Archive of ‘Business’ category

National Lipstick day is made for makeup mavens like Jestina Howard

Aware Cosmetics founder Jestina Howard believes in beautiful faces and healthy bodies. She started her Birmingham, Ala.-based company in 2003. A portion of her sales go to help the American Lung Association. (Photo by Liesa Cole.)

Aware Cosmetics founder Jestina Howard believes in beautiful faces and healthy bodies. She started her Birmingham, Ala.-based company in 2003. Check out her line on July 29, National Lipstick Day and every day. Her products are free of paraben, talc and gluten. (Photo by Liesa Cole.)

 

By Chanda Temple 

For years, I wore Desire, a plum lip color from MAC. It was my signature shade.

Little did I know I was only supposed to wear it in the colder months. (It took my aunt to break the news to me when she saw me on TV one morning. She said it was too dark and not the best look for spring.)

I lightened up on the lip color the next day.

But I want to also credit Birmingham, Ala. makeup maven Jestina Howard for challenging me to step outside my makeup comfort zone. In 2013, I contacted her to buy my favorite plum color from her line, Aware Cosmetics. (Hey, let’s just say I’m addicted to plum.) Anyway, Jestina said that color no longer existed in her line. Then, she encouraged me to try a bright red.

Ummm, excuse me. Bright red?!! Oh no, I thought. That’s not me. (more…)

Motivation Monday: Just Start

Stuck on start? Get your engines going and just begin. Know this: It will be a beautiful journey because you are in the driver's seat.

Stuck on start? Get your engines going and just begin. Know this: It will be a beautiful journey because you are in the driver’s seat.

 

By Chanda Temple 

I ran into a friend at a coffee shop this morning and she said something that got me to thinking.

She talked about life and then expressed how she really wanted to write. She said she liked to write poetry and maybe write even a book. I had no idea she loved to write, so her words intrigued me.

When I asked her why she had not started, she said, “It’s not that I’m scared. I’m just worried no one will like it.”

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How to go from lady blogger to boss lady? Get focused

Have you identified your target reader for your blog? They will become your biggest cheerleader.

Have you identified your target reader for your blog? They will become your biggest cheerleader. So get focused and start nailing identifying your ideal reader today.

By Chanda Temple

Today is Day 3 on how to make money with your blog. We’ve already looked at how important it is to get serious and get creative with your blog. Now it’s time to get focused.

Javacia Harris Bowser, founder of See Jane Write in Birmingham, Ala., recently held a workshop on this very topic. One way to get focused is to know your reader, she says.

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How to go from lady blogger to boss lady? Get serious

See Jane Write Birmingham founder Javacia Harris Bowser give tips on how to go from lady blogger to boss lady. (Photo by Chanda Temple.)

See Jane Write Birmingham founder Javacia Harris Bowser give tips on how to go from lady blogger to boss lady. (Photo by Chanda Temple.)

By Chanda Temple

You have a blog and now you’re wondering how to make money from it.

Will you get rich if companies post their ads on your page? Will you get “discovered” simply because you post cool content? 

Good theories but it takes more than these concepts to get paid. It also takes networking, hard work and a strategic plan for your blog, according to blogging expert Javacia Harris Bowser of See Jane Write Birmingham. She led a workshop today on how to go from lady blogger to boss lady. For the next seven days, I will highlight one of her tips. Today’s tip: Get Serious.

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Want to be better in business in 2015? Have a PR plan

Don't cut corners when you are planning a public relations strategy for your company. Consult experts to make sure your plan meets all of your needs to deliver a message with punch. (Image from Flickr/Creative Commons via Niuton may. )

Don’t cut corners when you are planning a public relations strategy for your company. Consult experts to make sure your plan meets all of your needs to deliver a message with punch. (Image from Flickr/Creative Commons via Niuton may. )

By Chanda Temple

If 2015 is the year you promised to improve your business, it’s not too late to start.

On this second day of February, what are your new year’s resolutions to building a better business? Gaining additional capital? Expanding your product or services? Broadening your consumer reach? While all of these are great goals, don’t forget to do an honest review of what you have and create a list of what you need.

“No company is above a once-over! No matter how well a business is going, there are always ways to improve,” saysKrista Conlin, founder and president of KC Projects PR in Birmingham, Ala. “Employees are much more agreeable to change at the beginning of the year. So if there are moves to be made, now is a great time.”

One thing that you should definitely include is a public relations strategy with new, fresh and creative perspectives, says Conlin. Here, she offers five tips to get you started:

Always be prepared

Expect the worst and hope for the best. If the unthinkable happens, panicking can only make things worse; especially from a public relations perspective. You want to have a broad strategic plan that includes as many scenarios as possible, no matter how improbable the scenarios may seem.

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Motivation Monday: University of Alabama graduate and designer Smith Sinrod talks fashion, rejection and Southern grits

Inspired by architecture and art deco, designer Smith Sinrod likes to work with Thai silk, vibrant colors and bold patterns to give a spin on classic looks. Photo credo: Special.

Inspired by architecture and art deco, designer Smith Sinrod, 28, likes to work with Thai silk, vibrant colors and bold patterns to give a spin on classic looks. Photo by: Chanda Temple.

By Chanda Temple

When starting your own business, you can’t be afraid to hear the negative feedback because it’s bound to come.

It happened early in the career of clothing designer Smith Sinrod. She was at her first trade show when a woman walked by and said, “Eeew, look at that.” The woman didn’t know Sinrod was the designer.

The comment hurt so much that Sinrod wondered, “Gosh, should I be doing this?” But Sinrod recovered, telling herself that for every 10 nos the one yes she gets will make it all worth it.

“People are very opinionated. I’ve heard it all,” she says. “I think it’s important to have a little criticism. That’s the only way to evolve.”

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Birmingham loves Bud’s Best Cookies

Bud's Best Cookies, based in Birmingham, Ala., has 17 products. Its vanilla wafers are the companies top cookie. (Photo by Chanda Temple)

Bud’s Best Cookies, based in Birmingham, Ala., has 17 products. Its vanilla wafers are the companies top cookie. People like eating them right out of the box or in a banana pudding. At least five Birmingham-area restaurants use the cookies in their banana pudding recipe. Photo by Chanda Temple.

By Chanda Temple

One of the best parts of a banana pudding is a sweet, fresh wafer that holds up to the custard. In Birmingham, Ala., people have found just the right cookie in the vanilla wafers by Bud’s Best Cookies.

Birmingham-area restaurants know this, too, which is why places such as Dreamland Bar-B-Que, Ragtime Cafe, Magnolia Cafe, Irondale Cafe and Miss Myra’s Pit Bar-B-Q all use the Bud’s Best Cookies wafers in their banana pudding recipes.

“I like them because they are small, they are not burnt, they are baked local, and they are fresh,” says Rennae Wheat, one of the owners of Miss Myra’s Pit Bar-B-Q in Cahaba Heights, Alabama. “They are just right.”

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9 ways to make a sales call

Is your sales pitch strong enough to get potential clients through the door? Image via Flickr/Creative Commons.

Is your sales pitch strong enough to get potential clients through the door?
Image via Flickr/Creative Commons.

By Chanda Temple

For the last three weeks, business expert and social media guru Melinda Emerson has been hosting webinars on how to improve your sales game. I’m not in the sales industry, but tips from the webinars can be applied to any industry, including public relations.

Today’s post includes Emerson’s nine tips on how to make a sales call. If you like these tips, she has two more FREE webinars. They will be on Thursday, Nov. 20 and Thursday, Dec. 4 at 1 p.m. EST. Visit http://www.getsales14.com for details. Her webinar co-host is Jeffery Gitomer and he’s just as awesome as Emerson.

1. How to make a bold call

Call someone you’ve already met. Cold calling does not work. Do your homework. Use LinkedIn to look for info to connect. Look at your contacts’ volunteer interests to discover their passions. It can help with your conversation. People give their time and money to things they care about.

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This is my season

One of the photos photographer Carrie took for my profile story in Style Blueprint in September 2014.

One of the photos photographer Mary Margaret Chambliss took for my profile story in Style Blueprint in September 2014.

By Chanda Temple

When good things happen, you want to shout them from the rooftop.

In my case, I think I need a bullhorn. Here’s why:

1) I saw Oprah in person

Oprah recently kicked off her Life You Want Weekend Tour 2014 in Atlanta, Ga. It was phenomenal. Over two days, Oprah and her “Trailblazer” speakers planted seeds of encouragement and wisdom that will bear fruit for not only me but the thousands of folks catching her tour this fall. Be on the lookout for my personal post on this experience in the next week or so.

2) I was featured in an online magazine

StyleBlueprint’s “FACES of Birmingham,’‘ profiles people doing amazing things in the community. I’m honored for the recognition and the story, which ran on Sept. 8, 2014.

3) I’ve been selected as one of Birmingham’s 20 Women Who Make a Difference.

I’m still in shock over this one. So honored to have been nominated and so thrilled to have been selected. All of the women on the list will be recognized during a luncheon on Oct. 22.

4) I organized and moderated my first panel discussion on Birmingham’s civil rights movement.

I work in public relations for a nonprofit organization, which was having a panel discussion on race, redemption and the civil rights movement to coincide with a day of reflection in Birmingham, Ala. When I asked one of the speakers which person they wanted to moderate the session, he said, “Well, I think you’d do a good job.”

I was speechless, yet honored to be considered as the moderator of a panel discussion with two Birmingham authors. In the end, everything worked out well. People said they enjoyed the panel, and one lady said she could tell I had read both books. My organization of the event and participation are both proof that you should never fear the unknown because it will lead to greater things.

I don’t take any of this for granted. I’m truly blessed for all that has happened. In fact, I think of William Murphy’s ‘It’s Working” song. It fits what’s growing for me and around me right now.

“I’ve got a seed in the ground, now I’m knowing and it’s showing,” is one of the lyrics. “This is my season for grace, for favor. This is my season to reap what I have sown.”

So, these are my top four “happy” moments to report right now. But there’s still more in the works. Stay tuned

Chanda Temple is a former reporter now working in public relations. She blogs about being better in business and more at http://www.chandatemplewrites.com. Follow her on Twitter at @chandatemple. Contact her at chandatemple@gmail.com.

 

 

 

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