Creative Ways to Market Girl Scout Cookie Sales

My lil' Girl Scout Brownie and I are always looking for ways to promote cookie sales. We constantly search for ideas on how to "Bling our Booth" and signage inspiration. When I found out about the "Try 5" Girl Scouts campaign I decided to make a flyer that I could email out, post at my brownie's booth and print out for her to share with her customers.

Take a look...hopefully it will inspire you and your Girl Scout.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

One of the things I really enjoy is the Fall season. I live in South Texas, so down here we don't get to experience the changing of leaves, the cool temperatures of the season and all the wonderful layering of clothes, which I love.

This year I've made a commitment to myself to be more involved in the PTA program at my daughter's elementary school. My first task was participating on the 2nd Annual Pumpkin Patch Committee. We had less than a month to pull it off! But luckily the men and women in the committee were so awesome, creative and resourceful that we made it work!

The Pumpkin Patch turned out to be a great success! We plan to grow it a bit more each year.

Here are some photos of the event.

Girl Scout Cookie Booth Superhero Theme

I am having so much fun this year decorating my daughter's Girl Scout cookie booth. A good friend of mine and I have been tag-teaming the booths and have been coming up with creative ways to draw people to the girls' booth.

We are both superhero fans, so it was fitting to decorate our booth as such. We did all of the crafting within a matter of a few hours, so it's fairly easy to do.

My friend decorated matching capes for the Girl Scout cookie boxes. They came out so cute! All you need is felt, pipe cleaners, fabric glue and scissors.

Here's a close up:

This is the poster we made. Great way to recycle those cookie boxes!

And for the girls, we outfitted them in a cute skirt made out of a Cranberry Citrus Crisp box. We added a little bit of flair to it with ribbon and duct tape. The girls had a lot of fun. Plus, the loved donning their pink superhero capes!

Please let me know what you think of our Superhero themed booth. Thanks!

New Month, New Nail Decor

It's February 2014. It's the start of a new month and new possibilities. The start of pink and red everywhere began a few weeks ago. Right after the Christmas clearance shelves were nearly empty, in came the big red hearts. I'm not really into the romantic concept of Valentine's Day anymore. However, I do love the sweetness of Valentine's Day. So, for this sweet holiday I decided to give myself nails a new look. I was inspired by Pinterest!

The red is named China Flower by Revlon Parfumerie. The heart was really hard to get right. My niece and sister helped out with it. I like the way it turned it out. Happy February! xoxo

Girl Scout Cookie Booth Valentine's Day Ideas

Lately, my Friday nights and Saturday afternoons have been busy selling Girl Scout cookies with my little Brownie. This is the second year we've done cookie sales and I can see a big difference in my daughter from the way she sold last year to this year. She has really showed her entrepreneurial spirit by exploring new marketing tactics and bringing some creative ideas to me so we could excecute together. I am not a crafty person, but I do like to challenge myself...and hey, I'm in marketing so I understand that presentation makes a big impact on sales.
Here are a couple of ideas for adding some pizzazz to your Girl Scout cookie booth – some booth bling! These are especially great ideas for Valentine's Day gifts. Who wouldn't want some Girl Scout Cookies for Valentine's Day?

Holiday Dress Inspiration - THINK GREEN

Every year our company throws an office holiday party prior to Christmas. This will be my second year to celebrate with the team. It’s a few months away and I’m already thinking about what to wear! Story of my life!

A few months ago I met this fantastic young woman named Misti. This girl works for the government and I quickly admired her style and I would say we have become close acquaintances. Well, it turns out that she is also a fashion designer. One doesn’t run into many “fashion designers” here in South Texas. 

Well, she has told me a few times that she loves making clothing and offered to make me a dress. I thought it was one of those nice things people just say, but guess what? She offered to make me my Christmas Party Dress! I am super stoked!

I already have a glimpse of green and glamourous in my head. Of course I want something appropriate for work, but I want something that is sexy and classy at the same time. I believe I have decent curves that can be accentuated with the perfect dress...and by the time December comes along all that Zumba-ing should be evident in my future physique. Plus, I’ve been doing some new bicep exercises that will make my arms look nice and sleek by then.

So, here are a few pics that I find INSPIRING!

Let me know what you think!

Source: coolspotters.com

Source: newsfasiontrends.com

Halston Heritage dress

Round 2 of blogging

So, yes, I was one of the thousands of people who started a blog, had great intentions, etc....but yeah...after 3 blog posts that was it. I was never to be heard from again. Well, what can I say, I'm not perfect. But, now I am ready to give this a go. I'm ready for Round 2 baby!

I'm a writer by heart. I love to write. I've been journaling since I was in 2nd grade! Writing is a release for me. The thing is that life has happened! 2010 - present has been crazy and filled with many blessings. Last year, I finished my master's, got married, got pregnant AND just 3 months ago I gave birth to my baby boy! Now, I have my pair (5yo daughter), my hubby, my small business (pr firm), and life is still crazy!

So, right now, I'm working on growing my business, being a caring mother, growing my faith, losing my baby weight and living a happy, healthy, positive life!

And I plan on writing all about it!

PR Practitioners: Build Media Rapport

Build Media Rapport

Media relations is a part of the PR industry that really requires a lot of thought and effort. Not only as a PR practitioner are we mindful of the responsibilities we have to our client and our public, but at the same time we need to maintain a great rapport with the media.

Coming from the journalism side, as an editor of a bi-weekly newspaper, the PR people that were always in my face (in a good way) were the ones that I always kept top of mind. When I needed something maybe an article on education or medical field, I knew exactly which PR person to call. So, my advice to my fellow PR practitioners...build on that relationship with your media reps.

Some of my techniques I use to develop rapport with the media:

• Develop respect by providing thoughtful, accurate, and concise news to the media
• Be courteous and remember your manners i.e. Say please and thank you
• Remember them on holiday's and special occasions. I keep a list of all the media contacts that have helped me throughout the year and either on Thanksgiving or Christmas I send them a special thank you.
• Don't send the exact news release to a local competitor. Take the time to change the slant and use a different photo.
  
• Read what they write. Comment on stories they've covered and praise them if you think they are doing a good job.
• Schedule a "Media Appreciation Day" along with food and entertainment.

Make the time for Customer Relations

It seems sometimes we get so busy looking for new customers that we forget about our loyal customers. Our loyal customers are those that have been with us since the beginning or nearly the beginning! They are the ones that you can count on for a reliable source of income.
But, we must not forget that while we are out trying to secure new customers...we have it in with our loyal ones and should take advantage of one powerful tool that they possess: word-of-mouth.
Is it better for you to toot your own horn, or for one of your customers to toot it for you? The answer is the latter. If a friend tells you how a great a restaurant is...aren't you more likely to try it out based on her recommendation than on your own?

SO, business owners...let's concentrate on customer relationships!

Here are some tips on building your customer relations:
1. Talk to your customer - Next time your customer walks through the door really talk to them. Find out what's going on in their life and maybe there is a way that you can help. Or, give your customer a call and touch base. If you see some sort of trend, it may lead you down a new marketing approach.

2. Customer appreciation day - Designate one day a year solely to give back to your customers. Arrange for food, drinks, maybe family activites, and special discounts for one particular day...just to say THANKS!

3. The written word - I am a big believer in hand-written thank you cards. They truly go a long way. It shows your customer that you took the time to sit down and spend a few minutes thinking of them. I'm always so delighted when I walk into a client's office and there is the thank you card I sent them posted on their cork board.

Good luck! Remember, a happy customer...can lead to more happy customers!

Off to a Good Start

Just a few days into summer and I have now accomplished one of my summer goals...get a blog started. So, welcome to PRMompreneur!
PRMompreneur is hopefully going to be my lil' outlet to provide PR tips, strategies, etc. and also an area for me to talk about being a MOMPRENEUR---a mother running her own business while at the same time running around being a mom.
I hope you enjoy.