North Star Marketing teams up with Girl Scout Troup 163May 10, 2007
Learning the Ropes The Standard-Times
Local business owner April Williams, president of North Star Marketing, told girl scouts recently that one key component of success in business is to “surround yourself with people who believe in you.”
The 12 girl scouts, mostly Wickford Middle School students from Troop 163, are earning the merit badge “My Own Business.” The scouts developed products, including perfume, earrings, comforters, and doggie nail polish. They designed advertisements with magazine clippings and their own writing.
The girl scouts sat down with Williams at her office in The Meadows office park last week to learn more about owning a business and marketing a product. Williams explained that she left a corporate career and founded North Star Marketing as a home-based consultancy in 1997 so that she could stay home with her small children. However, the consultancy soon grew to a sizable agency, and she learned that as the owner she had to spend a major share of her time on the details of business management.
That’s one of the trade-offs of owning a business, she told the scouts. One of the positive trade-offs is that your schedule is your own – even if it means that you choose to work at 4 a.m.
When asked what skills a person needs to work in marketing, Williams told the scouts that No. 1 is good writing. And to be good at creating marketing campaigns, you cannot be afraid to make a few mistakes, she said.
A marketing firm also must communicate in a variety of fields, Williams said. For example, North Star has accounts in the financial services, but also speaks to a specific audience in the automotive industry, and another in retail food, and yet another in health-and-living.
The girl scouts were not strangers to business. Two come from small business families, and one sells her own handmade earrings. Scout Leader Karen King said that the session with Williams gave the girls a real-world perspective.
“Having an opportunity to visit North Star is a perfect match for the work we did on the badge. It puts our efforts into a real life situation,” King said. “We feel fortunate to have this unique opportunity.” << Back to News |
