KPM-September

KP Business Marketing is a woman-owned business which was started in late 2020 by Kristina Peck. Peck started her own Marketing Company at just 25 years old, after spending the last five years serving the community as a dedicated Nurse.

She also knows marketing is the foundation of any entrepreneur’s makeup. “Without it you will miss out on gaining leads, growth, and sales!”

KP Business Marketing offers several services and packages that can be tailored to fit their client’s needs.

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SUGGESTED READ BY KP

HOW TO BECOME A LUXURY BRAND

By: Kristina Peck

Luxury brands all share two things in common: an unapologetic dedication to their craft and the willingness to charge premium prices for their products. In order to stand out from the competition, you must be willing to put as much effort into your craft as you expect from your customers, as well as deliver on those high expectations. For those looking to create a new luxury brand from scratch, here are five steps that can help ensure your success from the very beginning.

1) Define the Purpose of Your Brand: If you’re starting from scratch, you’ll want to know what your brand stands for. This will guide every decision from here on out. Some things that define luxury brands are innovation, high quality, and exclusivity. Start by asking yourself: How do you want people to feel when they interact with your brand? What values do you stand for?

2) Choose Branded Products To Sell: If you’re creating a new brand, you’ll have more flexibility than established companies do when choosing which products you want to offer your customers. That said, some types of items will sell better than others. For example, if you’re launching a new luxury brand, focusing on products that are exclusive and highquality is one of your best bets for success.

"...If you’re creating a new brand, you’ll have more flexibility than established companies do when choosing which products you want to offer your customers. "

HOW TO BECOME A LUXURY BRAND

By: Kristina Peck

3) Create Custom Packaging For Each Product: Packaging is often what sets luxury brands apart from their lessexpensive competitors. For high-end products, it’s important that every element of your packaging conveys an inherent quality or sentiment—not just your logo or name. By customizing your packaging for each product you sell, you send a message that each item is truly unique and worth its price tag.

Your customers will appreciate feeling as though they are buying something special, something unlike anything else out there. They’ll love you for it!

4) Identify Your Target Audience: Today’s generation of consumers spend more time online than ever before. They trust consumer reviews and influencers when making purchases, so it’s essential for brands to build up relationships with popular bloggers and Instagrammers.

Influencers often offer free products in exchange for honest reviews, but they can also help spread brand awareness through their large online followings.

5) Develop Relationships With Influencers: Influencers have a following, and if you can get on their radar, they can help spread your message through word of mouth. Be it Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, influencers have a direct line of communication with their audiences. As such, they also have influence over those people’s buying decisions. What’s more is that they are often free to contact. Influencer marketing is not only an affordable way to market your product; it is an efficient one as well.

"...Today’s generation of consumers spend more time online than ever before. . "

3 SIMPLE WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BRAND For any business to succeed, it needs to have customers! You can have the best product or service, but if no one knows about it, you’ll never get the sales that help your business grow.

Marketing can be done in many different ways, some of which are more effective than others. Here are three simple ways to market your business that are guaranteed to get you results!

1) LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a free social networking site that lets you connect with former colleagues, current colleagues, and industry peers.

With LinkedIn, you can share business ideas and grow your network at any time of day—and it’s a great way to learn about new job opportunities. To get started on LinkedIn, visit www.linkedIn.com.

2) Facebook: Facebook is a business-builder’s best friend. There are more than 2 billion active users on Facebook, and more than half of them log in every day. In fact, over 70% of businesses with a Facebook presence report using it as a customer-service channel—and 96% of consumers say they trust companies that interact with them on social media. Go ahead and establish a Facebook page for your company or business—it’s free, and there are many simple ways to get involved.

3) Google Adwords: While Google Adwords can get expensive, it can also be one of your most valuable marketing tools. Consider running a Google Adwords campaign for your business, especially if you’re offering something that people are likely to search for. You can easily set up an automated campaign through Google’s website so you don’t have to worry about monitoring costs and maintaining click-throughs.

By: Kristina Peck

"...Facebook is a businessbuilder’s best friend. There are more than 2 billion active users on Facebook, and more than half of them log in every day.. "

Sakeysha Williams

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Meet Sakeysha "Originally from Florence, SC, but currently residing in Charlotte, NC, Sakeysha is a wife and mother of two, and now is officially your Travel Best Friend. She is a natural at travel planning, and has been aiding in the planning of my family's vacations since she was in elementary school. By high school, she was always the designated one to research and coordinate travel details for family and friends.

She attended North Carolina A&T State University, for 1 year, before transferring to and graduating from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor's Degree in Hospitality Management. She also attended Full Sail University, where She received her Master's Degree in Public Relations.

She has dabbled in a few business ventures and have worked in key positions for a few prestigious hospitality companies, but her ultimate passion is researching and planning one-of-a-kind personalized vacations for her clients.

In her most previous role, as a Business Development Manager for Sandals & Beaches Resorts, She was always known as the one to bring the fun and was deemed the official "party starter". Her love for having fun, and enjoying life's luxuries, is certainly displayed in her curated vacation packages for my clients.

She strives to make sure that you not only see and experience new destinations, but that you have the best time ever while there!

You previously were employed with Sandals/Beaches resorts.

Can you tell us a little bit about your typical day?

"My role was to train and assist travel agents, within my territory, with growing their Sandals & Beaches bookings. My typical day would consist of meetings with the travel agents for marketing planning sessions, training them on the inclusions of the resorts, and/or attending events with them to help them sell the resorts.

Oftentimes, I would also host the agents on the resorts so that they could tour and experience the resorts firsthand. It was a lot of fun, but it surely made me miss being a Travel Agent myself."

The COVID-19 pandemic threw a curveball to us all. During the pandemic you were laid off from your full time job. Tell us how and when you decide to pickup the pieces and start your business?

The day I was laid off is when I started!!! That day, I made a decision to really go after my passion. I knew what my calling was, and I felt that this was God telling me to step out on faith and really pursue my dreams. The fact that I already had a growing desire to jump back into it, made that decision super easy. I don't know if I would've ever officially jumped, but that push surely opened my eyes and motivated me to do what I was called to do. So that day, I obtained my travel credentials, and initiated the process of relaunching my business. I reached out to Travel Suppliers, reorganized my home office, and started putting my plans and task list together of things I needed to do to be successful. It's been, and still is, a lot of work and moving parts, but I'm enjoying every moment of it because I'm following my passion and dreams.

Exclusive Interview with Sakeysha!

INTERVIEWED BY EDITOR IN CHIEF LATRINA CALDWELL

You’re a Mom,Wife,Real Estate Agent and Business Owner, you’re a busy woman! What schedule do you follow? What advice do you have for Moms and Wives alike?

I'm still working to perfect this, and trying to figure out this thing called Work/Life Balance. What I have learned though, is that cutoff times are a must! Time blocking is also a very helpful thing for my daily tasks. I'm an extreme task-lister! I write all of my daily tasks down, and I check them off as I complete them to help me see my progress. I also have an addiction to planners and calendars.

These keep me organized and on schedule. My advice to other Moms and Wives, is to figure out an organization system that works for you, and use it! Time block your day, and adhere to it. If you know you want to have dinner everyday at 6PM, well adjust your schedule to where nothing else interferes with that time. Also, make time for yourself. If its an hour of watching Love & Hip Hop, taking a nice bubble bath, reading a book....whatever it is, make sure you have time to enjoy some downtime of something that relaxes you.

Did you always picture yourself as a business owner?

Absolutely! I've always wanted to own my own business, but for years I've struggled to really pin down the type of business I wanted. I've dabbled in quite a few things, but the thing that has been consistent and a true passion is travel. I've always had that inner boss in me, and it has always been a goal of mine to be a successful entrepreneur.

Where do you see yourself and your business in the next five years?

I see exponential growth for myself as a Leading Travel Professional, and also for my business as a go-to agency for customized vacation packages. I plan to add & train additional travel professionals, all with specific niches, so that there is someone available to assist our clients with all travel types. I also plan to start my own "travel school" within the agency. There are a lot of people who jump in the industry, and they lack the proper training on being a successful travel professional. I plan to be a solution to that problem for agents that join my team. As for me, I see myself as being a major Travel Influencer, and a dignified Leader in the Travel Profession while serving in multiple leadership & training roles within various Travel Associations.

SAKEYSHA-AKA SUPER MOM

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SUGGESTED BUSINESS BY KP

10 SUCCESSFUL WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS SHARE THEIR STORY

We’ve all heard the statistics about women as entrepreneurs and as business owners in general—more than 9 million women own businesses in the United States, and the number of womenowned firms has risen dramatically since 1997. But how many of us know who these women are and what they’ve accomplished?

And what exactly does it take to succeed as an entrepreneur?

These 10 women share their story and tell us what we can learn from them about what works—and what doesn’t—when you decide to go out on your own and make it happen.

1) Jaime Tardy: Tardy founded Eventual Millionaire, a company that helps entrepreneurs build successful businesses. She’s also author of The Eventual Millionaire, which is being turned into a TV show, and she’s featured in Oprah Magazine . Tardy says one of her secrets to success is having a positive attitude at all times.

2) Emily Ley: My advice to women in business is to never feel like you have to be a rock star at your job, or at being an entrepreneur. We all have bad days and we all have setbacks. That’s part of being human. What matters most is that you keep moving forward. If you want something, go get it! Nothing will happen unless you take action on your dreams.

3) Amy Porterfield: Her advice for female entrepreneurs is to be driven by a larger mission and purpose, not just by profit. Don’t be afraid to ask people for what you need. Know that success isn’t binary—it doesn’t matter if your business succeeds or fails, just that you learn something along the way. Finally, listen more than you talk. As women, we often speak over each other—try listening more in conversation with men and women alike.

By: Kristina Peck

"...As women, we often speak over each other— try listening more in conversation with men and women alike... "

10 SUCCESSFUL WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS SHARE THEIR STORY

4) Cindy Margolis: My own experiences of failure and hardship make me even more determined to reach my goals. I like to think of adversity as fuel for success. Angela Jia Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea, into a family that valued education, hard work and financial success. When she was five years old, her family immigrated to Los Angeles where she learned English by watching Sesame Street on TV with her mother every day after school.

5) Angela Jia Kim: In 2006, Angela Jia Kim founded SocialWavelength, a social media marketing company. She launched her business after being laid off from a corporate job and being inspired by entrepreneur friends who were already making money from home. After a slow start, she was able to build a steady stream of clients and now works with brands like Colgate-Palmolive and Nestle across social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.

6) Eva Scrivo: Hair extensions have been around for decades, but founder Eva Scrivo wasn’t happy with what was available to women in 2003.

She saw a gap in the market for a high-quality product that could be easily put in and taken out by customers without damaging their own hair. After an intensive year of research and development, she launched HairUWear to rave reviews from celebrities and civilians alike.

By: Kristina Peck

"...more than 9 million women own businesses in the United States, and the number of womenowned firms has risen dramatically since 1997.... "

10 SUCCESSFUL WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS SHARE THEIR STORY

By: Kristina Peck

7) Carrie Wilkerson Founder of Ladies Get Paid, an organization that advocates for pay transparency, Wilkerson draws on her experiences as a financial reporter to help women learn how to earn more. To succeed financially in business—and in life—you have to become fearless, she says. Being fearless means being authentic, which begins with getting paid what you’re worth. Let your network know you’re looking for opportunities, and your income will follow suit.

8) Amanda Brinkman: I think starting your own business is hard no matter who you are, but I do know that being a woman entrepreneur has its challenges. As women, we have to be good at everything, whereas our male counterparts only have to be good at one thing. Men can specialize; women can’t. It took me seven years of running my company before I finally built up enough courage to even call myself an entrepreneur.

9) Julie Solomon: One of Solomon’s core skills is connecting with people, and she says it’s something every entrepreneur must master. There are opportunities to meet people everywhere, she says. If you don’t go out there and network, you won’t be able to take advantage of those chances.

10) Tammy Strobel: After turning 40, Strobel decided to follow her dream of becoming a writer and entrepreneur. She now runs an email marketing company that helps others do what she did: take control of their lives and earn more money doing something they love.

"...I think starting your own business is hard no matter who you are, but I do know that being a woman entrepreneur has its challenges... "

THE QUESTIONS WE ASK OURSELVES WHEN WE'RE STRUGGLING WITH MENTAL HEALTH

When it comes to mental health, we’re taught from an early age that asking for help is unacceptable. We’re told that we need to be able to handle anything on our own, and that asking someone else to help us means we’re weak or vulnerable or just plain wrong about what we think we need. The truth, though, is that these messages are completely untrue and that asking for help when you need it can have a huge impact on your mental health in the long run. In fact, experts recommend it! But knowing how to ask can be difficult.

Crying-we all hate it. Why do we do it?

Maybe you’re having an especially tough day, maybe you feel like you’re all alone in your struggle, or maybe there’s no clear answer to why exactly it feels like everything is falling apart.

Crying can be a great way to deal with these feelings—it can bring us back down to earth when we get caught up in our own minds. It helps us shed emotions that are weighing us down and brings relief to what can be a painful experience.

Why can’t I just power through? Because, as a society, we have created a culture where it is not OK to talk about our feelings.

But feeling out of control because you feel so frustrated, sad or angry is never a good thing. Your emotions are a real thing and they matter.

What makes me me? I’m made up of memories, experiences, interests, talents, possessions and so much more. If someone was to come into my life tomorrow and take all those things away from me – what would be left? All that would be left is me – my personality and all that comes with it.

By: Kristina Peck

"...All that would be left is me – my personality and all that comes with it.... "

8 TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF THE CHARLOTTE NORTH CAROLINA WOMEN BUSINESS North Carolina has long been one of the most important states in the country, both politically and economically. Thus, it’s no surprise that women business owners are taking an active role in shaping this state’s future, or that Charlotte is home to thousands of these types of businesses.

Here are eight steps to take to make the most out of your Charlotte North Carolina Women business!

1) Location Location Location: The first thing you want to do is pick a location for your business. This will be a tough decision as there are a lot of factors that will play into it. You will need a place that fits all your needs for a good price. Once you have found some options, take some time and visit each location, see if it feels right and if it can handle what you need from it.

2) Invest In Networking: One of your best opportunities for growing your business is through networking with other women in business.

It’s important that you follow up with every person you meet, just as it’s crucial that you listen carefully when you are talking with them. Networking is about more than exchanging contact information, it’s about making meaningful connections. The more time and effort you put into developing these relationships, the better they will be for your business.

3) Start at Home: If you want your business to run as smoothly as possible, you should never stop thinking about how your business and home lives can work together. After all, your office and even your office commute can be just one part of a long day that starts at home with children and pets and ends back there after a long, stressful day at work. Here are some helpful tips for making sure that home runs smoothly so you can focus on making your business a success.

8 TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF THE CHARLOTTE NORTH CAROLINA BUSINESS MARKET 4) Have Goals and Track Them: Set specific goals for your business and write them down. If your goal is to make $100,000/year, write it down! Seeing it in black and white can motivate you to get there. More often than not, however, entrepreneurs are far too vague about their goals. This leads them to waste time pursuing ideas that will never produce tangible results. As an entrepreneur it’s important that you set out specific goals for your company.

5) Build Relationships with Other Women: If you’re like most women business owners, there are times when you want to hire a male-dominated team— and other times when it might be beneficial to utilize a female-heavy staff. In order to benefit from both options, it can be important to build professional relationships with other women in your field. It’s great for potential employees and clients, too.

6) Be Adventurous:: If you want to stand out among your competitors, you have to be creative. Think about what makes your company special and put that into practice in every aspect of how you promote yourself.

7) Get Creative & Unique Don’t be afraid to get creative and unique when it comes to marketing your business. Think outside of your comfort zone and look at other industries or even other non-related businesses for examples. The more you get out there, interact with people, and try new things, you’ll find what works best for you.

8) Use Apps to Promote Yourself: The digital age has ushered in a myriad of apps, websites and other technology that can help you maximize your business. Many are free, so there’s no reason not to leverage them. Consider using apps such as Yelp, Expedia and Groupon for discount deals on your products or services. Websites like Foursquare allow people to track where they’ve been and encourage them to return—ideal for a service-oriented business that wants repeat customers.

THOW TO MANAGE A BUSINESS DURING A PANDEMIC By: Kristina Peck

Running a business can be stressful at the best of times, and once in a while it may seem like the world has forgotten that you need to make money as well as spend it! But what happens when things go from bad to worse? Whether you’re running your own business or working as part of an organization, there are some simple steps you can take to make sure your business stays open and your staff stay safe during a pandemic or disaster. Here are five tips on how to manage your business during a pandemic.

Set up drills and practice sessions with your employees to ensure that they know how to stop an illness from spreading throughout your office. Ensure that your break room is stocked with face masks and hand sanitizer, as well as other measures you might need. Also make sure everyone on staff knows what signs of infection look like, so they can quickly warn others who may have been exposed. Communication is key when it comes to stopping a contagious disease from spreading through your company!

A good place to start is with your family. Your spouse and kids may be nervous about your going out in public, but there are things you can do as a family that will help minimize their fears and maximize their comfort. For example, designate places where everyone should meet if they become separated from one another or from you. Make sure those locations are well stocked with emergency supplies such as food, water, blankets, flashlights and batteries.

Before you start spreading yourself too thin or being sick, take a few minutes to go over these four key points. Having them clearly outlined will allow you more effectively keep your eye on your company’s health while staying abreast of how it fares during covid19. Take out a piece of paper and start listing down these bullet points before getting down to business

"...Take out a piece of paper and start listing down these bullet points before getting down to business.... "