Does your state college have an entrepreneurs program?

[kemperk]

I stumbled upon a great program at one of the state colleges about 40 minutes from my office that has an entrepreneurs program with the communications department. In a nutshell I will get assigned a team of four students this semester: 2 public relations, 2 advertising. From now until May we will work together to create something for my business. Wanna' here the best news? Its free. :shock:

So, go and ask your state colleges if their communications department works with entrepreneurs to benefit local small businesses and give their students an extraordinary amount of hands-on learning they could never get in the classroom.

I'm off to interview the final two teams they've picked for me. I'll post back with progress updates if anyone is interested.

 

[confused]

wow that really sounds awesome!!! i hope this is great for you and look forward to hearing more about how it's going!!!!! t038

 

[CCA]

OMG thats awesome! Def. keep us posted!!

 

[Jen Davies Farts A Lot!]

Wow, that does sound great! There is a univ. a few blocks from my home.....

 

[Elias C]

So I met and interviewed with two "teams" this week and it was awesome! We talked about how they could help my biz, and how I can help them get some great real-life experiences under their belts. I wanted to start right away, and so did they!, but the professors have to divvy out the matches and that won't happen until sometime next week.

Some of the things we discussed doing together:
- revamping my in-person image: overhaul the brochures, biz cards, and signs in the office (signs such as "we have gift certificates")
- creating a referral packet: they even volunteered to go to area hospitals and hand them out, wow!
- planning my 5th year in business anniversary open house in June (that would be so helpful!!!)

Anyway, I'm tickled pink for the extra help for this one woman show here and can hardly wait for next week!

 

[babyboysanchez06]

I would like to suggest this to our college; if you are not comfortable posting it, could you PM the name of the college so that I can give them specific information.

The community college where I work part-time has several programs (including Therapeutic Massage) with "co-ops" where the students work in-the-field, but Communication isn't one of them. I think this is a grand idea!

 

[TahoeT]

I would like to suggest this to our college; if you are not comfortable posting it, could you PM the name of the college so that I can give them specific information.

I sent you a PM with the details.

 

[natasha s]

In a prior life, I was one of the assigned marketing students. We worked in a team of 4 to come up with some marketing strategies and tactics for a local startup firm that was trying to figure out a transition from idea to reality.

For us, it was a first chance to flex the mental muscles we had just started to build. A chance to put theory into practice, if you will. However, we had very little practical understanding, but we did our best based upon what we knew. We were able to study the existing competition and guesstimate the potential market for our client entrepreneur's product, but we had zero budget to test our concepts before making recommendations. Looking back, I think we saved our client a lot of time and effort researching the market potential and competition, but our suggested marketing materials and strategies weren't the greatest. :undecided:

I really enjoyed being a part of the program back then, and I applaud the idea of using this resource now if it is available to you. However, do not expect the students you work with to provide expert advice or professional-level marketing materials. (It's possible that they'll do great, but have realistic expectations. ) At the very least, expect to spend some time explaining the nature of our work and the realities of building a clientele to them so they have some idea of what you're up against.

The better you can help them learn to think about your business from your perspective, the more helpful they may be. Definitely tell them where/how to start learning more about massage/bodywork as an industry, and clarify how you try to make your services stand out amidst all the other options in your area. This process will help put all of you on a common page, and establish a common base of understanding from which to work.

While all of this sounds like a lot of up-front work, it shouldn't take too long and will be well worth it. This is your business, so make certain you feel strongly positive about any suggestions before adopting them. That means feeling comfortable with the details. For example, make sure they know WHO to give a referral packet to (and what to say) before sending them out to hospitals. Establishing a budget for different marketing efforts will also help. Encourage them to develop a list of long-term free (or nearly so) marketing tactics. They will probably come up with many new ideas, using resources you may not be aware of.

And that's the best reason to make use of this program. Students in college tend to be more "plugged in" to changing technologies and social trends, and therefore are often a good source of cheap, creative ideas for getting a message out.

 

[Reverse_Thread_Wing_Nut]

I did not find any usual college in my area that does provide this entrepreneur program which is why i as now looking for an online college. I figured that is is really an amazing new way to study!
What do you think about online colleges?