Thrilled to be part of this New York event for women in startups! I’ll be at the fair helping answer questions on digital branding, website development and social media. Also sharing lessons learned in starting up your own virtual business. )

Location: NY Kids Club on 68^th & Amsterdam

Event Time: 7-9:30

Panel: 7:30-8:30

Resource Room: 7-9:30

Register now!

This awesome event is sponsored by In Good Company Workplaces (@ingoodcmpny) and Baby Bites (@babybites)!

See you there!

Workplace for women entrepreneurs

social community for moms to be

Writing about the importance of differentiating your company and personal brand inspired me after a conversation with a client. So here goes. We’ve witnessed iconic brands like Microsoft and Apple go at it with their catchy and funny advertising – Microsoft whacks Apple over prices while Apple simply dismisses the attack by focusing on the under performance of Windows PC. Both brands have millions of dollars to spend unlike early stage startups. Differentiating your brand and how it sets you apart from the numerous brand voices is not a simple task regardless of your company size. I thought sharing our experience at Mavin Digital could help spark an idea or two for entrepreneurs.

Like everything else setting your brand apart takes time, effort and a whole lot of TLC to the community you serve and are a part of. At Mavin Digital discovery was very much part of defining our brand ethos. Numerous conversations with clients after a pitch on why they chose to work with us (or not) and counsel with very close friends helped define our key differentiators as an early stage service and media organization. Here’s how we differentiate our brand:

Genuine engagement

We’re a consultant first before a product or marketing vendor partner. We’re engaged with our clients and prospective clients before the scope of work and beyond the completion of a project or a program. We’ll get up at 7AM or sooner for conference calls and bring pizza to your home office for brainstorming sessions. There are days we’ll even make a 24-hour coast to coast trip so we can speak with you in person to learn more about your idea and challenges around getting your idea off the ground. We’re engaged from the moment we meet.

Macro concepts with micro solutions

Our 360 degree approach helps guide our clients to make the proper decisions for their brand and programs. We help them define the macro concepts or ideas then drill down to the micro solutions. We’re big picture people with an eye for the finite details. Best of all we love seeing the sparks in your eyes after we share the different options on how we can help shape your idea. Our approach is very collaborative and inclusive.

We love what we do and we do it well

A client asked me casually over lunch “what do you think of Zappos?” Unknowing that my answer could make or break our engagement I smiled back and exclaimed wildly “oh i love Zappos” and so does my client for the same reasons of taking a simple model of shoe selling to the best model for customer service. The key learning: when your company does what it is expected to do and does it fabulously, regardless of how crowded that space is you will get noticed. A standard we look up to when creating and delivering products and programs for our clients.

When your brand is memorable, ownable and a trusted source, you create a natural stream of opportunities. Clients and friends are more than happy to send leads your way. Then the next brand decision you face is growth, which is always a great problem to have. I will save that story for another post.

I hope you find this helpful or at least inspiring.

~ jessica valenzuela

Our friends at Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco took the economic climate in careful consideration when planning this year’s expo. They have done a fabulous job producing with the power of less.  Kudos to Janetti Chon (@janerri) and team for their careful planning and top-notch program management. I predict this will be the best ever Web 2.0 Expo yet!

Register for a Free Expo Pass and get access to all this:

• Expo Hall
• All Keynotes
• All Government 2.0 Sessions
• All Sponsored Sessions
• Web2Open and Web2Open Hybrid Sessions
• Opening Reception (Sponsored by Palm)
• Booth Crawl
• All other networking events
• Launch Pad
• Tekzilla Live!
• Solutions Showcase Theater presentations
• Sunlight Hackathon
• Birds of a Feather Sessions

Register today (use discount code EXPOPASS).

“Persistence, persistence, persistence.” ~ Sawhney and Kundra @buzzable founders

Just added: 15% Special Registration Discount

Equity Matters: The Route to Nasdaq a seminar series hosted by Springboard Enterprises, NASDQ OMX and Capital One Bank aims to answer the burning questions that women entrepreneurs and future entrepreneurs have about the process and the diverse and creative ways to raise funds. Honored to be part of the panel How We Did It: Raising Capital The Entrepreneurs’ Perspective in New York City. Here’s a sneak preview of the program.*

April 3, 2009 Equity Matters: The Route To NASDAQ seminar New York City

8:30 – 9:00AM                Registration

9:00 – 9:30AM                Opening Session: The Capital Landscape

9:30 – 10:45AM               What We Look For -Raising Capital: The Lender & Investors’ Perspective

10:45AM – Noon             How We Did It – Raising Capital: The Entrepreneurs’ Perspective

Noon – 12:30PM             Zen and the Art of Financial Projections – a  Workshop

12:30 – 2:00PM               It’s All About You – Tuning-Up Your Business for Venture Capital: Working Lunch

Special Pitch Session (invitation only)

2:00 – 4:00PM                Presentation/Pitch Session

The seminar will be held at Columbia University. You can register for the full-day for $125, seminar only for $100 or afternoon presentations for $50.

Just added: 15% Registration Discount!

* Program may change without prior notice.

Equity Matters is coming to San Francisco, CA on May 21st at the Wharton West, University of Pennsylvania and in Madison, WI in September. More 2009 venues will be announced very soon so stay tuned!