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Leaders, influencers and entrepreneurs converge in NJ at 2019 Entrepreneur Empowerment Lunch (EEL)

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The first set of panel speakers including leaders, influencers and entrepreneurs for “Beauty, Health and Wealth: Taking Charge of Our Lives” event have been announced, giving an insight into our biggest and best EEL yet!

panel speakers

The 2019 Entrepreneur Empowerment Lunch is hosted by Hudson County Community College.

The excitement is growing as we are getting closer to “Beauty, Health and Wealth: Taking Charge of Our Lives”  this year’s theme for the 2019 Entrepreneur Empowerment Lunch. Organizational leaders, social media influencers and successful entrepreneurs have been tapped to gather at the Hudson County Culinary Conference Center,161 Newkirk Ave, Jersey City NJ 07306 on June 13, 2019 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm(Registration, breakfast and networking starts at 8:00am )

“In addition to exceptional keynote and celebrity speakers, leaders, influencers and entrepreneurs from around the country are converging in Jersey City on June 13 to produce the most dynamic event for Latinas and other minority women entrepreneurs in the Northeast region. We continue with our goal to help them “Learn. Connect. Succeed!” and find the network and resources they need to advance their businesses,” said Susana G Baumann, President and CEO, Latinas in Business Inc.

Choose one workshop from each session at registration. Maximum capacity for each workshop is 35-40 participants on a first come, first serve basis. We reserve the right to move participants to other workshops on the same session if workshop is at full capacity so register soon!panelist speakers

EEL Panel speakers from around the country

From Los Angeles to Miami, Virginia to New York and New Jersey, participants at the workshops include the who’s who in this spectrum of leaders, influencers and successful entrepreneurs.

A new addition this year are the “talleres en español” (Spanish Workshops) where women will find information to start, grow or expand their businesses. “We had many requests from women who are just starting as entrepreneurs or would like to start a side business, so we added these talleres en español. In this way, we give them an opportunity to meet other successful women conducting their businesses and encourage them to  pursue their dreams,” Baumann said.

panel speakers

Some of the panel speakers announced  include organizational leaders Diana Franco, Director, Women Entrepreneurs of New York  (NYC), Trinidad de la Rosa, Spanish Language Manager at Rising Tide Capital (NJ), and Samantha (Unger) Katz, CEO & Co-Founder, Left Tackle Capital.

Also announced are social media influencers Stephanie Flor, founder, AroundtheWorldBeauty.com (NY); LeAura Luciano, EverSoPopular (NY); Sugey Palomares, Social Media manager, Family Circle (NY); and Danay Escanaverino, founder, LunaSol Media.

Entrepreneurs include Maria del Pilar Avila, founder Renovad and InterDUCTUS; Dr Ginny A. Baro, founder, Fearless Women @Work; Nelly Reyes, Founder and CEO, Freshie Feminine Care (NJ) ; Silvina Rodriguez Picaro, SRP Health Care Communications (FL), and Gladys Voghlan, co-founder, K&G Agency Solutions. (This is a partial list of speakers, more to be announced soon).

panel speakers

“We are grateful to Hudson County Community College and their new President, Dr. Chris Reber, for their constant support and hospitality. As a Hispanic-serving institution,  they are again co-hosting this magnificent event that showcases the best and most successful stories of Latinas and other women entrepreneurs building businesses, families and community around them,” Baumann said.

You might be interested:  2019 Entrepreneur Empowerment Lunch announces keynote and celebrity speakers   

Workshops at 2019 Entrepreneur Empowerment Lunch

SESSION 1 (9:30 am to 10:30 am)

  1. Win the Marketing Battle: How to get your foot in the door with major buyers

What are large companies looking for in diverse suppliers? How can you market your products to major chains? Learn from entrepreneurs who sold their products to large companies and from companies with a solid supplier diversity program how you can sell your products to the general market.

  1. The Healthy Consumer Trend: What’s in it for me? 

Consumers’ health is front and center for those who churn out the food products that will line supermarket shelves in the next year. Selections like “organic,” “no added sugar or artificial ingredients,” “no-GMO,” or “gluten free” are now available to the consumer. Find out the trends that are disrupting the market and hear from companies and local incubators what you need to start or expand your healthy product business.

  1. The Wellness Industry: Users, providers and technology 

Mindfulness, clean eating, spas and essential oils— it’s all part of the wellness trend that’s growing faster than the veggies in your friend’s rooftop garden. The wellness industry is now worth over $3.7 trillion. Hear from these entrepreneurs how they founded and expanded their wellness businesses, how technology is helping them grow and expand, and how they are riding the wellness wave.

  1. Incubadoras: Oportunidades para negocios entre 1 y 3 años 

Cuando se comienza un negocio no basta tener una idea; es necesario gestar un plan que proyecte el desarrollo y la ejecución del emprendimiento. Las incubadoras son excelentes herramientas para impulsar el nacimiento de empresas, pues proporcionan la asistencia necesaria para crecer. Conoce cómo funcionan y aprovéchalas para emprender.

SESSION 2 (11:30 am to 12:30 pm)

  1. Raising Capital for Startups: The tough road to success 

Of the more than $40 billion of funds raised by venture capital firms, less than 3% is allocated to minority-owned startups. However, if the startup has a “double-minority” owner –for instance, woman and Latina– that figure drastically drops to just 0.2%. Interact with angel investors and alternative sources of income to learn how you can present your business to obtain funding.

  1. Strategies to Expanding and Securing your Business Future 

Do you want to expand your business but don’t know how? Are you stagnant and need to create new strategies to secure the financial growth of your business? You may be wondering how to take the next step and grow your business securely beyond its current status. Hear from women entrepreneurs who successfully strategized their businesses’ growth and from experts who can help you achieve a new level of success.

  1. Branding in the Era of Social Media 

Your brand is your company’s identity. It is the link that connects your company to your customers and vice versa. A strong brand provides your business value. It is reflected in everything from “look and. feel” to your mission and vision. A strong brand provide value to your organization well beyond your physical assets. Join our Branding Experts and Social Media Influencers to discuss how you can also create a strong brand for your company and for you!

  1. Empieza tu negocio en belleza, salud y finanzas ya! 

Tienes una idea y no sabes por dónde empezar? Quieres desarrollar o establecer tu negocio con servicios y programas que te ayuden a capacitarte y ampliar las oportunidades económicas como dueño/a de negocio? Ven a presenter tu caso a estas organizaciones que tienen oportunidades y recursos para que comiences o expandas tu propio negocio.

Choose one workshop from each session at registration. Maximum capacity for each workshop is 35-40 participants on a first come, first serve basis. We reserve the right to move participants to other workshops on the same session if workshop is at full capacity so register soon!

Pope-Francis-Catholic-Church-of-England-and-Wales-CC

How to become an influencer and advance your business

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I was recently asked by an acquaintance to provide the “secret” to becoming an influencer within a community. I responded that while I consider myself a big fish in a very small pond, the process that I follow can scale and provide big fish in a big pond results.

Pope-Francis-Catholic-Church-of-England-and-Wales-CC influencer

Pope Frances, one of the greatest influencers of our times.

The following are the six steps that I have found to be effective in creating influence within a community. I believe that anyone can follow these steps to begin their journey towards becoming an influencer:

1. Determine the industry/segment in which you wish to become an influencer:

There’s a difference between being famous and being an influencer. O.J. Simpson was and continues to be famous. Better yet, infamous. John Wooden was an influencer. In the sports industry today who do you think is more successful in influencing the community – even posthumously? Wooden, of course. Influencers must choose a community upon which they will focus and serve. They must respect that community and the community must have no reason to disrespect them. While future influencers need not be experts in community matters, they must eventually evolve into subject matter experts before they earn influencer status.

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2. Create content that demonstrates your thought leadership and expertise:

Influencers within any community/industry generally have expert knowledge of matters within their domain. The masses listen and act on the advice of influencers specifically because they are experts. Whether their expertise relates to accounting, art or lipstick, influencers are perceived as being subject matter experts. Individuals seeking influencer status must demonstrate their mastery to the community/industry. In today’s content driven world this means that expertise should be evidenced in one or more content formats, including but not limited to, blog posts, whitepapers, videos, podcasts or any other form of content that is preferred by the community. Expertise and thought leadership must come through clearly in order for the community to adopt the individual as an influencer.

3. Develop public relations to put a face to the name:

Something I continually tell attendees at my workshops is that people do business with people. And people are influenced by people. While the Internet, social media and its many forms of content are essential, at the very core we want human interaction. Individuals seeking tocreatetheirplaceintheinfluencer Hall of Fame must ensure that they walk away from their computer screens and actually meet the community they are looking to serve. Through speaking engagements, networking functions and other face-to-face interactions influencers-in-process can help generate needed buzz from those individuals that read the book or saw the video or heard the podcast and have now put a face with a name. Big time influencers will tell you that it is not possible to meet the entire community or respond to every email, tweet or message. But they will also tell you that they invest time interacting as much as possible.

influencer

Photo credits (Top L to Bottom R) Susana G Baumann at Univision 41 Studios; Susana with Yvonne Garcia, ALPFA National Chair; Susana with Nina Vacca, CEO Pinnacle Group and Pres Emeritus US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation; Susana with the NAA American Latina Leadership Caucus and SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet.


4. Build your list:

One of the most valuable investments an influencer can make is to sign up for an account with Mailchimp, Constant Contact or some other email program. Consideration should be given to capturing contact information with the release of every piece of content. Show me a successful influencer and I will show you an effective contact database. In today’s social media world it is also important to develop followings in-platform. This means growing connections, likes, followers, etc. Both email lists and social media platforms are essential to the distribution of content that reinforces influencer status as well as grows influence through sharing.

5. Create collaborations/partnerships:

The biggest mistake an influencer-in-training can make is assume that he/she must do it all alone. In today’s democratized world where a dishwasher has as much of a chance of being an influencer as a billionaire, there are many opportunities for collaboration. Something that my Two Men In Your Business co-host Aaron M. Sanchez and I do frequently with our workshops is to bring in others with an expertise that fits our program. We promote those individuals to our following and they do the same with theirs resulting in greater reach and broader influence. The concept of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours is an effective tool for developing influence.

Elianne Ramos, one of the most influential Latina in politics, with Susana G Baumann, LatinasinBusiness.us at Hispanicize 2015.

Elianne Ramos, one of the most influential Latinas in politics, with Susana G Baumann, LatinasinBusiness.us at Hispanicize 2015.

6. Remain active and innovative: 

The first five steps above represent the tactics necessary to establish oneself as an influencer. However, in order to remain successful the tactics must be consistently applied and revised based on feedback. An influencer is not a state – it is a way of life. Successful influencers are consistently seeking new ways to grow their community, new approaches to deliver content, new presentations of old content and the development of new content and ideas.

Using these six tactics will allow anyone to develop into an influencer. I credit my big fish in a small pond success to these tactics. Perhaps it’s time to move to a bigger pond!

 

Jesse Torres has been named to the list of the Top 20 Most Influential Community Bankers in Social Media. The title was bestowed by the Independent Community Bankers of America.

 

Pope-Francis-Catholic-Church-of-England-and-Wales-CC

6 Steps to become an influencer and advance your cause

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Pope Francis, a massive influencer, in front of the Vatican.

Pope Francis, a massive influencer, in front of the Vatican.

I was recently asked by an acquaintance to provide the “secret” to becoming influential within a community. I responded that while I consider myself a big fish in a very small pond, the process that I follow can scale and provide big fish in a big pond results.

The following are the six steps that I have found to be effective in creating influence within a community. I believe that anyone can follow these steps to begin their journey towards becoming an influencer:

  1. Determine the industry/segment in which you wish to become an influencer.There’s a difference between being famous and being an influencer. O.J. Simpson was and continues to be famous. Better yet, infamous. John Woodenwasaninfluencer. In the sports industry today who do you think is more successful in influencing the community – even posthumously? Wooden, of course. Influencers must choose a community upon which they will focus and serve. They must respect that community and the community must have no reason to disrespect them. While future influencers need not be experts in community matters, they must eventually evolve into subjectmatterexpertsbeforetheyearninfluencer status.

    USHCC Nina Vaca, one of the most influential Latina business owners, and Susana G Baumann LatinasinBusiness.us in Las Vegas 2014

    USHCC Nina Vaca, one of the most influential Latina business owners, and Susana G Baumann LatinasinBusiness.us in Las Vegas 2014

  2. Create content that demonstrates your thought leadership and expertise.Influencers within any community/industry generally have expert knowledge of matters within their domain. The masses listen and act on the advice of influencers specifically because they are experts. Whether their expertise relates to accounting, art or lipstick, influencers are perceived as being subject matter experts. Individuals seeking influencer status must demonstrate their mastery to the community/industry. In today’s content driven world this means that expertise should be evidenced in one or more content formats, including but not limited to, blog posts, whitepapers, videos, podcasts or any other form of content that is preferred by the community. Expertise and thought leadership must come through clearly in order for the community to adopt the individual as an influencer.
  3. Develop public relations to put a face to the name.Something I continually tell attendees at my workshops is that people do business with people. And people are influenced by people. While the Internet, social media and its many forms of content are essential, at the very core we want human interaction. Individuals seeking tocreatetheirplaceintheinfluencer Hall of Fame must ensure that they walk away from their computer screens and actually meet the community they are looking to serve. Through speaking engagements, networking functions and other face-to-face interactions influencers-in-process can help generate needed buzz from those individuals that read the book or saw the video or heard the podcast and have now put a face with a name. Big time influencers will tell you that it is not possible to meet the entire community or respond to every email, tweet or message. But they will also tell you that they invest time interacting as much as possible.

    Nelly Galan (R), influencer and founder of the Adelante Movement, with Susana G Baumann, LatinasinBusiness.us

    Nely Galan (R), influencer and founder of the Adelante Movement, with Susana G Baumann, LatinasinBusiness.us at Hispanicize 2015

  4. Build your list.One of the most valuable investments an influencer can make is to sign up for an account with Mailchimp, Constant Contact or some other email program. Consideration should be given to capturing contact information with the release of every piece of content. Show me a successful influencer and I will show you an effective contact database. In today’s social media world it is also important to develop followings in-platform. This means growing connections, likes, followers, etc. Both email lists and social media platforms are essential to the distribution of content that reinforces influencer status as well as grows influence through sharing.
  5. Create collaborations/partnerships.The biggest mistake an influencer-in-training can make is assume that he/she must do it all alone. In today’s democratized world where a dishwasher has as much of a chance of being an influencer as a billionaire, there are many opportunities for collaboration. Something that my Two Men In Your Business co-host Aaron M. Sanchez and I do frequently with our workshops is to bring in others with an expertise that fits our program. We promote those individuals to our following and they do the same with theirs resulting in greater reach and broader influence. The concept of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours is an effective tool for developing influence.

    Elianne Ramos, one of the most influential Latina in politics, with Susana G Baumann, LatinasinBusiness.us at Hispanicize 2015.

    Elianne Ramos, one of the most influential Latinas in politics, with Susana G Baumann, LatinasinBusiness.us at Hispanicize 2015.

  6. Remain active and innovative.The first five steps above represent the tactics necessary to establish oneself as an influencer. However, in order to remain successful the tactics must be consistently applied and revised based on feedback. An influencer is not a state – it is a way of life. Successful influencers are consistently seeking new ways to grow their community, new approaches to deliver content, new presentations of old content and the development of new content and ideas.

Using these six tactics will allow anyone to develop into an influencer. I credit my big fish in a small pond success to these tactics. Perhaps it’s time to move to a bigger pond!

Jesse Torres has been named to the list of the Top 20 Most Influential Community Bankers in Social Media. The title was bestowed by the Independent Community Bankers of America.

 

Opportunities in affiliate marketing programs

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Affiliate marketing programs

By Jesse Torres

I recently had the opportunity to interview affiliate marketing veteran Stephanie Robbins on KCAA Radio’s Money Talk. Stephanie, through her company Robbins Interactive, helps clients with all aspects of marketing including affiliate marketing, social media, online branding, website development and online advertising.

“Affiliate marketing is an agreement where one firm (the marketer) compensates another firm (the affiliate) for generating transactions from its users. In practice, it involves a marketer placing links to its website on affiliated websites,” describe Simon Goldschmidt, Sven Junghagen and Uri Harris in Strategic Affiliate Marketing.

“Rather than pay for the links upfront, the marketer provides a commission to affiliates for every transaction that results from these links. If organized correctly, it can potentially benefit both parties, because it helps marketers acquire new customers and increase revenues, while affiliates can generate revenues from the visitors to their sites.”

Among today’s best affiliates are bloggers and social media personalities that have developed a large following. Through affiliate marketing entrepreneurs enter into an arrangement with an influential Internet personality or any person willing to represent the entrepreneur’s product. The affiliate, who should feel passionate about the product, promotes the product through links, banners, testimonials or other content about the product.

The entrepreneur benefits through the sale of products resulting from the efforts of the affiliate, the affiliate benefits from the revenue as well as the content that is created and share with followers and followers benefit through access to the content and the introduction to the product.

Entrepreneurs should ensure appropriate disclosures are made by affiliates that choose to promote the product through testimonials or other similar content. There is nothing wrong with affiliates that choose to promote a particular product. However, in such cases the affiliate should ensure that appropriate disclosures are made in compliance with applicable laws, rules or regulations. Lack of appropriate disclosure can damage the reputation of both the affiliate and the entrepreneur.

The following are four considerations that entrepreneurs should consider when establishing an affiliate program:

1. Online Store. Robbins states that affiliate marketing programs work best where an online store has been established. The store should have been up and running for a while to ensure that it is working properly and the kinks have been worked out. Robbins cautions that the quickest way for an entrepreneur to lose valuable affiliates is through technical glitches that cause lost sales and result in lost revenues for affiliates.

The beauty of well-developed affiliate programs is the ease of integration with the online store. While entrepreneurs can develop homegrown systems it may be worth exploring the options available through third party affiliate programs such as CJ Affiliate, Rakuten, Shareasale and Avantlink.

“You need to be able to put the technology in place so that you can reimburse and reward your affiliates as appropriate,” says Robbins.

2. Product Pricing. Affiliate marketing programs provide affiliates with a percentage of each sale generated through the affiliate’s activities. Driving traffic to an online store can involve tasks as simple as a hyperlink or banner on a Web site to comprehensive and well-thought out articles that address the features and benefits of the product.

Regardless of the effort, influential affiliates – those with large online followings on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. – have many products available for them to represent. As such, the commission per conversion is important. Robbins believes that products priced in the $60 – $100 range are optimal as they can generate significant volume with a reasonable commission. Lower dollar amounts provide nominal affiliate revenue and higher priced items do not sell as readily.

3. Product Worth Buying. Successful affiliates work hard to create influence within their space. If the product does not inspire a conversation the top affiliates will not touch the product.New logo w byline

Each affiliate has a niche. Entrepreneurs should target and make arrangements only with affiliates that operate within their industry. For example, an entrepreneur selling high-end culinary utensils and hardware should seek affiliates that are foodies, restaurant owners, industry consultants and others that operate in a related space. These affiliates may maintain blogs, Web sites, social media pages and social media accounts where they can share information and links about the product.

4. Great Affiliates Are Not Cheap. Entrepreneurs must be prepared to make significant revenue sharing agreements if they wish to engage with the top affiliates/influencers.

Years ago entrepreneurs were told in books, articles and workshops to seek out influential bloggers and others with strong followings and offer product or some other benefit in exchange for a mention or link. This worked for a while. But it doesn’t work any longer.

“So many people think that if we give these bloggers free product they will be completely happy,” says Robbins. “These are business people now. They know the value that they are bringing to the client. And they want to be compensated for it.”

 

 

 About Jesse TorresJesse_Torres

Jesse Torres has spent nearly 20 years in leadership and executive management posts, including executive management roles at financial institutions. In 2013 the Independent Community Bankers of America named him a top community banker influencer on social media. He is a frequent speaker at financial services and leadership conferences and has written several books. He hosts an NBC News Radio show called Money Talk with Jesse Torres.
Follow @jstorres or contact  Jesse@JesseTorres.com