This is a high power networking group, members are exclusively NWeSource Clients and Partners – and only those we want to spend time with.  High power personalities, superior customer service, and the strongest of hearts, integrity and power of mission are the qualifications we use as membership criteria!  Do not take an invitation lightly as we will soon be the size of a Chamber of Commerce, with monthly meetings designed to bring you the best information and processes on how to bring your B2B business to life!  Cross promotion, cross marketing, cross merchandising, marketing cost sharing, client synergy and more -these are the buzzwords that will have money making meaning for you and your business in the coming months. With the new Northwest eSource location, this group is primed for a 2010 BLASTOFF!

The time is now – it’s 2010 !!

Our first meeting will be Friday, January 15th at El Indio restaurant for lunch, followed by a tour and short presentation by Charles Montgomery of Northwest eSource at their brand new office next door!

Quality and performance are what matters to the team at Wheel Kraft NW.  Providing their clients with the best wheel repair service is what they do.  If they can not provide a wheel repair solution, they outsource to someone who can!

They straighten wheels, refinish wheels, and customize wheels.  They save their customers time and money from the cost of replacement and by being a mobile service.  Most importantly they gain the clients trust by putting them first.  Customer loyalty is something a company can not buy.

A Model B2B Model

WheelkraftNW partners with auto dealerships, auto detail shops, and auto repair companies to provide customers with wheel repair services they need through transparent (to the client) outsourcing. “Krafting” these Business to Business (B2B) partnerships has been key to their current expansion and growth.

Teaming up with other businesses in similar industries to provide customers with what they need is a great way to add an additional revenue stream.  You can never go wrong by going the extra mile for your customers, including making a referral to another service provider.  By connecting clients to reputable businesses you can build trust and loyalty with your clients.  It also allows you to start a referral trend with several partner companies, providing each other with solid references and leads.

Designs of All Kinds is a local screen printing, embroidery, and promotional products business serving the Portland and Vancouver area. No matter what products you want to use as promotional items, Designs of All Kinds has you covered. Whether you need personalized banners and signs or things like vehicle wraps, uniforms, hats, sports bags, pens, key chains, magnets, or anything else—there are over 3,000 products available in the online catalog. Your personalized logo and tagline will customize each item you request.

Local Promotional Products and Uniforms – Online

Designs of All Kinds will take the artwork that your company, school, church, sports team, or volunteer group sends and the price you’ve set for each item. One of Designs of All Kinds’ capable designers will work with your team or business managers to make sure the final product is exactly what you wish. After the designs are approved, then these items are recorded in our online catalog under the name of your organization. All you have to do is notify your group of its availability and they can order the items from the online Vancouver Washington promotional products store themselves. Every order is handled online, without you having to handle it yourself.

Fundraising the Right Way!

Aside from the obvious lure of uniforms or customized t shirts for your organization, promotional products are a great way to advertise your group. Creating a list of customized products at Designs of All Kinds is also an easy way to organize a fundraising effort. Because you set the price, if you charge more than what each item costs to create, the extra money will be given to your organization once the fundraising event is over. For more information about organizing a fundraising event, or about any of the available products, please contact one of Designs of All Kinds’ customer service representatives.

…

Designs of All Kinds

6016 NE 105th Ave
Vancouver, WA 98662

Phone: 360 892 5597

info@designsofallkinds.com

Member Profiles Coming Soon!

This site is dedicated to a core group of businesses that can and will work together to network for business in Portland and Vancouver, utilizing a synergistic , technology-based approach.  The primary piece of the technology core will be this website – delivering quality content, SEO links, and best of all, social business networking events whose primary focus is on developing winning B2B partnership opportunities.

Another basic yet extremely effective piece of the technology core will be utilizing email marketing that contains the logos, links, coupons, news and core messages of the member consitituency, mailed out on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.  This will be shared marketing among the members, administered by Northwest eSource.  Its goal will be to spread the word about Portland and Vancouver’s BEST BUSINESSES.  By combining quality graphics and content with POWERFUL PRICING SPECIALS with a broad-based combined clientele target market, we should have  a winning formula.

When I get a newsletter from the two computer companies I follow online – Newegg.com and TigerDirect.com – I almost ALWAYS READ THEM.  Why?  Because the prices they put in SOMETIMES are so good, I can’t help but read ALL OF THE EMAILS.  

If we can combine efforts to consistently offer specials that are so good we may make a considerably lower profit margin initally, but our readership will grow exponentially – as will the regular income from regular readers.

One last thing, this effort will be based on our current clientele’s agreement to subscribe or be delivered the newsletter initially.  This means that their loyalty to your company and the relationship you have with them is what is going to bring them into the circle of the best businesses in Portland and Vancouver through Northwest Business Links – so make sure you are collecting email addresses NOW!

 In a Web 2.0 world, using the internet in meaningful ways often will require the expansion of your business model.  Here we look for solid ways to create B2B partnerships to increase your revenue.

Start by asking yourself:

What is your B2B Business Model?

If you don’t have one by now, you may be missing a third of the boat or so - which means you may not float, particularly in a tough economy.

Where does a B2B Business Model really come into play?

When it is well developed, practiced, executed and the demand is there for your company’s products or services – on a wholesale level as is B2B generally – you build for yourself a second revenue stream that will weather a down economy.

Wholesale?  How do I brainstorm for potential B2B partnerships?

You have your retail customers, now think of business owners you have served, and any way you can profitably serve other companies – even if it is at a lower margin.

If I make less money, how does that help?

Less money per client is what we are talking about, and not replacing your current revenue stream but adding to it.  When you serve companies, as opposed to consumers (or ADDITIONALLY), that income stream can become more consistent over time than the retail portion because businesses and business owners tend to still have money in a down economy.

Are your services Resellable?

B2b partnerships often entail you adding someone else’s products or services and them doing the same for you, effectively doubling the scope of your audience.

Come join us for our quarterly event!

This is a must attend event and very exciting!  Northwest Business Links has so much to offer, as business owners have so much to offer each other.

Our mission is to connect business owners and foster B2B relationships  – and what better way to do that then wining and dining!?

This will be a catered event with an expected 50-150 guests.  We will have a couple of speakers for short empowering and informational messages, followed with activities intended to produce business results for you, the company owners.

Activities will include small group brainstorming sessions led by our team members, where yours and our creative energies will be combined to create new advertising taglines, ad ideas and brand refreshers.  Expect several members of our teams to be there, ranging from blog authors and e-mail

marketing engineers, to graphic designers who will be more than happy to pencil out the latest logo ideas you have been kicking around.

We prefer to surround ourselves with the smartest and hardest working Americans, and that is you, the entrepeneurs and engineers of our great business systems.  We greatly anticipate this event and look forward to hearing your ideas and input.

We work hard to work smart.

Smart business networking is what we’re after, and we think we have come up with a great system (to be revealed later), for now we are content to go over some basics.

Social Business Networking Basics

#1 – First things first – keep your clients happy.

Happy clients talk.  They show off.  They glow.  Let your clients love you.  One key ingredient then will definitely be listening so that you accurately identify each client’s need and are able to accurately provide the precise solution for their situation.

#2 – Identify power partners.

Some people in this world are really good at giving referrals.  They have this knack often because they truly appreciate the power of referrals for their business matched with an empathy that creates a talent of digging deeper to find what the people they are conversing with need.  These are the people you want to be your champions.  The first clue we use to identify a power partner – the first time someone makes a referral they get nominated for the position.  Then with additional follow-up and coffee or something to further the relationship, the synergy can begin to form.  Look for an article soon on identifying and developing your business networking power partners.

#3 – Follow Up and Stay in Touch

This is mainly meant for your clients, but clearly qualifies with power partners as well.  Primarily though the simple call after a service is provided or product purchased will do the trick.  It’s simple because most businesses do not perform this kind of customer service, you will likely be a cut above for the majority of clients you follow up with.

#4 – Sweeten the Deal

Want to impress someone you think might be a power partner?  Let them go home after the purchase or service, then during the follow up call, let them know you would like to offer them a bonus service or product, just because you appreciated them.  This kind of behavior is what illuminates who can be your champion.

#5 – Offer Incentives

If a Northwest Business Links member refers another business to us that we qualify as one of the best in the Northwest – and we do business, say – then they will receive sponsorship on our site for at least a month as an incentive.  The moment you receive

#6 – Be Gracious

It sounds too simple, but thank you goes a long way.  All too often business is done as business as usual.  In our era, the choice of who to do business with is a personal power just like a vote.  If you are gracious, you will get more votes.

Smart Business, Social Networking!

Rich Grindland of Mountain View Carpet Care, says the key to smart social business networking is getting your client excited.  “When you pump them up about the value and quality of what you do, that energy is contagious…” he says.

We agree.

Your referred clients are so much more likely to be less concerned with price, and already happier about the fact someone they feel they can trust is there to help them with their needs.

From there, truly listening and resolving their desires also will be the key to getting them to talk about YOU.