One Spark Client Interview: Dragonboats/In the Pink

What is you idea?

Our idea is In the Pink...a one-stop shop for women with all types of cancer.  As a non-profit, we are always searching for creative ways to generate funding.  We brought dragon boating to Jacksonville as another healthy activity to get cancer patients engaged after treatment.  It was so well received that we opened up paddling to all people.  We now have several teams that paddle all year long.  We hosted Jacksonville's first dragon boat festival in September 2013.  In the Pink hosts several dragon boat teams. This sport is for everyone, regardless of age of athleticism. For more information, contact Marty at 536-3475 or email: millardm@comcast.net. We have one team for breast cancer survivors only called the Mammoglams. The funds raised at the festival stay at In the Pink, helping men, women and children in the Jacksonville area.

 

Why One Spark?

We decided to participate in One Spark to expose people to In the Pink and the dragon boat festival.  We hope to generate funding to assist US in expanding our services for cancer patients.

 How has the event been for you?

One Spark has been great.  We have met many people who were unaware of In the Pink yet know people who are in need of our services.  We have also found a lot of people who are interested in being involved in the dragon boat festival on September 27, 2014!

 
What's next?

After One Spark, we will continue to pursue funding to allow us to continue our services at In the Pink.  www.jaxinthepink.net
 

Amazing Finish to One Spark! Three FSBDC Client Winners! Congratulations!

We had 60 clients in this years One Spark crowd sourcing event. Congratulations to all of them as they made a great deal of progress vetting their idea and branding their concepts in front of 250,000 attendees. 

Congratulations to One Spark client winners Theatre on a Mission, Snyder Memorial Restoration and Aqua Jax for their first place finishes!. We also had checks presented to the St. Augustine Aquarium effort as well as the folks from Catty Shack Ranch!

But the work is just starting, and these winners as well as most of the other clients we assisted during One Spark will start digging in an planning their next steps after One Spark. Our team of experts is excited to be part of this process. We will keep this blog open longer to track the progress of these clients going forward!

The victorious Theatre on a Mission crew!

Snyder Memorial Restoration aka Amplify!

A big Jacksonville win by the Aqua Jax team!

One Spark Client Interview: Old Maid Cat Lady #20158

Old Maid Cat Lady has been a long time client at the FSBDC. The owner Lynn Thompson, has an amazing website and seeks to take her line of offerings to the next level via One Spark. We caught up to her at the Landing.

Describe your creator idea.

My project is way beyond the idea phase; I've been operating this online department store for cats and cat lovers for the past four years! It goes beyond a normal e-commerce site in that it's also a resource for cat owners. Cats are often misunderstood, so I try to help people understand feline needs and how to provide for them so they can live more harmoniously together. The project I'm presenting for One Spark is to get funding for expansion of my team by two people: one to help with operations work, and the other to focus solely on SEO. That should free me up to do more marketing and outreach.

Why one spark?

I knew last year that I needed to do a project for One Spark, but was not sure exactly how to make it apply to my business. The impact of this event, and its potential to raise awareness of OldMaidCatLady.com were just too much to resist. So I attended last year to get ideas, read through the material about how to become a Creator, and figured out a way to present a project that would fit within their parameters and still give me something I needed.

How is One Spark going so far?

Traffic was slow the first few days where I'm located, which is a bit out of the main traffic flow. But the crowds picked up a lot on Day 4. Lots more people stopped by and not only voted for me, but took one of my brochures and said they'd be checking out my site. So it should lead to increased sales for me.

What is next after One Spark?

I spoke with a guy who said they're holding an event soon to match up Creators with investors, and I'll look into that. The leader of my peer-to-peer mentoring group also told me she wants to put me in touch with some venture capitalists she knows who may be a good fit. I have taken this retail site as far as I can by myself, so my team definitely needs to expand, and it's not even making enough now to pay my bills, so an injection of capital is definitely needed. Until that comes, I'll continue doing as much as I can alone, continually tweaking and improving the site, processing and following up on orders.

Location: The Landing, 2nd floor #20158

Lynn Maria Thompson
Author - Speaker - Editor
President, Thompson Writing & Editing, Inc.

Proprietor, OldMaidCatLady.com

Neptune Beach, Florida
www.thompsonwriting.com

www.oldmaidcatlady.com

Phone (904) 242-0054
Cell (904) 955-2367
Fax (904) 458-8021
E-mail lynn@thompsonwriting.com

Follow me on Twitter @gatorlynn and @OldMaidCatLady

The Booth Truth - 7 Tips for One Spark Booths

Scrambling for what to do with your One Spark booth?  We've got some suggestions for stellar booths, and would love to hear your ideas too.

1. Interactive is King

Remember going to the zoo as a kid?  The best part of the trip was always feeding and petting the animals.  Your parents had to pull you away kicking and screaming to get ice cream afterwards.  All these years later, little has changed.  If you want to form a line to view your creation, this is a sure fire way to get that attention.

2. Eye Level

After walking around all day looking at projects, the last display anyone wants to see is one at waist level.  Just thinking about bending down to view your creation can cause terror in the backs of the masses.  You get a pass on this requirement if your target audience is kids.

3. Show Your Number

Let's face it, as a people our patience level is growing thin.  If I have to wait on a website to load for 5 seconds one more time I think I'm going to lose it!  And if I can't find your number easily, you're not getting my vote.

4. Have a Prize for Your Voters

Who doesn't like to win?  Reward your voters with a little something to show your appreciation.  Think flashy company stickers, a raffle, or candy.

5. Bring Back Up

Tired after a full day of shopping or working on your feet?  Try 5 days for around 12 hours each day.  One Spark can feel like running a marathon on your legs at times.  Plan to have some friends and family entertain booth visitors at key times during the week so you can give your feet a rest.  Take some of this time to visit other creators, see pitches and speeches, and even grab a nap.

6. Don't Get Stuck

You just met the visitor of your dreams!  They've got the money, connections, experience, and _____ (add your greatest need here) to take your dream to the next level.  The only problem is that you've been talking with this person for 45 minutes while ignoring everyone else.  Come prepared for this situation with business cards and an email list for people to join on the spot.  Let these VIPs know that you will definitely be in touch.  And if you have others helping you with your booth, you should take the conversation off to the side to avoid distractions.

7. Invite Your Target Audience

Don't expect the people you want to meet to accidentally stumble upon your booth.  With over 500 creators at this year's One Spark, you don't want to be just another face in the crowd.  Find out who you would like to visit your booth before the festivities begin, and send those people an email or tweet with an personal invitation to your creation.  This is your weekend, flex your networking muscles to make the most of it.