Monday, December 15, 2008

15SecondPitch Workshop Jan. 19th, 6:30-8:00pm NYC




Get More Sales NOW using your 15SecondPitch!

Workshop with Laura Allen, co-founder of 15SecondPitch.com

**Co-Ed Workshop** Men welcome!!

6:30-8:00pm

In Good Company Workplaces

16 W. 23rd Street (4th Floor)
New York, NY

Do you need to get more sales now? Are you worried about how the current economy is going to impact your business? Join Laura Allen, co-founder of 15SecondPitch.com for a fun, interactive, highly informative 90 minute workshop where she will teach you how to get more sales now using her unique 15SecondPitch System.

Even if you absolutely hate to sell, this workshop can still help you make more sales!

What you’ll learn:

*What the 15SecondPitch is

*Why the 15SecondPitch works so well

*How to create your 15SecondPitch

*How to use your 15SecondPitch to get more sales now.

Laura’s last workshop at IGC was a huge success and here is what a few of the attendees had to say about it:

I feel like I've done a pretty good job of building my business and my brand over the past 10 years, however, Laura gave me some new ideas to make my business even bigger and better. I'd highly recommend this workshop to any woman who wants to increase sales and grow her business.”

-Erica Ecker, owner, http://www.TheSpacialist.com

New York Magazine’s choice for best space organizer in 2008

The first thing that struck me about Laura Allen was her sense of humor and strait-forward attitude. As someone whose business it is to facilitate stress reduction, and who finds the most stressful thing selling my services, I was drawn to Laura and her work because she put me at ease immediately. Working with Laura continues to be a vital piece in developing my business and me as the spokes-person. I encourage anyone who is serious and passionate about what they do to attend a workshop with Laura!
-Jennifer Edwards MFA, RYT http://www.relaxationonthego.net

This workshop is: $40. To attend, you must RSVP to Laura@15SecondPitch.com with the following information: full name, email address, and name of your company, if any. Limited to 15. (payment in advance required to hold your spot, I’ll email you paypal information.)

Please bring a notebook and be prepared to take lots of notes and bring plenty of business cards too!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Check out the 15SecondPitch Pitch Widget

We are very excited to announce the NEW 15SecondPitch Pitch Widget!! You can check it out by scrolling down slightly and looking to the right of this page.

Would love to hear your comments!

:)

laura

p.s. Please let me know if you put the Pitch Widget on your blog or website!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

ARE YOU READY FOR SUCCESS? Join me on December 5th

If you had just one wish for the New Year, what would it be?

Would you get a new job? Would you take your business to the next level? Would you focus on creating substantial wealth so that you can have the freedom to do what you want? I keep hearing about how tough the economy is, and I know that it’s dire for a lot of people right now, and to be honest, it’s been a challenge for some of my clients too. However, it’s important to remember that people get new jobs, start businesses and make millions in EVERY economy—even this one.

I notice when I go to networking and social events, I’m drawn to the outgoing, positive, big thinkers. That’s just how I am. Maybe because I grew up as an extremely shy only child. (Yes, hard to imagine for anyone who knows me!!)

FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO TODAY TO ENSURE SUCCESS IN 2009

1.Support the People (And Organizations) You Believe In.

This holiday season, if you are going to buy a few gifts for the important people in your life, think about buying a necklace from a local jewelry designer. That $80. purchase will make a huge difference to her this year and the person receiving will get a unique gift that they won’t get from anyone else.

2.Ask For The Sale

Yes, I know that this is a radical suggestion. But I’m going to let you in on a little secret. My clients are making sales right now, today, in this economy. Why? Because they have excellent products and services and they are asking for the sale. There are a lot of people who are going to “wait it out” until January to start pitching for their business. That means there is an opportunity for those who are pitching today.

3.Get Out of The House

The networking events I’ve been going to recently are PACKED!! Just getting up out of the house is a step in the right direction. You never know who you might meet. Make a point of talking about the possibilities that you see in the future and don’t waste time focusing on the economic crisis. We all know what’s going on. No need to rehash it.

4.Create a Budget:

Yes, I know. Most people would rather get a root canal than to think about creating a budget. And I’m at the top of that list. Here’s the empowering part though. I went through and looked at what I was spending and was able to eliminate $250. A MONTH in non-essential expenses. I’m actually embarrassed to admit that, however, I’m doing it because it might inspire you to take a look at your finances and see where you can reallocate some of your hard earned cash. I feel so much better knowing that money is now being invested in building my business!

5.Hire An Expert to Help you Achieve Your Goals.

There are a lot of super talented resume writers, business coaches, and web designers who are offering excellent deals right now. With part of the $250. I saved per month, I hired people to help me do the things that I’m not great at or never seem to get around to doing. It sounds counter intuitive, however, the small amount that I pay to a virtual assistant, (I use a company called http://www.LongerDays.com) pays huge returns because I can use that time to focus on working with my clients and growing my business.

For More Ways to Succeed in 2009

If you are in NYC, come to a fre* event that I’m co-hosting with two of my colleagues on the morning of December 5th. RSVP instructions are on this fabulous flyer below. (And yes, we chipped in and paid an incredible graphic designer to create it!)

Friday, November 14, 2008

Meet at the NY Times event on Monday!

Last year I had a blast at the NY Times Small Business Summit, so I'm going again this year! Let me know if you will be there and we can meet-up!

http://nytsmallbusinessummit.com/

Friday, August 08, 2008

I'm proud to be a coach on Coachology

I'm very excited to be one of the featured coaches on Penelope Trunk's Coacholgy. Click here to see my profile and I'll also put up links to my posts soon!

http://www.brazencareerist.com/coachology/laura-allen/

Friday, May 16, 2008

Visionwiz: 15SecondPitch.com

Visionwiz: 15SecondPitch.com

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

ASJA panel gives LOTS of great advice!!


I had the honor of speaking at the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) over the weekend and had an absolute blast! The panel was moderated by best-selling author Victoria Moran (http://www.VictoriaMoran.com) (that's her first, l. to r.).
















Martin Rowe, publisher of Lantern Books (http://www.lanternbooks.com/), Daylle Deanna Schwartz (http://www.Daylle.com), Tom B. Martin (http://www.tommartinmedia.com), and Karen Kelly http://www.karenkellywriter.com/
were also on the panel!

We got rave reviews from many conference attendees and I'll post some of those as soon as I get the okay to do so!

Monday, March 17, 2008

"I am David Paterson and I am the Governor of New York State"

That was what an anchor on NY1 news coined the "money soundbite" of the speech.

It sent chills down my spine. Of course there were a lot of other great elements to his speech, not the least of which is that he had no notes and no teleprompter, and less than one week to prepare.

"I am David Paterson and I am the Governor of New York State." His words were clear, concise and compelling.

Now that we know David, WHO are YOU?

Saturday, January 26, 2008

He's 20-something and his company has already been ACQUIRED, read HOW


Find out what it's like to drive cross country interviewing a bunch of interesting people and then get acquired by a company that's literally in your own back yard. Here's my interview with Brett Farmiloe founder of http://pursuethepassion.com/



Laura Allen: How did you come up with the idea for Pursue the Passion?

Brett Farmiloe: It was a combination of things. One was a discovery that I really liked to interview people, which I found out by interviewing for jobs during my senior year at the University of Arizona. I then was staring at my last summer before diving into the corporate world, and I wanted to make the most of my last few months of freedom. Plus, I was feeling lots of self-induced skepticism for going into a career as an auditor. So I wrote down the things I wanted to do in my last summer. I wanted to travel. I wanted to learn. I wanted to improve. I combined all of those "wants" with what I liked to do, and eventually came to the conclusion that I should hit the road with a couple buddies and interview people that had found a passion in their work.

LA: Did people ever tell you that you were crazy and should get a REAL job?

BRETT: Hell yeah. Who wouldn't think that traveling around the country in a RV to interview people at no pay isn't crazy. I think I'm crazy. But you know what? You have to be a little bit crazy to take risks. And its those risks that put you on a whole different level than those that remain complacent.

LA: What was the biggest challenge in getting PTP off the ground?

BRETT: Getting others to believe in your idea the way you do. I could see so clearly as to why Pursue the Passion would be beneficial to a company, how it would impact students, and where it could potentially lead if I had just one believer with some capital. But not too many saw it the way I did, and to tell you the truth, I don't think our title sponsor Jobing.com did either. I like to think they invested in my "passion" for the idea, and trusted that I could make this thing work.

LA: What was the most surprising thing you learned about yourself during your cross country trips with PTP?

BRETT:That I was previously living in a very constrained, small world. I guess that's what travel does to you. It opens your eyes to the other things life has to offer. It exposes you to the lifestyles people lead. And then it causes you to look at your life and say, "Hey, wait a minute. Why am I not living as freely as I can be?"

LA:How did you learn about Jobing?

BRETT: Jobing.com is everywhere in Phoenix. They have naming rights to a stadium. They have a fleet of wrapped cars that employees drive around with their logo on it. They have billboards, adopt-a-highway signs, huge career expos. Plus, they were headquartered a block away from my house. So here my buddy and I were frantically submitting proposals to corporations and companies across the United States, when really, all we had to do was look in our backyard to find an opportunity.

LA: What's it like to have your first company get acquired?

BRETT:I suppose its like the mothers nest syndrome. You know its best for your child to go on and grow in the world, but part of you wants to hold on. Its tough to let go of the baby that you put the life into and created, but exciting at the same time because of all the things that will transpire.

Hopeful entrepreneurs often dream of making big money and retiring. Does this acquisition allow you to retire or give you the freedom to not have to work for someone else?

Nope... I'm still a hopeful. But what this move does do is it allows me to operate with lots of autonomy and with lots of resources available. And that's sexy.

LA:Did you handle all aspects of the deal with Jobing or did you have lawyers and advisors to help?

BRETT:It was pretty straightforward stuff because there had been such a trusting relationship that we had established over six months. So it was just me.

LA: Did you ever think PTP would get acquired?

BRETT:Nope.

LA:Have you read The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss? What do you think of this book? He seems like a guy who would like what PTP stands for.

I have heard so much about the 4 hour work week book. I haven't read it. I'm working on Atlas Shrugged right now, written by Ayn Rand. It's an undertaking considering I've never read a book over 1,000 pages, but I'm enjoying it.

LA: When is your book scheduled to come out?

BRETT:It hasn't been announced yet, but I am hoping June 23rd of this summer. I'm also hoping that the book will bring us back out on the road to do some promo speaking around the country. We'll have to see.

LA:What's next for you and PTP?

BRETT:I have to have the first draft of the book done in sixty days. Yikes. Zach Hubbell, who came along on the trip and is working with PTP right now, will be the documentarian responsible for compiling an award worthy film to go along with the book. We will also be speaking to tons of high schools, colleges, and companies about what we found on the road. Then we'll see where the journey takes us next.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

I'll be speaking on a webinar panel this Thursday at 2:30 pm. You can join it by going here:


http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/12907

You will need to download the Talkshoe application in order to join in. Talkshoe is an interesting platform that allows you to create an internet radio show, record it, turn it into a podcast and also intereact with others via phone, Skype, etc.

Learn from a panel of experts how to use technology and content to get visitors to your website to become actual paying customers. We cover strategies from start to finish, for beginners to experienced site owners,

Moderator: Anita Campbell is the CEO of her own business, Small Business Trends LLC, a media and information company.

Panelists include: Douglas Shuman Senior Vice President, Customer Marketing, Register.com, Shawn Holt, VP of Biz Dev for SitePal , and me!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Small Biz Tech Summit on Feb. 11th

hello all!

I wanted to recommend an event I've been going to for the past few years. It's the Small Business Tech. Summit and it is a fun, informative, all day event on Feb. 11th.

I'll be speaking on one of the panels.

And, laurel touby of MediaBistro fame, will be on another panel.

http://www.smallbiztechsummit.com/

It's really a bargain, just $99. if you sign up by Feb. 1st, so definitely hurry!!

Click here to register.
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/77143739

It's one of the only all day events I plan to attend this year.

:)

laura