Even though tax season is behind us, things haven’t really slowed down here at Casler Financial. Back at the beginning of the year, I was selected for a program that my city sponsors called Biz Pod where myself and 5 other small business owners received education and 1:1 coaching over the course of a few months, and after completing all classes and sessions we were all eligible to receive a $3,000 grant.
The program was so beneficial and I feel so blessed to have been chosen as one of the six, out of more than 30 applicants.
Through the course of the mentorship, I was able to gain valuable knowledge and insights into my business and also network and build relationship with some amazing people.
I still have a list of things I need to do, but some strides that have already been made are as follows:
I am hiring my first employee! She starts this fall and will help take a lot of the admin and data entry load off of my plate so I can focus on tax savings strategies and customer service.
Also coming this fall, I will have a new Oregon City office location for drop offs and pick ups, and client meetings during tax season. Marilyn Morrissey, a local CPA and financial advisor here in Oregon city has graciously offered to share her space with us so starting in September we will be available Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM at 720 Center Street, right across from the McLoughlin House in Oregon City.
I have hired another amazing gal to take over my social media. You may have noticed that my presence has grown immensely. That would be thanks to Laura Baker with Laura Larsen Baker Virtual Services.
This has been an area that I’ve wanted to turn over to an expert for quite some time now and I’m so excited to have found Laura. I happen to know her from church, but her husband was part of last year’s Biz Pod here in Oregon City, so it’s great to be able to support another local entrepreneurial family!
I am also excited to engage the services of Maria Ekstrand with Ekstrand Creative Marketing Services. She was part of the current cohort of Biz Pod participants and is in the process of starting her own marketing and branding agency.
I’m really excited to have her perform a brand audit for me. I honestly didn’t even know what a brand audit was before getting to know Maria (who is an absolute pleasure to work with by the way, in case you decide after reading this that it would be something that could help elevate your business and online presence as well.)
Since she knows I’ve already been in business for a while and have somewhat of a brand established, she recommended a “Focused Rebrand.”
She can obviously describe this much better than I can. Here are the Key Components listed in her proposal:
● Brand Discovery: Uncover the authentic value of your business through a detailed brand questionnaire and audit.
● Brand Strategy: Develop a clear brand strategy that includes your
mission, vision, values, unique selling proposition, and key messaging.
● Brand Identity: Craft a distinctive visual and verbal identity with primary and secondary logo designs, type selection, color palette, and style guide.
● Brand Assets: Create essential brand assets such as social media and digital graphics to ensure a consistent brand presence across all platforms.
Doesn’t that just sound like the best thing you never knew you needed? Or maybe it is something you’ve been thinking about. For me personally, I think it will be good to walk through these steps with someone else, and get some things documented that have probably been present in my head for quite some time, but not really portrayed to the public or to my clientele.
I’m also excited to develop a little more of a cohesive online presence. My OCD likes everything to match or coordinate, so as I get more active on social media, enhance my website, and look at doing other online marketing, it will be nice to have a framework to base things on.
Anyway, just thought I would take a minute to give an update on the current state of my own business.
Now I would love to hear from you! Has anything exciting or inspiring happened in your business lately? We would love to hear about it in the comments.
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