Fall in Love with the Blac Gurlz Ink 2010 Butches of the Bay

The Blac Gurlz Ink Babes would like to take February – the month of Love, as an opportunity to introduce a new product into our greeting card and gift line – Postcards!

AND to also introduce our selection for the 2010 Butches of the Bay!

In keeping with our mission statement to be “authentic” in our presentation of images specifically designed for the LGBT community, by using LGBT members as our models and to showcase the “diversity” of our community, we feel that the handsome women chosen, represent a cross section of the submissions we received, as well as our community.  They come from various walks of life, ethnic representation and gender expression within the dynamics of being “butch women.”  The Blac Gurlz Ink Babes feel that based on the models’ energy, personal expression of their “butch-ness,” in addition to being simply handsome…well, we’re happy with our picks!

We asked our models to give us a brief bio (see bios below) so that you would be able to get to know them as we have and come to “love the Butches of the Bay” as much as we do.  They are an amazing group of women; they were easy to work with and though they had only met one another during the photo shoot (it was an open casting call), their energy was so warm and welcoming that well…you can feel it emanating from their photos!

Who better to launch our POSTCARD series then gorgeous women who also endow such wonderful masculine energy! 

A set of 6 Postcards for $9.99 (assorted)

And there’s more!

We have also reduced pricing on our hand-crafted, couture greeting cards – in time for Valentine’s Day as well!

Now you can have one of these gorgeously crafted greeting cards for $12.99 – they’re great for expressing that “special” sentiment to the ones you love!  Our hand-crafted, couture greeting cards are great for weddings, baby showers, birthday, anniversary or any special occasion giving.

Valentine's Day You & Me Handcrafted Couture Greeting Card

We here at Blac Gurlz Ink strive to enhance your shopping experience when you visit us at www.blacgurlzink.com and hope that you enjoy your purchases from our greeting cards, gifts and NOW our NEW POSTCARD line!

Our products are also being carried in the following retail locations, so please show support for local and independent businesses:

Laurel Bookstore
4100 MacArthur Blvd.
Oakland, CA  94619
510/531-2073

Crumps Clothing
7416 N. Fresno Street
Fresno, CA 93702
559/449-8437

Rainbow Grocery
1745 Folsom Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415/863-0620

VoluptuArt
http://www.voluptuart.com.

www.blacgurlzink.com

Please keep us ALL  in mind when making future purchases and Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

Model Bios

2010 Butches of the Bay Model: C. Svendsen

Christine Svendsen is a college instructor who is always busy.  She is the president of her local pride organization, president of a local Dyke on Bikes Chapter and president of an advocacy council, all of this while working on her PhD.  She loves to write and is finishing edits on her first book, which she hopes to see in print soon.  She recently married the first, an only, woman in her life Schileen.  She feels one of her greatest accomplishments has been raising three great sons.

Loretta Cannon is surgical assistant who likes to volunteer in countries who little to no access to health care.  She is a firm believer in promoting good health and well being for all women and their families.

Loretta enjoys making gourmet meals for friends and families and team members.  If she had one wish, she would want all lesbian couples to see and feel the safest and warmest memories within each other.

2010 Butches of the Bay Model: L. Cannon

Loretta is embarking on a new business endeavor where she will assist you in “wooing” your sweetie – so watch out for it!

Ericka Schneider enjoys spending her days dreaming of a future as a porn star, but when she is not dreaming, she is spending her time running her own company – ELS Plumbing, “where their specialty is snaking your pipes”.

She also enjoys donating her skills to various organizations that help better the community, such as – Rebuilding Together Oakland (RTO), First Christian Church of Concord (FCC) and the First Christian Church of Fremont, volunteer programs.

When she is not working or dreaming she can be found out on the softball field or at a pool table.  Ericka really enjoys meeting new people and learning new skills.

2010 Butches of the Bay Model: E. Scheider

So, What Are You Selling?

Have you ever listened to someone intensely tell you about their business and walk away from the conversation still wondering what exactly they do?  Ever have a friend say, nooooo, I produce a product, I’m not in the service industry!  Have you, yourself rambled on trying to convey your business idea and 15 mins into the conversation you realize you’ve lost your listener?

Well, then perhaps you, like the examples I mentioned, would be wise to sit with pen and paper and define a few things in regards to your business.

First, are you selling a product, providing a service or both?  And more importantly what are the benefits and features of your product/service?

Why is this so important you may be asking?  Well, imagine you’re speaking with that investor I mentioned in the first blog, telling her about how you need a truck for your mobile tapas idea.  However, in the conversation you say nothing about the food or the locations the truck will visit, but go on about how you’re going to teach cooking workshops, or that you’re going to buy this quaint storefront on a busy street corner.

It appears from this scenario that you’re providing more of a service (teaching cooking workshops) and why would the investor give you funds for a truck, if you want a quaint storefront.  Your conversations should match your business’ current phase of development and be geared toward the present goal at hand – acquiring funding.  By understanding whether you’re selling a product or service and its related features and benefits is paramount.

It means you KNOW what you’re selling!

So what’s the difference between a “product” and a “service”?  A product can be defined as things that your customers can “touch” and “take away” with them – something tangible.  In the case above, the tapas would be the product.  A service is the sale of “time” and “effort” to the customers.  Cooking workshops could fall into this category, but it can also be a product, in that customers can take their finished treats home.  However, for this discussion I will focus on the “time” spent to “teach” the workshop, which would be a service – an intangible element.

Being clear on what your business sells – products, services or both, is important for YOU to know in order to articulate that to not only your investors, but to your employees as well as yourself.  You are the Commander of your business and if you don’t know, don’t expect others to.

Some questions you may want to ask yourself about your product or service are:

1. What are the features of your products or services?
2. What are the benefits of your products or services?
3. What are you really selling to your customers?
4. What kind of slogan might you use?
   Women’s Initiative curriculum, session 1, pg. 1-12

Both products and services have features and benefits.  Features can be defined as describing what the product/service has or does.  Benefits are described as what the customer will receive as a result of purchasing your product/service.  Benefits describe the why a customer purchases.

Using the example of a desk chair, some the features could be 1)padded seats, 2)adjustable lumbar pillow and 3)durable casters.  The benefits could be 1)it’s comfortable, 2)durable and 3)great for your back.  Understanding this is one of the key elements in the development of business’ marketing plan.

By writing it out and talking with others – friends, family, even checking out your competition you will be able to adequately define these elements of your business.  And by defining these elements others will know what it is you sell!

For more information on this subject and other business topics, check out the www.sba.gov.  The Small Business Administration has some great tools and templates to assist you in most aspects of growing your business.

Linked Up

Here you will find helpful links submitted by our Nubian Honey family.  Thank you Queens!

12 Cool Web Tools for Small Business
http://www.inc.com/ss/12-cool-web-tools-small-business#4

Small Business Administration (SBA): DBA, Licenses & Permits
http://bit.ly/1K90q

business.gov: Business Name Search
http://www.business.gov/register/business-name/naming.html

Please check with your local county offices for specific requirements for your area.

Featured Queendoms!

Charmaine Masiom
I manage an investment and loans company.  Most ideas and the actual building of the company, I did along with a good friend of mine – she has the capital and I have the business sense.  Accreditation, drive, personality, plus it helps being a chartered accountant when managing money and balancing the books.  I don’t have a lot of spare time (something my women always complain about—but, I’m working on it:-) ).  My expertise advice in managing your money, organizing a company and accessing capital to start up your own business, I will pass on to all sistas whenever I can … if you all want, you can drop me a line!

Goddess Leah
I am the creator of a homemade natural product line called Zen Peaces (www.zenpeaces.com). I created this product line to help people switch from commercial and toxic bath and body products to products that were made from all natural ingredients. Zen Peaces line carries bath salts, body scrubs, body butter, bath teas, and body powders. All my products are made by me! You can contact me at leah@zenpeaces.com or 864-907-3616.

And remember you usually get 10 minutes to tell someone all about YOU and YOUR BUSINESS…so what would you say?  Because you rarely get a second chance to make a FIRST impression…think about it.

Peace & Prosperity to Us All,