Storytelling. It's the oldest form of human communication, present in everything from ancient cave paintings to drop-dead Superbowl ads. What makes a good story? What makes it effective as a motivational tool? Exactly what is "Brand Storytelling" and how can it improve your bottom line? And the biggest question of all: how do you become a great brand storyteller and ramp up your success?

Susan Bierzychudek, founder and president of Green Ideals Branding & Marketing Group will lead an engaging, interactive workshop to answer these questions and arm you with some actionable tools to improve your own brand storytelling. Her insights around emotional brand connections will help you move away from the all-too-famiiar, "This is what we do," to a richer, more meaningful and evocative, "This is why our work is important in your life."

Green Ideals Group works with socially conscious clients to improve their brand communication, developing clear, engaging brand stories that motivate their audiences -- improving memorability, loyalty, and profitability. They use language and pictures to build effective stories on a foundation of authenticity and smart communication strategies. Whether working on brand strategy, logos, website design, packaging design, printed collateral or marketing plans, the key to their success -- and their clients' success -- is unwavering consistency.

Susan founded Green Ideals Group 6 years ago, after a 20-year career in marketing communication and design for client companies on 3 continents. Having covered the gamut from Fortune 100 firms to entrepreneurial concerns, she realized that the companies getting all the attention utilized a distillation of the same guiding principles. These are the principles she'll be sharing with us.

Join us July 13 and find out:
- The components of effective brand storytelling
- How to uncover your company's authentic story
- How your well-told story can increase profitability

Location:
Numi Tea Garden
2230 Livingston Street, Oakland, CA
Driving directions

Cost:
$15 pre-registered SBA members
$20 pre-registered non-members
$22 at the door

Your need for income perfectly matches someone else's needs for your goods or services. Here's how you joyously connect:

Join the new class led by Pat Sullivan, Visionary Resources.

6 Saturdays, 10am-12 noon, beginning May 15, 2010**
El Cerrito, near BART
Required text, The Soul of Selling by Carol Costello

Cost $225* (SBA members qualify for a 10% discount!) includes extensive materials -- including Pat's book in progress, Marketing and Selling What Matters in a Way that Matters -- plus e-mail support outside class.

This course will help you enjoy marketing and selling as the beginning of a wonderful client or donor relationship. Learn how to:

• release emotional blocks and negative images about marketing and selling;
• dare to let your light shine and  promote yourself authentically, without hype;
• discover how brilliant you already are about marketing and sales;
• discover who your best clients or donors are and how to connect with them;
• engage prospects in a hospitable dialogue that leads to mutually profitable relationships.

"Pat expertly coached me to develop a clear message about my new business and to deliver it with ease. She is so brilliant at turning negatives into positives and making you feel excited about your business and how it fits into your larger vision. Before I worked with Pat I was feeling stuck and overwhelmed. She helped me move beyond what was holding me back and take things to the next level"

Jenny Kassan, Managing Partner, Katovich Law Group

For more information and a free copy of Pat Sullivan's article on marketing and selling as an act of hospitality and her tips on how effective business planning can be as fun as planning a vacation, call 510-530-0284 or write visionpat@aol.com.

*  Payment plans available.    * * Other dates to be announced.

We've extended registration to Monday, February 22nd. Only 3 spots left. Sign up and reserve your spot for $50. Contact Annette at annette@callingforth.com or 510-547-2261 for more information.

One of SBA's goals this year is to provide SBA members with more business development opportunities and resources. To that end, the SBA is teaming up with Get Clients Now instructor Annette Bourget, MBA, CPCC, to offer the proven program exclusively to SBA members. Join 8 to 10 members and build referrals and your business together!

Learn to create an endless stream of clients and referrals by doing 10 easy things per day!

What the program consists of:

• 7 weekly group sessions made up of two 90 minute tele-seminars and five group coaching sessions
• A tool kit of proven marketing techniques
• A coach to keep you accountable
• Email support throughout the program

Who the program is for:

• Brokers
• Consultants
• Accountants
• Financial Planners
• Realtors
• Salespeople
• Trainers
• Therapists

Schedule:

Tuesday, February 23, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Tuesday, March 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Tuesday, March 9, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Tuesday, March 16, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Tuesday, March 23, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Tuesday, March 30, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Tuesday, April 6, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM

Complete group program for only $279 per participant for the 7-week program. Reserve your spot now for $50!

YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Annette Bourget, MBA, CPCC, Works with business owners so that they never again have to worry about paying their bills. She has been in business for herself three times and teaches the success secrets she has learned to other business owners. Annette is a Licensed Facilitator of the Get Clients Now! program as well as a Certified Professional coach.

One of SBA's goals this year is to provide SBA members with more business development opportunities and resources. To that end, the SBA is teaming up with Get Clients Now instructor Annette Bourget, MBA, CPCC, to offer the proven program exclusively to SBA members. Join 8 to 10 members and build referrals and your business together!

The deadline for signing up is Friday, February 12th. Sign up and reserve your spot for $50. Contact Annette at annette@callingforth.com or 510-547-2261 for more information.

Learn to create an endless stream of clients and referrals by doing 10 easy things per day!

What the program consists of:

• 7 weekly group sessions made up of two 90 minute tele-seminars and five group coaching sessions
• A tool kit of proven marketing techniques
• A coach to keep you accountable
• Email support throughout the program

Who the program is for:

• Brokers
• Consultants
• Accountants
• Financial Planners
• Realtors
• Salespeople
• Trainers
• Therapists

Schedule:

Tuesday, February 16, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Tuesday, March 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Tuesday, March 16, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Tuesday, February 23, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Tuesday, March 9, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Tuesday, March 23, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Tuesday, March 30, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM

Complete group program for only $279 per participant for the 7-week program. Reserve your spot now for $50!

YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Annette Bourget, MBA, CPCC, Works with business owners so that they never again have to worry about paying their bills. She has been in business for herself three times and teaches the success secrets she has learned to other business owners. Annette is a Licensed Facilitator of the Get Clients Now! program as well as a Certified Professional coach.

Bill Roth's new book The Secret Sauce: Best Practices is making the case for green business practices being increasingly profitable in the coming years. Bill was recently interviewed on Eco-Libris, and Los Angeles-based Business Book Reviewer Dr Letitia Wright gave the book high regards:

"He gives details on the economics of green and repeatedly goes over the concept of “costs less and means more”. I understand why, it’s because as a business owner, that may sound like some cute catch words. In the green world, they signify a lot and you cannot afford to ignore them."

Roth is the Green Coach for Entrepreneur Magazine and Triple Pundit.

The Green MBA program at Dominican University of California in San Rafael is seeking an adjunct faculty member to teach Marketing Research Methods beginning Fall 2009. Please forward this notice to those you feel may be interested, or have relevant connections. Those interested should contact Susan@greenmba.com ASAP, and send a resume / CV.

Here is some basic information about the course.

Two sections of this 3-unit course will be taught in the fall and we prefer one instructor that can teach both sections. One section of this course is also offered in the spring. This course is a synthesis of market research and research methods, so we prefer someone with significant experience in market research and a solid grounding in quantitative analysis/statistics. All of our courses are taught on weekends (two weekends per month), which may include a class on one Friday per month.

Course Description: This course is the second in the Green MBA's two-part marketing series. Students gain a basic understanding of, and a beginner's proficiency in, conducting their own group quantitative marketing research study online. The results are statistically analyzed and presented in a final report as well as an oral presentation. One-third of the class time (one unit) is dedicated to providing students with a basic understanding of applied statistics, particularly as they relate to analyzing online marketing research results. How to do this, using Excel (a tool you will have available throughout your careers), will be stressed.

Course Student Learning Outcomes. Students successfully completing this course will understand the basic elements involved with conducting primary quantitative marketing research online. We cover methods and techniques for collection, analysis, and interpretation of primary and secondary data. The major learning comes from conducting a group market research study and interpreting/reporting the results. Each student group will define a REAL marketing problem; design, execute, & tabulate an appropriate on-line questionnaire; field the questionnaire; analyze and present the results. As time permits, we may also cover basic qualitative research methods: identifying suppliers, getting estimates, developing quotes, developing a screener (which allows a supplier to find the exact types of consumers you want in your group), developing a discussion guide, conducting a focus group, and reporting findings.

Best regards,

Susan

Susan Briski
Business Consultant & Educator
Sustainability Expertise
sbriski@sustainableprogress.com
www.sustainableprogress.com
Green MBA Adjunct Faculty
Dominican University of California
susan@greenmba.com

Don't miss our next speaker event on Tuesday November 11th at the MLK Student Union at UC Berkeley.

Brains, Beauty & Budget: Ecological Economical Marketing

With today's economic uncertainties and challenges, it's more important than ever to promote your business in ways that get results. As a green business, you want to make sure your marketing is in line with your values. Ane you need to do it all at a price that won't give your accountant cardiac arrest!

• Why internet marketing is among your best marketing tools
• How to measure response to your campaigns
• How to get your web site working harder for your business
• Ways to cut paper use and printing costs
• Costs comparisons: web vs. traditional media

Lisa Sonora Beam, founder of Digital Hive EcoLogical Design, will show you practical ways to harness the power of the Internet to promote your business. She and her firm have worked with dozens of local and national green businesses, including the Bay Are Green Business Program. She has developed and taught courses in Green & Social Marketing for Dominican University's Green MBA and is the author of The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real.

Refreshments served.

RSVP HERE

Where: Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union at UC Berkeley Campus

At Bancroft & Telegraph Avenues
Use Downtown Berkeley BART station

$15 SBA Members, $20 Non-Member, $25 at the door