Best Marketing’s Liz Sara, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, started off last night’s “Business to Business Marketing,” course with a how-to on developing a company’s value proposition. Two guest speakers from local tech companies Mindseye and PublicRelay, who both previously pitched the Dingman Center Angels investor network, provided case studies on how THEY crafted the value statements for their companies. Following are Sara’s key takeaways from the case studies:
- Maintaining a pulse on the marketplace and changing market conditions are key to having a value proposition that resonates.
- Competitor reactions, new trends, economic changes – all play a role in what matters to the business buyer.
Are you interested in strengthening your value proposition and differentiating your company from the rest? Sara recommends reading Business Market Management, by Anderson and Narus and Differentiate or Die, by Jack Trout.
Tonight’s class will cover identifying target business markets and monitoring the competition featuring case studies from guest speakers Nikhil Palekar, CEO, nVeloped and Logan Soya, CEO, Aquicore. Check out the first post in this series and stay tuned for our next dispatch.
Liz Sara has 20 years of experience in the local high tech community as an entrepreneur, business leader, angel investor and philanthropist. In 2001, she founded Best Marketing, LLC to provide early stage software companies with strategic marketing, PR and business development services. Her company offers clients all the benefits of a full-scale, seasoned marketing department on a ‘virtual’ basis — eliminating overhead and headcount associated with full-time staff. Previously, she played a principal role as co-founder of SpaceWorks, an eCommerce software company, where she facilitated its startup and growth to nearly $25 million in revenue; at America Online, where she designed the PR program and investor road show for the IPO; at United Press International, where she facilitated a turn-around strategy; and for LEXIS/NEXIS, where she was instrumental in the creation and successful launch of a new division. Ms. Sara holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Maryland. She is a member of the Business & Professional Women’s Committee of the Corcoran; the Women’s Committee of National Museum of Women In the Arts; and the Board of the Capital City Ball. In addition, Ms. Sara is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Maryland’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship.