Delivered by Claire Bouvier, founding father of FEiST (Female Entrepreneurs in Small Towns), and hosted by Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development, “6 Ways To Successfully Reach Your Customers: A Workshop Series For Rural Female Entrepreneurs” is a virtual workshop going down on March 24 and 31, 2022. The free workshop guarantees to assist female entrepreneurs in small-town or rural Ontario (comparable to Susan Twist, proprietor of Happenstance Books and Yarns in the Village of Lakefield) overcome the challenges in advertising and marketing their new or rising companies. (Photo courtesy of PKED)
Female entrepreneurs in small-town or rural Ontario who’re on the lookout for a post-pandemic reset have a formidable ally in Claire Bouvier.
The Kingston-based influencer, serial entrepreneur, enterprise marketing consultant, and founding father of the online-based FEiST (Female Entrepreneurs in Small Towns) mentorship collection is on a mission to empower all ladies to be the perfect they are often at working their respective companies.
That stated, Bouvier’s major focus — and the topic of an upcoming free two-part workshop hosted by the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED) Business Advisory Centre — is mounted firmly on the unique challenges that rural female entrepreneurs encounter launching or rising their companies.
Claire Bouvier is a Kingston-based influencer, serial entrepreneur, enterprise marketing consultant, and founding father of the online-based FEiST (Female Entrepreneurs in Small Towns) mentorship collection. She will be delivering the virtual “6 Ways To Successfully Reach Your Customers: A Workshop Series For Rural Female Entrepreneurs” workshop, introduced by Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development, on March 24 and 31, 2022. (Photo: Kingston Economic Development)
Sponsored by Community Futures Peterborough, “6 Ways To Successfully Reach Your Customers: A Workshop Series For Rural Female Entrepreneurs” takes place on Zoom on Thursday, March twenty fourth and once more on Thursday, March 31th from 1 to three p.m. every day. You can register for the free workshop at PKED’s new web site at investptbo.ca.
For Bouvier, the workshop presents yet one more alternative to do what she does finest and is most captivated with: empowering rural female entrepreneurs to beat any limitations imposed by the place they dwell to achieve their full private {and professional} potential.
“Urban entrepreneurs have comfort, alternatives, an even bigger community, and extra assets all at their fingertips,” says Bouvier. “Plenty of the rural ladies I’ve labored with don’t even have correct web service.”
You can have a look at new methods to be resourceful and faucet into unique methods of connecting together with your audiences.Claire BouvierFounder, FEiSTTweet this quote
According to Bouvier, her workshop will assist female entrepreneurs perceive the place their limits are, what their struggles are, and what’s stopping them from reaching their prospects.
“Many rural communities current limitations on companies such because the web, transportation, and communications,” she says. “You can have a look at that as a drawback, or you’ll be able to have a look at new methods to be resourceful and faucet into unique methods of connecting together with your viewers.”
At the tip of the day, a back-to-basics method in phrases of making new relationships and nurturing current ones is essential, says Bouvier.
The pandemic has disproportionately affected female entrepreneurs, particularly these with youngsters who’ve needed to handle residence education and youngster care throughout lockdowns. The pandemic has additionally diminished conventional networking and advertising and marketing alternatives, making a higher reliance on on-line advertising and marketing, which is usually a problem in rural areas with much less dependable web service. (Photo courtesy of PKED)
“We need to remind ourselves of what has labored,” Bouvier explains. “It’s not a misplaced artwork: chatting with somebody, organising a relationship, having a espresso date, and constructing one-on-one relationships.”
“We’ve been so bombarded by everybody telling us if we solely use this app, it’s going to alter our buyer relationships — however actually it comes all the way down to networking and constructing your neighborhood after which leveraging your neighborhood. It’s all about constructing actual connections with people which might be like-minded and you’ll assist help each other.”
PKED’s resolution to achieve out to Bouvier to facilitate this workshop grew out of a way that rural female entrepreneurs “really feel ignored,” in line with PKED Entrepreneurship Officers Hillary Manion and Madeleine Hurrell, who each have intensive expertise working with city and rural female entrepreneurs.
That’s actually the main focus of this workshop: to assist these companies get the phrase out about themselves, and perceive how advertising and marketing may be completely different in a rural neighborhood or a small city versus an city setting.Hillary ManionPeterborough & the Kawarthas Economic DevelopmentTweet this quote
“The standard set of assets out there — whether or not that’s skilled networking, skilled growth, or the small enterprise ecosystem that we’re part of — tends to be extra prevalent in city areas,” Manion says. “They don’t all the time have the identical presence in rural areas. Rural entrepreneurs both don’t know concerning the assets which might be out there, or they don’t really feel they’re simply accessible.”
“We have conversations with food-based and farm-based companies that wouldn’t essentially name themselves a enterprise but they’re, in each sense of the phrase, a enterprise. But as a result of their enterprise mannequin is completely different from somebody on a important avenue in a bigger metropolis, they might take into account themselves completely different. That’s actually the main focus of this workshop: to assist these companies get the phrase out about themselves, and perceive how advertising and marketing may be completely different in a rural neighborhood or a small city versus an city setting.”
Hurrell, in the meantime, touches on one other barrier that each entrepreneur has faced to a point over the previous two years: the pandemic and associated restrictions that took away conventional networking and advertising and marketing alternatives. She says this has disproportionately affected new female entrepreneurs, particularly ladies with youngsters who’ve needed to handle residence education and youngster care throughout lockdowns whereas launching or working their enterprise.
Female entrepreneurs who run their companies in small cities or rural settings, like Lakefield Pantry proprietor and supervisor Jennie MacKenzie, can discover it tougher to entry the identical companies, assets, and networking out there in bigger city centres. Claire Bouvier’s free two-part virtual workshop on March 24 and 31, 2022 will present rural female enterprise homeowners with advertising and marketing methods which might be based mostly on the strengths of small communities, comparable to phrase of mouth. (Photo courtesy of PKED)
Not solely will they study from Claire, however they will get rather a lot from extra skilled or seasoned entrepreneurs who can share issues they realized via expertise.Madeleine HurrellPeterborough & the Kawarthas Economic DevelopmentTweet this quote
“It was necessary for us to focus on that group for this workshop,” Hurrell says. “Our aim behind that is that connectivity piece. From our perspective, a brand new start-up will get rather a lot from this workshop due to the sharing. Not solely will they study from Claire, however they’ll get rather a lot from the extra skilled or seasoned entrepreneurs who can share issues they realized via expertise. That’s all the time actually precious.”
Bouvier agrees the pandemic introduced boundaries for female entrepreneurs, however is fast to notice it has additionally introduced a chance to return to the roots of selling.
“We’ve misplaced the normal sense of what advertising and marketing is,” Bouvier factors out. “This workshop goes to get individuals to deal with constructing the precise relationships by trying on the energy of phrase of mouth, how to do this correctly, and find out how to create robust and strategic relationships and collaborations which might be in the end going to be way more highly effective than throwing cash at advertising and marketing, comparable to by shopping for Facebook adverts.”
This workshop goes to get individuals to deal with constructing the precise relationships by trying on the energy of phrase of mouth.Claire BouvierFounder, FEiSTTweet this quote
According to Bouvier, constructing these robust and strategic relationships is just not solely key for overcoming the isolation female entrepreneurs in rural communities could have faced in the course of the pandemic, however for rising their enterprise because the financial system opens again up.
“Post-pandemic, the highway is opening up once more,” she says. “There are alternatives for progress going into the summer season. It’s about utilizing our time intelligently and deliberately, by being actually intentional about the way in which we construct relationships and by aligning our companies and the issues that we do to in the end construct a stronger neighborhood of the individuals we assist serve. Create higher service, a greater story, and a greater relationship with prospects and, probably, different companies you’ll be able to align with.”
For entrepreneurship officers Hillary Manion and Madeleine Hurrell, the workshop additionally supplies a chance to attach with female entrepreneurs who will not be conscious of all of the companies PKED presents.
Female entrepreneurs who take part in Claire Bouvier’s free two-part virtual workshop on March 24 and 31, 2022 will additionally obtain follow-up help and assets from the Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development Business Advisory Centre. Pictured is florist Rebecca Collinson at Lakefield Flowers & Gifts in the Village of Lakefield, a enterprise owned by Robyn Jenkins. (Photo courtesy of PKED)
“Maddie and I are making a structured follow-up plan for the workshop attendees,” Manion explains. “Participants gained’t solely have the suggestions and takeaways from the precise two days — they’re going to have a help system afterwards.”
“We’re organising a chat room for attendees,” she provides. “They’ll have full entry to each Maddie and I, together with all the assets supplied via the PKED’s Business Advisory Centre. There are sustainable and tangible takeaways for the workshop contributors.”
As for Bouvier’s workshop, Hurrell says contributors will be uncovered to the entrepreneurial knowledge and over-the-top ardour of “a dynamic and implausible speaker.”
“That’s tremendous necessary once you’re doing one thing nearly,” Hurrell notes. “I might inform the viewers to sit down down and buckle in.”
Register for the free virtual workshop “6 Ways To Successfully Reach Your Customers: A Workshop Series For Rural Female Entrepreneurs” at investptbo.ca. (Graphic: PKED)
I’m going to current six unbelievable, completely different ways in which they will work into their enterprise advertising and marketing … They’ll have a brand new listing of methods that hasn’t been given to them in the final two years.Claire BouvierFounder, FEiSTTweet this quote
For her half, Bouvier says her workshop will present contributors with “a guidelines for achievement with their advertising and marketing over the subsequent 12 months.”
“I’m going to current six unbelievable, completely different ways in which they will work into their enterprise advertising and marketing,” Bouvier explains. “They won’t do it tomorrow — perhaps in a 12 months from now — however a type of issues will come into play and have a huge effect. They’ll have a brand new listing of methods that hasn’t been given to them in the final two years, as a result of there hasn’t been something devoted to being an entrepreneur in a rural setting.”
To register for Bouvier’s free workshop, go to investptbo.ca.
VIDEO: FEiST (Female Entrepreneurs in Small Towns)
For extra details about Bouvier’s FEiST Studio, go to www.feiststudio.com.
To study extra about Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development, its programming, and its companies, go to the newly designed web site at investptbo.ca.
The story was created in partnership with Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development.
https://kawarthanow.com/2022/03/05/free-virtual-workshop-in-march-will-address-unique-challenges-faced-by-rural-female-entrepreneurs/
