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Oct 29 2016

Reaching for the Moon – Entrepreneurship and the Alchemy of Ideas and Relationships

 

ari-2In the coming months, I plan to cover those indispensable tips for working with various forms of intellectual property (IP) in your business, such as copyrights and trademarks.  To set the stage, I would like to touch on the desire we have as entrepreneurs to protect our “ideas”.  At the risk of bursting some bubbles, the reality is that the legal system is really not designed to protect ideas. Instead, the whole premise behind having IP legal regimes is to promote the conceptualization, application and exchange of ideas. So if this is the case, why have IP legal regimes or “protect” anything in the first place?

 Before going down a rabbit hole, let me back-up for a moment and try to clarify what I mean when I use the word “idea”. To me an idea is what comes from inspiration, like the epiphany in the mid-20th century that we could fly to the moon. Examples of innovation and creativity around this idea are everywhere, and include everything from Sinatra’s classic rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon,” to NASA’s Apollo missions, to today’s quest by Branson and others to make private space travel a reality. Our drive to innovate is so core to our humanity it bubbles up everywhere, all the time, in all corners of the universe, in all arts, fine or technical, and in all human enterprise and cultures.

So it is not the ideas, but the innovation that flows from them that is addressed by our society. One way this is done is reflected in IP legal regimes. These regimes speak to what happens when an idea is being translated into a result and made accessible to the public. This can only happen in the co-creative processes that take place in relationship with one another. In these relationships there will be intersecting interests and layered rights that arise and are engaged. Innovation in business is no less personal or fundamental to our existence as it is in other areas of our life, and like many other social imperatives can be supported by guidelines and frameworks for balancing interests and contributions to it. While the debate is always open about whether or not existing frameworks help or take away from achieving the best balance, society will always seek to find harmony through constructs for managing relationships.

The two primary issues that IP legal regimes address are who benefits from intellectual endeavour and how. In general terms, the various regimes create economic rights for creators/innovators and rights of use for the public because, after all, the governments and legal systems that grant rights in the form of patents, trademarks, copyright, industrial designs and trade secrets (confidential information) are there for and on behalf of the public.

So when NASA decides to release a chunk of its patent portfolio (under certain terms and conditions of course –http://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-just-released-56-patented-space-and-rocket-technologies-to-the-public) we are witnessing that the way things may have been done in the past can change and adapt to the way they need to be for the future, shifting the balance point in the relationship between governments, the marketplace, and the public interest.

At the end of the day, innovation is fueled by a continuing tradition of alchemy between ideas and the relationships which shape and mould them. In my experience, the ideas can be relatively easy to come by, but the magic comes from what we do in relationship with one another on our quests for the philosopher stone, or perhaps, just a little moon rock.

Ariadni Athanassiadis is the lead attorney of Kyma Professional Corporation, which provides intellectual property (IP) legal services to help your business develop and benefit from the creative efforts and assets that make it distinctive. Whether it is your brand, product, services, designs, technology or business processes, Ariadni can help design IP legal solutions which let you make the most of what you give to your business.

———————————

Ariadni Athanassiadis

Kyma Professional Corporation

T: 613-327-7245

E: ariadni@kymalaw.com

W: www.kymalaw.com

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Ariadni Athanassiadis · Tagged: Apollo, Ariadni Athanassiadis, Branson, copyright, entrepreneurship, idea, ideas and relationships, innovation, Intellectual Property, IP, Kyma Professional Corporation, legal, NASA, trademark

Jul 09 2014

Three C’s of Social Media for #SmallBiz

Kelly Farrell - Teach Me Social -headshot (2)

 Kelly headshot (2)

It’s great when someone tells a new business owner that they “have” to be on Social Media. But, what does that look like? Where do you start? What can I spend the least amount of time on? What’s essential?

Entrepreneurship in the 21st century demands a knowledge of so much more than just what your specialty is. A business owner today needs to be adept at all facets of business, or at least how to navigate through all the outsourcing options to find the best resource at the most cost-effective rate. Social Media is no different. There are numerous companies who will manage your online presence, but like other outsourcing options, it is up to the business owner to dictate how and what that presence will look like. That demands an understanding of the unique realm of Social Networking.

To help you get started, here are three essential C’s for every small business social media marketing plan.

Be Consistent – Accounts on all major networks with the same username so customers/clients can follow you. The top 10 networks (at the time of writing) include: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest,  Instagram, Vine, Tumblr, Flikr. While choosing which platform best suits your demographic, companies should have a consistent presence across all social media platforms, whether or not the profiles are equally active.

Be Cohesive – Cohesive branding across all accounts is the key to gaining brand recognition. Your logo and/or profile pictures on all your social networking accounts should represent your brand. Colours used in posts and in your email signature should also be representative of your brand. Take the time to ensure that you have the required sizes of your logo for all the different platforms (no, it’s not as simple as having one image file for your logo!) and that they are formatted and centered correctly.

Be Connected – To grow your followings on your social networks, make it easy for your clients and contacts to find you! Include your Social Network links in your email signature, on every page of your website or  blog. Then, link back to your website from your social media profiles. Making navigation easy for your followers will build brand loyalty and consequently increase your network.

  

Kelly Farrell is the Founder and Chief Facilitator of Teach Me Social, a visionary company that has a mission to empower small business entrepreneurs to take control of their own online presence and manage it in-house to maintain an authentic voice for their brand. Teach Me Social has been providing valuable Social Media and online marketing support to small business owners for 2 years, while Kelly’s personal experience in the marketing and Social Media realm extends over 15 years.  Connect with Kelly via her WEBSITE, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK page. You can also email her at info@teachmesocial.ca

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Kelly Farrell · Tagged: 3 C's, Be Cohesive, Be Connected, Be Consistent, business development, business entrepreneurs, business owner, Canadian Small Business Women, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Facebook, Flikr, google, Instagram, Kelly Farrell, Linkedin, Pinterest, small business, small business development, social media, social media platform, Social Networking, Teach Me Social, Tumblr, Twitter, Vine, YouTube

Apr 15 2014

Establishing your dream team

sandra

Entrepreneurship can be lonely. Especially if you’re a solopreneur like me! You can be left feeling very isolated from the rest of the world, and if you work from home, it can make things that much more challenging. That’s why attending networking events is great. It’s an opportunity to get out of the house and connect with people in the flesh rather than doing it through social media from the comfort of your own home.

Sometimes, however, networking isn’t enough. When you’re at a networking event, there isn’t usually enough time to talk to someone about the challenges you may be facing and seek guidance on how to overcome them. Let’s face it; most of us are wearing a mask of some sort when we’re at networking events. I don’t think I’ve never heard anyone at an event talking much about what isn’t working in their business. Everyone’s “really busy” and business always seems to be “great!”

So if networking events aren’t the place to talk about the challenges and obstacles you’re facing, where can you go? I’m lucky to have entrepreneurs in my circle of friends that I can talk to, but that’s not always enough. Mastermind groups are a great way to establish a formal team where each member supports one another in the pursuit of their business or professional goals (or both), a sounding board for ideas and a knowledge bank when difficulties arise.

If you’ve read the book Think and Grow Rich you know that a mastermind is what happens when 2 or more people come together for a common purpose. A mastermind group is like your personal board of directors. It’s about bringing the skills and knowledge that you don’t have to the table so that each member has something to contribute and can benefit from the knowledge at the table as well.

Creating a successful mastermind group can be a challenge. Everyone has hectic schedules these days and finding people who are willing and able to commit to meeting on a regular basis isn’t always easy. The mastermind group also has to be a conflict free forum. There can’t be competitors in the same group and everyone should be asked to complete a non-disclosure form. You want the members of the group to feel safe to share whatever they want and need to in order to help them and the rest of the team achieve their goals.

Putting together your dream team won’t necessarily be an easy task; however, once you have that team together, you’ll be amazed at the magic that takes place. The reality is that we can’t do it all on our own. As cliché as it may sound, the reality is that we don’t know what we don’t know. Putting together a team of colleagues with expertise that you each can benefit from accessing allows you to get varying perspectives. The team will ask questions you never considered, offer opportunities you didn’t even know existed, or have access to people you need to connect with.

“No two minds ever come together without a third invisible force, which may be likened to a “third mind”. When a group of individual minds are coordinated and function in harmony, the increased energy created through that alliance becomes available to every individual in the group.” ~ Napoleon Hill

If you’re interested in becoming part of a mastermind group, contact me for more information!

Sandra Dawes is a certified life coach specializing in helping women who feel unfulfilled with their 9-5 follow their dreams and pursue their passions. She holds an Honours BA, an MBA as well as a certificate in Dispute Resolution.She has completed her first book,Embrace Your Destiny: 12 Steps to Living the Life You Deserve!

Connect: 
www.embraceyourdestiny.ca
www.facebook.com/embraceyourdestiny

www.facebook.com/embraceyourdestinythebook
www.twitter.com/sandradawes

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Sandra Dawes · Tagged: board of directors, business, business development, Business Woman, Canadian Small Business Women, challenge, coaching, common purpose, Dream, Embrace Your Destiny, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, mastermind, mastermind group, networking, networking event, networking events, Sandra Dawes, small business development, small business owners, social media, solopreneur, Think and Grow Rich

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