology and platforms where they can connect with other like-minded individuals.

Getting the momentum going

Lastly, our goal is to also see these projects, through brainstorming sessions, come to fruition and have the small business owner state the success of the project.

Our First Sweet Session

Just recently a small business owner whose wife set up a cupcake, cake, and events company called, Dolce Maria’s Sweet Creations, approached Raúl for a Brainstorming session. We offered four brainstorming packages and they immediately scheduled a session the same week.

Once the session commenced, many ideas flowed between Raul and the client. As the session drew to a close, the clients appeared pleased with the key observations and recommendations offered.

The key objective was for the small business owner to see their value proposition in the services and product they are providing.

Creating a Road Map

To close off the small project we sent a roadmap in the form of a document covering:

– Overall objectives

– Accomplishments met within the session

– Primary and Secondary next Steps

– Online, Communications, and Business Recommendations

– Assistance with Pricing Strategy

– Recommended Reading

– Tips on using Images on Instagram and Pinterest

We would love to help you make those small or big ideas in your head into successful projects and businesses. Contact us directly.

When not to use Groupon or other Discount Sites

January 3, 2013 by Raul Colon

As a small business we are always trying to keep track of our expenses and save money for those days that might be extra rainy. As advisors to other small business owners, we are always providing cost effective methods for advertising to obtain new or returning clients.

Filling a Void for Slower Times of the Year

Our latest client, Fit911 Studio’s owner Andres Vazquez was looking to fill a void for those clients who go away on vacation during the holiday month of December. If you have ever frequented Puerto Rico during the holiday season, things don’t get back to normal until after January 6^th .

We talked about several options with him and he brought up using Groupon to offer some packages for new clients. We were talking to another person who had used Groupon to sell some pastries and she explained how it was more costly than profitable. We relayed this information to Andres and we suggested using Facebook ads to obtain those new clients.

Facebook Ad and the Ultimate Payoff

He gave us the permission to create the ads, and ultimately he gained 15 clients; five more than he had hoped for during this slow period. Four options were offered to individuals looking to get a jump-start on their new year’s goals.

Our recommendations for this small business owner paid off and now the excellent staff at Fit911 Studio will train new clients.

Although the popular thing is to appear on sites that are promising potential clients up to 90% discount on your services, a small business must evaluate how profitable this will ultimately be for them.

So before you end up giving most of your profit to Groupon and the other discount clones, ask yourself these questions:

How much will Groupon and other discount sites take from your profit?

What other alternatives are there for advertising on the web along with your blog?

If you are having problems with coming up with a creative way to advertise your services, we can help you with a brainstorming session. In our next blog post, we will talk about how short sessions with CIMA IT Solutions Corp. can be a positive outcome for current and future projects.

If your interested in finding out how to kick start any new effort or project drop us a line or two and we can gladly advance you that info via email.

Brewing a Fresh Cup of Content

November 8, 2012 by Raul Colon

For those who love coffee, a fresh pot of the black gold will get your day started. Others might choose tea or exercise to get their day started but the same idea of fresh tealeaves or a fresh new pair of running sneaks can all be thought of as a start to an awesome day.

Just like a fresh cup of coffee, fresh and exciting content is becoming scarce. In previous posts we’ve written about plagiarism on a national and local level. The individuals have the pressure of writing by themselves and this is in no way an excuse for what they did. But when you can bounce ideas off of a team member or group, it is a lot easier.

Writing as a Team

Writing as a Team can also become challenging but it sure does help when two or three brains are brainstorming about what topics to write about. Using a white board in your office or meeting room can certainly help a team of people come up with topics to write about and how to organize the content. In team discussions there might be even three or four topics to write about with even more content to elaborate on.

But if you are one person or a two person company writing various blogs, the best times to think of topics is when you talk to someone else over a meal or cup of coffee or road trips. We come up with a topic or several to write about when we are on road trips to visit family or out doing errands. One comment or idea can spark an in depth conversation about a possible topic for anyone of our blogs.

Tools to help with writing

I use both technology and paper and pen to write things down. Raul uses various tools such as Omm Writer and provides a detailed outline here of what else he uses to create blog posts. I also use Mind Node and Word for my blog entries. One cool thing that Raul has been doing lately is writing all his ideas on sticky notes, posting them to a wall, and then arranging them into categories where the ideas start forming into common themes.

There isn’t one way to do things as long as they are efficient for you, the company, and clients. The most important thing about writing a blog post is that you are highlighting these key factors:

How your company provides a service

How your company works with clients to resolve their issues and needs while building long lasting relationships

and most importantly how your company makes clients successful

What is your company doing to create fresh, new, and original content?

Thank You and Welcome Archer-Signs to the CIMA IT Family

July 2, 2012 by Raul Colon

We are happy to announce that Archer-Signs.com is our newest client with a brand new website underway. Archer-Signs.com is a company based out of Milford, Connecticut that has been in the signage business for over 30 years with staff that has a combined 75 years of experience in this industry.

Archer-Signs is a leader of enhancing their client’s brand with the use of images either created by Archer or brought to them for an attractive and competitive sign to inorder to stand out from the competition.

Stop by and visit their new home on the web and if you need signage that is local and Federal ADA compliant, this is the company you are looking for.

Puerto Rico 140Conf MeetUp unites Entrepreneurs

April 9, 2012 by Raul Colon

Recently Raul (@rj_c) has been helping out our friend @Mark_Hayward, owner of The Palmetto Guesthouse in Culebra, Puerto Rico, with organizing a 140Conf Meetup in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Once the details were finalized, we were able to spend time with @JeffPulver , founder of the 140Conf.com and @AlanWeinkrantz who helps with media relations of the #140Conf. We also met Gilad Zirkel and Marc Fischman from @Hashtagart (@Zirkel and @MarcF) who accompanied Jeff and Alan.

We stayed at the San Juan Marriott (Our Client and sponsor of the event) where the event took place and enjoyed conversations with people from all industries in Puerto Rico. The great thing about the event was that many of the individuals, 125 in total, were small businesses owners, entrepreneurs, web and app developers, bloggers who write on a variety of topics, and even a professional clown.

Jeff took the microphone and told us what sparked the #140Conf and what he expected people to learn while attending. One of the key takeaways that stuck in my head was that he wanted all types of people attending the event. There is no elitism and everyone from the farmer to the fisherman should attend this conference.

Prior to the event, Alan had the chance to tour and interview Dana Montenegro, owner of Seriously Creative or @Space4Ideas on Twitter. This leads us to the video below where you can hear Dana explain the concept behind this unique workspace and his views on startups and entreprenurialship.

I agree with Dana when he says there are talented individuals on this island that are starting their own businesses and collaborating with like minded individuals provided that they are able to come together and meet. This is exactly what the 140Conferences are about; collaboration, innovation, and perhaps the chance to work together in order to create mutually beneficial opportunities.

If we are to enable these types of collaborations on the island we must find Sponsors to bring this 140Conf, that is becoming a global event, to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. If you or your company are interested in Sponsoring, please let us know in the comments or contact form.

Were you at the #140Conf Meet-Up in San Juan last Tuesday?

What were your key take aways?

Thanks to Alan Weinkrantz for the video.