Carmel, Yorktown Heights business partners launch eMarketing Bootcamp
Kelly Liyakasa
May-10-09, 09:18 PM
Lisa Kaslyn, president of Kashen Communications, and Jann Mirchandani, owner of Mirchandani Consulting, are teaming up for an eMarketing Bootcamp webinar series.
A Carmel communications consultancy and Yorktown Heights graphic and Web design company are teaming up for business bootcamp sans the sweat, early daylight drills and demerit system.
Via cold call, Lisa Kaslyn, president of Kashen Communications in Carmel, pitched an idea some months ago to Jann Mirchandani, owner of Mirchandani Consulting in Yorktown Heights.
"My specialty is more in design and Lisa specializes in content management, so that's how we originally got together," said Mirchandani. "The timing was perfect and we both wanted to add new services, so it was a great collaboration."
The two entrepreneurs brainstormed ideas and then talked with clients and other business owners.
"Not only are we trying to help other businesses, we were in a position where we needed help too," Kaslyn said.
"I always considered how to make my business broader. I wanted a richer basket of offerings. I thought, 'Maybe if I partner with a design firm that works on Web sites, it would make a nice marriage to content management.' We realized that a lot of times, there are small businesses that need help but don't have the resources."
Mirchandani said that even before October when the economy took a turn for the worse, webinars were on her radar.
"I seemed to be getting a lot of e-mails for free and paid webinars," she said. "It's a good way to get your message out there and is both an economical and convenient way for the consumer to educate themselves."
The duo's eMarketing Bootcamp, scheduled for May 13 to June 10, consists of four budget modules: creating a goal-oriented Web site, search optimized content, e-mail and e-newsletter campaigns, and inbound marketing and social media. Each 45-minute session costs $69. A $20 discount if offered for signing up for multiple modules.
"In my opinion, every business knows intuitively that they need to be online, unless they're living under a rock," Kaslyn said. "I think for any small business using a Web site, which most can and should, it's sort of the backbone of your marketing."
Mirchandani said this rule applies to most any industry.
"Right now, we have someone in insurance signed up and one in IT consulting," Mirchandani said. "We'll probably get a fairly broad spectrum of participants since there is not one business out there where people don't expect to learn about you online."
"I think a lot of people are mystified by terms like 'search engine optimization,'" Kaslyn said. "We want to give them an honest appraisal of what SEO is and how they can use common sense tactics as they're writing and developing content for their Web sites."
The premier bootcamp program will be broken down into five, 90-minute webinar workshops with half-hour, post-workshop consultations. The cost is $850.
Bootcamp participants can learn via online slideshows, which will be available in pdf format at the end of the lesson. Assignments are given and reviewed at the start of a new webinar session.
The Web site is www.bootcampforbiz.com.
