Spotlight: Carla Langhorst

Become part of the speaking circuit with Enterprise Toronto have had the
opportunity to share the stage with many entrepreneurs with knowledge in
expertise in various industries. Carla Langhorst is the author of Will it
Fly "the idea tester


1. Dragons Den has gain popularity last few years where entrepreneurs
pitch there business idea/There has been a wide variety of business
featured on the show. The show does give great insights on what
products may work. What would you do or say if one of your clients was
looking at pitching their idea on the show?

First, focus on sales. Every single company who has been successful on
the show has had a significant amount of sales. The true sign of a
successful business is that they are making money....from sales, not
investors.

Second, focus on developing a sales pipeline. You can't be satisfied
with what you currently have, otherwise you aren't showing a grow
potential. You should be able to project you growth rate in the next
12 months at a minimum.

Third, potential to penetrate new markets and build strategic
partnerships, this is your business development strategy. Make sure
that you have a plan of how you will continue to grow beyond the next
12 months.

The funny thing is, if a company does focus on sales and has a great
pipeline and a solid business development strategy, they don't really
need the dragons.


2. Where do you see social media marketing heading in the new year?

In 2011, you can no longer fake it to make it in social media. Social
media marketing will (finally) become more strategic. I think the
last 3 years showed all the different ways that social media can be
used to push business. However, instead of thinking about how to use
social media strategically, many companies just started using it. 2011
will be the change maker. Those who use it strategically will continue
to see results. Those who don't, will no longer see results. Also, all
social media platforms will no longer simply be used by everyone.
Consumers will have to pick which ones they continue to use as they
don't have enough time in the day to 'follow' them all, which will
segment the social media marketplace forcing companies to do the same.

www.theninesconsulting.com, Carla Langhorst at
cl@theninesconsulting.com

Jim Pagiamtzis is a published author, writer and entrepreneur who has written for the Toronto Public Library spoken at Universities, Enterprise Toronto, Initiative TO on How to be come a networking Success and How to attract Mentor in Business Life and Success. You can be email payamgis@gmail.com if you interested in being featured in future spotlight articles or have him come and speaking to sales or marketing organizations