Shannon's thoughts on marketing, public relations, social technology, entrepreneurship and other things

Shannon Mouton
Shannon Mouton

the principal at Topaz Consulting, is a relationship marketing professional, with a passion for utilizing social technology for building B2B/B2C relationships, sharing information, networking and advancing the greater good. She has over 20 years of public relations, marketing and community building experience. Her combination of political, nonprofit, higher ed and corporate experience has afforded her opportunities to build communities where none existed, develop and launch innovative programming and bridge generational, economic and racial divides.

Shannon serves on the board of directors for the In Series, a Washington, DC performing arts organization. She is a regular contributor to Women Grow Business and Discover Exceptionalism, and her blog, Shannon Sez So, examines life's joys, pains and idiosyncrasies. Shannon is the founder of Topaz Consulting, a DC based marketing consultancy with a nationwide portfolio of clients. She graduated from Mount Vernon College (now part of The George Washington University) and is a proud native Washingtonian.

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2011 (31)
2010 (74)
 

A Conversation with IndieBusiness, an Awesomely Fantabulous Woman I Wanna Be Like When I Grow Up

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This week’s Awesomely Fantabulous Woman is @IndieBusiness aka Donna Maria Coles Johnson. She is an entrepreneur par excellence. Donna is living her passion and had found the secret(s) to small business success. She is a business woman, wife and technology power-user...she's getting it done on her terms.

What is Indie Business?
Indie Business is Indie Business Media, LLC, the company I own with my husband. One of our subsidiaries is the Indie Beauty Network, a trade organization that provides educational and small business networking services, and products liability insurance, for our small manufacturers of health, beauty and lifestyle products. Another subsidiary is INDIEgu, an e-commerce hub for American handmade and artisan products like soaps, candles, fragrances and confectionery goodies.

When did you start?
We launched on January 16, 2000, the day we also published our first online newsletter. Launching this business with a newsletter was the biggest and most important professional achievement of my life.

Really, launching a newsletter was momentous?
Yes, because the newsletter is one of the most fun and effective tools I use to connect with my customers and other stakeholders. It allows me to do four things that are important to me: have fun, help others, increase profitability and stay in touch with people easily and consistently.

Are these four things your priority?
Yes, in the sense that I use them to evaluate how I am doing as a business leader. If I am having fun, helping others, earning a profit and staying in touch with those whom I serve, then I am achieving my purposes as a woman and a business owner. In the case of the newsletter, for example, since I was a journalist/public relations major in college, I learned a lot about publishing. I combined this formal education with my love for the writing process, and this makes newsletter publishing not only effective, but also fun for me. Writing is professionally and personally satisfying for me, as is reaching out and connecting with other people.

Tell me about the newsletter.
The Indie Experience Newsletter is published each Monday. The tagline for the newsletter is my own personal motto, "Enjoy your life! Build your business! Have your way." It is a news, business and product resource.

How do you use media to get the word out about your business?
Connecting with and nurturing relationships with all kinds of media outlets is an integral and enjoyable part of my business. I share information and publish content that helps people, and this ultimately grows my business. I enjoy training others to use their own branded media outlets to do the same through my one-day The Media Is You training workshops. When it comes to media, I employ what I call the trifecta: passion, instincts and training. It's a part of my purpose to help others use media outlets, to discover their voice and share their passions and ideas with the world.

Nugget of knowledge: Everyone needs to be their own best media outlet.

How did you get started on our entrepreneurial journey?
I had a traditional 9-5 job and I was unfulfilled because I didn’t learn anything about myself. I was paid to perform, not to grow. I wanted to grow, and when I realized that a traditional workplace was not helping me do that, I decided to create my own workplace by launching a business that I could design to fit my life -- instead of designing my life to fit my profession. I decided I wanted my life mantra to be, “Enjoy my life! Build my business! Have my way!" So I created that for myself and my family, and now, I help others do the same.

You’ve also found another stream of income as a public speaker, what are some of the messages you share with young people when you talk with them?
This is a great question, since I'm just back from lecturing to graduate students at Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson College of Business. I encourage young people to start a blog, to be in control of their online identity, their brand and to use technology to reflect skills, integrity, humanity, and professionalism. Young people must be careful to take control of their online personas. If they don't, future employers, business partners, spouses and children could uncover unfavorable things (true or not), which can hurt them in down the road.

"You may not be able to control what people say about you online, but if you aren't a proactive part of the conversations about you on the Internet, you're abdicating your responsibility to present the best possible reflection of yourself to the world."

What are some of the keys to your success?

  • Patience: I am willing to do tiny things no one else sees in order to take the big steps that are more visible.
  • Focus: I'm not trying to be all things to all people. I have a niche and I do my best to serve it.
  • Faith and Family: My husband and personal faith are integral to everything I do, and everything that is done to me.
  • Persistence: I don't give up. When an obstacle comes, I assess it and figure out how to go over, around, under or through it so I can achieve.
  • Humility: I ask for help when I need it. This is one of the most effective ways to achieve your goals.
  • Relationships: Life and business are nothing without them so I try to maintain healthy, interdependent relationships.
  • Technology: I embrace it every step of the way. I use it to position myself as someone here to help, offer a service you need, and bringing value to your life.

Finally, life is a process of constant rebranding...I’m in a constant state of beta.

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Networking For Success

"Networking is crucial to success."
How many of you have heard this time and again? How many of you are uncomfortable networking?

You were taught to the WIIFM Approach to Networking:

  • have your business card at the ready, easily accessible, no fumbling for it
  • confidently walk up to John Doe, look him eye-to-eye
  • give him a firm handshake, not too soft and not too hard
  • say your name and title clearly, with a smile on your face
  • give your elevator pitch, which you've repeatedly rehearsed
  • listen to John give you his information, you're nodding, though not really listening
  • you and John exchange cards, neither of you writing any notes on them
  • take a sip of whatever you are drinking, say you will call, knowing you won't
  • you move to the next person to repeat the cycle, believing John will call because you are brilliant and he needs you to do something or other
  • and, you wait for John, or anyone from that night, to call you
Answer this question, did anyone ever call you?

Networking is often seen as a one-way endeavor, to find someone to help you; however, the true benefits of networking come when you focus outwardly versus inwardly. If you approach networking as a opportunity to help others first and yourself second, it will become easier, less stressful and even enjoyable.

Nugget of knowledge: Networking in the 21st century is about fostering mutually beneficial relationships.

Imagine this scenario:

  • have your business card and a pen at the ready, easily accessible
  • confidently walk up to John Doe, look him eye-to-eye
  • give him a firm handshake, not too soft and not too hard
  • ask him his name and title, with a smile on your face
  • ask him what is his organization's mission or goal and what is a current challenge
  • offer him suggestions for meeting the challenge and/or how you can help him meet it
  • you and John exchange cards, you write a note on the back of his card to jog your memory about the conversation and any follow-up
  • take a sip of whatever you are drinking, say you will call and mean it
  • you move to the next person to repeat the cycle, knowing you will call John because he is expecting to finish the conversation of how you can help him
  • and, you call John, set an appointment to meet and a new member of your network is born
In scenario 1, it was about you, your organization, your elevator pitch, what John can do for you. Whereas in scenario 2, it is about John, his organization, his goals and his opportunities. Which scenario do you think will be most successful in fostering a mutually beneficial business relationship?

When is your next networking event? Are you going to make most out of it, getting contacts to take your organization to the next level or will this just be another happy hour?

Additional resources:
Top 10 Networking Tips
How To: Network With A Purpose
The Importance of Being Memorable

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It was all about social media last week

Last week I had the honor of speaking – twice – during Digital Capital Week, both events centered around educating and empowering people to participate in the social media space for the betterment of their communities, organizations, businesses or themselves.

Gov & Org 2.0 Day (6/16): I co-presented “Social Media 4 Social Good” with Danielle Ricks. During the session, we demystified social media for attendees, sharing best practices and utilizing case studies from AmeriCorps VISTA and Walden University.

Nugget of knowledge: go to where your constituents are, don’t spend limited resources fishing in the ocean if your fish are in the pond

Women Grow Business Boot Camp (6/19): I was a panelist with @lizscherer, @clickwisdom, @creativeblogs and @jillfoster (moderator), “What’s the Buzz: Marketing your business, using PR and social media.” The session focused on utilizing social media to move businesses forward by reinvention, listening, building relationships and getting traffic to your site.

Nugget of knowledge: it’s not about making a good first impression, it’s about making a memorable impression

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