Sharing new concepts learned at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration – Part 2

Maxine Clark and AnaRC

I was impressed by Maxine as a woman, a business owner, a social media example to follow and more.  Let me go straight to the point and share with you all I learned from the CEO of Build-a-Bear Workshop:

Follow your passion. Maxine lost her Teddy Bear at the age of 10 and she was proud to announce that she’s found that bear millions of times.  This is equivalent to the number of teddy bears sold at the Build-a-Bear Workshop since the day she started the company.

How many of us can make a business out of a need? a passion? a lost Teddy?

picture credit to buildabear.com

Those of in Social Media can learn so much from this lesson. Is our passion clear to our audience? Are we adding value? Are we fulfilling a need?  Is our blog/business only focused on me, myself and I? Transcending from the “me” approach to the “client center” approach is the real secret of turning one’s passion into a business.

Make a business plan. The passion was the source of Maxine’s inspiration but her pragmatic approach was what made it happen. She had over 15 years of experience in the retail business and a very elaborate business plan before she started her company.  She had also saved some money and done a fare amount of research.

I personally loved this. So many of us in social media are sold the “get rich fast scheme” we have an unrealistic Silicon Valley dream that success will come by magic when we least expect it and we’ll be BRF (beautiful, rich and famous) forever and ever Amen.  Yeah right! there’s actually more possibilities that you’ll win the lotto than for that to happen.

So stop buying those “Make money while you dream” ebooks and follow Maxine’s advice: “buy a Business Plan software”  It is a tedious exercise but trust me, once you have it ready (or at least started) you’ll have the most liberating feeling you can imagine.

Focus on your employees. Train for top customer experience! One of the moms noted how stellar was the customer service at the BuildaBear Workshop. They are always willing to help and make your child feel the center of the store. Maxine answered with her recruiting strategy.  The core competency she looks for in candidates is that of “caring” if they genuinely care, the rest can be done with training. Then the competency development is customer centered. All about their experience and how to make it even better the next time.

Do you make your customer feel that he/she is the only one you have at the moment? Do you take more than you can handle for the sake of money or ego (or to make sure the competition won’t take it) and then under-deliver? Have you given careful thought about the core competencies your business needs? Do you train and empower your staff or do you compete with them?

Give back. As a social entrepreneur, this was my favorite part. Maxine actually gave before she even made profit. Giving back has been part of her business model and culture from the get go. Maxine and her husband just opened up a health center “Casa de la Salud” to improve the health conditions of Hispanic families in her area. You can imagine how thrilled I was to hear that.

Do you give back to your community? Do you share your assets? Remember that they don’t need to be money.  It can be knowledge, time, friendship….

Listen to your customer. I was moved by the way Maxine read letters from her clients to the audience.  It was actually part of the presentation. Her customers are able to reach her directly and influence her.  One mom asked a question on Facebook.  That question not only was heard, but also ended up turning into a new line of products the company will offer.  How cool is that? The other thing that really moved me was the fact that Maxine has chosen to manage her own accounts.  This includes Twitter! and she added: “That’s why you’ll see my tweets come out at 3:00 am”

We were so impressed by her that even Chris Brogan called Maxine “Your Highness” to show his admiration.  I have taken so many notes that I can go on writing but I learned even more from the way she engaged with her customer’s letters, Facebook messages and tweets even during her presentation.

Thank you Maxine for sharing your success with us all.