Enter Little Pepi’s, the Hatfield, Pennsylvania-based company whose secret recipe is simplicity. Since 1963, they’ve been following the same ages-old recipe for their waffle cookies, keeping the ingredients as basic as when Italians whipped up the first batch somewhere around 700 B.C. Little has changed since then. Even back in the cookie’s native Abruzzo region of Italy, where they are still enormously popular, pizzelles (the cookies have the same etymological origin as “pizza”; both words mean “round and flat”) are still made from the same basic ingredients: flour, eggs, butter or vegetable oil, sugar, and a special flavoring, such as vanilla — almost the very same ingredients that Little Pepi’s uses in its own pizzelles.

Simplicity never tasted so good. Just ask Rachael Ray, who featured the cookies as her Snack of the Day last October. Not long after the segment aired, Little Pepi’s was gracing the shelves of Kmart. Quite a boon for a business that started in a basement.

There are many other reasons to admire Little Pepi’s, such as the double-digit growth the business experienced each of the first four years after Stan Kourakos purchased the business from the original owners. Or the fact that Kourakos was smart enough to harness the power of the Internet to increase the company’s sales base. (Little Pepi’s pizzelles have quite the loyal following in Florida.) Or even that these cookies boast no trans fat. But for me it’s the fact that they’re also following that beloved business rule of “doing well by doing good.”

For a small company, Little Pepi’s is making a big difference for a certain segment of the population, namely the many individuals with disabilities it employs to make its prized pizzelles. This under-served segment of the working population has found a gracious employer with Little Pepi’s, who has received two separate “Employer of the Year” awards for its community leadership. But the real reward the company is reaping is loyalty from the employees who will never forget who gave them a chance. In the end, it’s just another way that Little Pepi’s is embracing the simplicity of its business model, by acknowledging that even the most basic business decisions can make a huge impact.

A Mother's Day art project from a school in California's Central Valley.

Whenever education budgets get tightened, art programs are the first to get cut. Like the enduring popularity of reality TV, this never ceases to amaze me. So much evidence points to art’s importance in a child’s development – and not just in the development of abstract thought. Art is a critical component in a well-rounded education. Art is the level playing field – no matter how rich or poor, tall or short, pretty or ugly to the bone, if you can draw, you can find personal fulfillment and build self-confidence.  Art is the highest achievement of mankind. And, when art is suppressed, so is the civilization that suppresses it.  Remember the monumental Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in the months leading up to 9/11.  Remember the suppression of art in Nazi Germany.

Studies show that art-centered schools outscore non-art-centered schools in academic achievement scores. Art education can actually help the brain to rewire itself, to make stronger and more plentiful neural connections, and can help build memory skills. Self-discipline, intuition, reasoning, imagination, and dexterity are just a few of the other benefits of an art-filled education, especially for primary school students. According to First Lady Michelle Obama, “Learning through the arts reinforces critical academic skills in reading, language arts, and math, and provides students with the skills to creatively solve problems.”

So, how is it that, when it comes to art education, California comes in dead last out of all 50 states – even below Guam? According to State Councilman Bobby Shriver, California’s public schools no longer even offer arts education.

This is why, my personal love of art aside, Stewart and I have made a point of supporting P.S. ARTS, an organization dedicated to providing arts education to students attending under-served public schools. We were so impressed with the program that we’ve made it a part of our educational programs in the Central Valley in California , where many of our employees’ children attend school. For many children in California, English is a second language, but art is a universal language.

Seeing some of the recent work from these budding Picassos and O’Keeffes prompted me to share with you their progress. The P.S. ARTS  program was founded in 1991, and has been in the Central Valley since 2003.  We’ve watched these children’s imaginations blossom since their first few classes, and their progress has been inspiring.

Students' designs from a P.S. ARTS mocassion project.

If art means as much to you as it does to me, or even if you’re just exploring the art world for the first time, I invite you to turn off the boob tube,  pry the Wii controllers from your kids’ hands, and drag them to a museum  You may be surprised to learn that many museums have weekend activities geared to families, and almost all museums now have or are planning hands-on exhibits and playrooms specifically geared towards their younger visitors, which help to enrich the museum-going experience.  Your kids might feel more apt to try some art of their own after viewing contemporary works that are far less intimidating than those of the Old Masters.

Art is a great way of appreciating the other cultures in our society.   When viewing the great art traditions of the Middle East, you may find a new respect for this ancient culture.  Or when children view the historical works of their own culture, it builds pride in one’s heritage. Art builds bridges of understanding.

Once you reconnect with the freedom and openness that come with art, you just might recall how satisfying it was to finish a paint-by-number or to bring home your macaroni opus to hang on the fridge. Memories of personal fulfillment aside, artistic expression has been proven to stimulate brain activity, and in our age of Tivo, iPhones, and technological doodads, we could all use some good old-fashioned cerebral stimulation. The next time your local school puts its arts program on the chopping block, I hope you’ll consider all that’s at stake: It’s so much more than construction paper and pipe cleaners. It is the doorway to a whole new world of expression.

To view more photos of the children’s work, view the P.S. ARTS album on Lynda’s Facebook page.

Good morning, Lynda,

Greetings from beautiful Australia. I am a Canadian ex-pat who lives in Bendigo, Victoria. We have the only regional ice rink in Victoria, and I am a volunteer with the rink. We offer figure skating, ice hockey, curling, and recreational skating at the rink. Last year, we started a new under-13-year-old ice hockey team called the Wildcats. We are organising to host the first under-13 ice hockey tournament in Bendigo next April. We will have four teams — three from Melbourne and our own team. Currently, as a volunteer, I am trying to do some marketing for the rink to get it into the public eye.

Several months ago, I read an article about you and thought that you would certainly be a wealth of knowledge on resources, ideas, etc., to help us with the rink. Our limitation is that it is a not-for-profit rink and that our advertising budget is non-existent, so I need to be very creative. My current idea is to get Australian celebrities who have or still skate to give us photos of themselves skating to create posters to display at the rink. The biggest myth it seems is that ice sports are not Australian. I believe that all sports are Australian.

The other area we are trying to improve is sustainability. Currently we operate out of a large tin building, and we would like to make it more environmentally friendly, with the intention of moving to a new environmentally friendly building in the next five years. I would appreciate any ideas, support, or feedback that you might offer.

Yours truly,
Nancy Davis

___________________

Dear Nancy,

Sounds as if you’re doing a splendid job of busting the myth that Australians do not enjoy ice sports. What I particularly love is that you’re also helping to instill a love of the ice in a new generation, one that can benefit from an increased interest in physical activities, rather than online ones. I think you’re on the right track with the ideas you’ve already mentioned, but I have a few I’d like to share myself.

If you haven’t already done so, consider social media for your marketing efforts. It’s not only effective but is a wonderfully economical solution for small businesses and nonprofits such as yours, with the added bonus that it appeals to your specific demographic: pre-teens. Social media provides a measurable ROI for your efforts, which is especially important for organizations with small marketing budgets.

Since you’re a nonprofit, you can also ask the local community to pitch in. Sports stores might be open to hanging your posters or schedules of upcoming games. Perhaps a local artist would be willing to “draw” on the ice. Depending on the artist’s notability, this could even generate some valuable press coverage.

Heading back to the web, there are some basics you need to cover. Make sure you have a very clean and easy-to-navigate website. You’re a nonprofit, so it doesn’t have to be flashy, but it should look professional. In this century, websites are your storefront: Having a bad website can be more detrimental than having no website at all. Make sure your site has the most up-to-date information, such as team schedules and session times. Make sure to promote the most current and noteworthy event (ex: ‘50s night, where you encourage people to dress up) right on the front page, which should be updated frequently. Your website should also include the most commonly searched-for information, such as rates, directions and address, phone number, email, and hours of operation, as well as updates on your sustainability progress.

Think like the consumer: How do people decide what to do? Many of them use the web for ideas, so make sure you’re listed with the most popular local directories. I’m not familiar with those in Australia, but in the United States, those include yellowpages.com, Citysearch, and even travel sites like TripAdvisor.com. Encourage your customers to vote and rate you on these sites. You can even offer a discount if someone brings in a print-out of a comment they post.

Best of luck with your Down Under endeavor. If you end up using any of my ideas, please let me know how they work out for you.

Sincerely,

Dear Lynda,

A close friend recently suggested I read Rubies in the Orchard to supplement my Communication Studies classes at Northwestern University. Needless to say, I loved it! I am currently a senior at NU and believe product branding is a thrilling field and am passionate about incorporating consumer insight to build and transform a brand across trends and time. The advice, anecdotes, and accessibility of your book made reading about business development and marketing an absolute joy. I especially enjoyed your breakdown of the unique selling proposition, the value of product placement, and how to nurture brand faith in an age of cynicism. Furthermore, I appreciated your emphasis on the importance of inspiring faith in your vision within your business team in order to build and sustain brand equity.

As a college senior, myself and many peers have studied the role of new media such as social media and mobile, and understand the importance of translating brand value onto the web through SEO, email campaigns, and blogs. Most importantly, as you underscored in your text, we have learned the importance of sustaining brand identity across platforms while capitalizing on the strengths of the specific media channel. As adults native to the digital environment with an arsenal of communication studies theories under our belts, do you have advice for how we should approach positioning our knowledge within the business development and marketing spheres? As a successful marketing professional, how do you suggest we should brand ourselves to shine in the competitive marketplace?

Any advice you can provide will be greatly appreciated by myself and my peers.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,
Kyla

P.S. I am a huge fan of POM Wonderful, especially the POMx Blackberry Tea!

___________________

Dear Kyla,

Thank you so much for your kind words about my book. You’ve posed a rather insightful question: In a world where anyone can profess to be a new media expert, how do you make yourself stand out from the crowd?

You already answered your own question when you mentioned “the importance of inspiring faith in your vision within your business team in order to build and sustain brand equity.” In this case, the brand would be you – meaning the faith you inspire and equity you build is all based on your experience and expertise. How do you want to position yourself in the new media marketplace? How can you inspire faith in your knowledge?

If new media truly is your specialty, the only way to prove it is to show it. Theory is great, but for true impact, you need to put your education to the test by producing actual new media examples. These days, producing new media has become so easy that if you don’t have a physical example of your expertise, even on spec or a school project, it will be hard to compete against the numerous others who do. For example, produce a YouTube video that gets an impressive number of views, which would both show your content-creation capabilities and that you can drive traffic. Amass a large following on Twitter. Start a blog and develop content that drives page views and Alexa rankings. Having a portfolio of work is key. This is true for even offline new media, such as CD-ROMs and video games. If you can’t create the actual product, you can still prove your expertise in these areas by tweeting and blogging on your subject, thus establishing yourself as knowledgeable in the area – and most likely developing key relationships along the way. Build your brand just as you would the brand you hope to work for – by getting your name and work out there and making it visible to those you wish to attract.

Now is the time of great opportunities. Take advantage of them by starting today. There’s no need to wait until your diploma is in hand. Start building your brand as soon as you’re finished reading this letter and you’ll be a step ahead of everyone in your class who has yet to do so. I wish you the best of luck.

Sincerely,

This New Year’s, instead of waiting for our government to solve your health care needs, take action and do everything you can to keep yourself and your loved ones well — and away from doctors and hospitals. So many in our society are already suffering from disease, but for those of you who are healthy — I urge you to do everything possible to keep yourselves that way! [Read full story]

Following is an excerpt from Amy’s letter:

Dear Lynda,

Just to let you know that since we had our interview several months ago, we had a record-breaking month in November, bringing in, in one month, what we made the entire year in 2003!

Thanks to your help and advice, I applied what you mentioned and I was also able to speak with some other noted CEOs. We’re very lucky!

Somehow we garnered a coveted spot as an official sponsor of The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing in Oahu and it has been incredible! The surfing industry is growing rapidly: Nike has entered the arena and this competition holds the biggest purse in surfing history.

So, we’re right on track, and I feel grateful and very special to have brushed energy fields with a truly great person such as yourself. Even with the brief path crossing, our frequency was boosted.

Here’s to wishing you and your family a very special holiday season. Happy Hanukah and blessings all round.

Peace,
Amy Reynolds, VP
Climb On! Products, Inc.

Thanks again, Amy, and best wishes to you and the whole Climb On! family in the New Year. I’m sure this is only the first of many successes to come.

Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: Science Commons
Why It’s a Gem: Eliminating red tape and developing new protocols makes sharing research easier than ever – which puts all cures within closer reach

Researchers around the world are hard at work on cures for most every ailment and disease. But until now, there was no system – let alone incentive – for sharing their discoveries, leaving researchers working independently in their own silos, possibly duplicating the same mistakes as their colleagues around the globe. It wasn’t unusual for decades to pass before any significant progress was made on a study.

But that’s all changing. Just as parent organization Creative Commons has made sharing artistic endeavors both easy and profitable, Science Commons is using that same open-access model to enable the scientific research community to both find and share their studies, thereby enabling an approach to sharing data that just might revolutionize the scientific world. My interview with John Wilbanks was a fitting way to cap off Open Access Week. (This interview has been edited for clarity and length.)

Lynda Resnick: In this week’s Ruby Tuesday, we are speaking with John Wilbanks, Vice-President of Science at Science Commons. For our readers, John, will you describe your organization’s purpose and what is unique about it in the marketplace?

John Wilbanks: We are a part of a larger organization called Creative Commons, which looks to reduce the transaction costs associated with sharing property through the network. That could be property like copyrights, or property like stem cells or patents. What we do is create legal and technical tools that make it easy for the owners of this kind of property to post it online under a low transaction-cost license, and to make it clear to end users what rights have been granted. We call it a “some bytes reserved” approach.

At Creative Commons, we look at ourselves as an infrastructure provider and a standards body that make it possible for this sort of activity to take place. Complex issues require lots of different things to come together to form a solution. The resistance to starting Facebook is very low; the resistance to starting a drug company investigating a rare disease is very high. Resistance [hampers efficiency]. We want that resistance to go away.

John Wilbanks, Vice President of Science at Science Commons | Photo by Nick Vedros

LR: Good, we do too. Speaking as an entrepreneur who is excited about the health of the planet, your business model is a very interesting place to start. Could this model also help food companies understand how to make their products healthier?

JW: Here’s an example of that. Take what Merck is doing with their disease biology platform – $200 million worth of super-fancy data-computing models that let you evaluate either the impact of a drug in a population or, in this case, a food itself. A lot of what they did at Merck was on obesity, and what they’ve analyzed is that diet actually activates a set of genes associated with growth, but not muscle growth. So, they fed mice what they called the “McDonald’s diet,” and they were able to systematically identify biological networks that are activated by a high-fat, high-salt, Western-style diet. It provides a very good way to analyze anything that goes into the body and to see its impact.

This was previously the exclusive province of Merck Pharmaceuticals. Over the next year or so, all of that data and software is going to move into the public domain, out into the Commons. And that means that companies can begin to run the same experiments that Merck did. That’s just the short-term benefit. Over time it creates a standard way for those companies to communicate their results with each other, because they’re going to use the same data formats, the same naming conventions…

LR: Fantastic! Let me understand one more time, because it seems too good to be true: All of Science Commons’ offerings are free on the web?

JW: Everything we do is free. We’re a neutral third party, so we’ve been funded by philanthropic grants. We’re moving towards a business model where we do actual nonprofit services. The most recent funding we’ve gotten is from Nike, Yahoo, Best Buy, and Mountain Equipment Co-Op to design a set of patent licenses that allows them to take their sustainability technologies and make them publically available under [specialized licenses], so they can begin to work as a group and identify [what has already been accomplished so they] don’t have to replicate the work.

Think of it like being on the Internet. The Internet is defined by a set of free protocols. You don’t have to ask permission to connect to the Internet or put up a web page. In the same way, you shouldn’t have to ask permission or pay to use one of our tools. The Commons is a network that’s defined by open standards. That means you have to have openness at the core. It’s designed to allow for both for-profit and nonprofit uses in the same way the Internet is used both for for-profit and nonprofit uses. But at its core, it needs to be an open system.

LR: It’s the web of culture, coming to the web of science. So, your organization is based on science neutrality, right?

JW: That’s a part of it. We’ve seen an explosion of innovation in our culture. We take for granted that we can get online and order a hotel room and read reviews about it, [then go and] find a restaurant near it. And we don’t stop and think, “This is extraordinary! Look what we can do that we couldn’t do 15 years ago!”

That same sort of capability and functionality hasn’t really happened in the [scientific] knowledge space. What we want to do is look for infrastructure that enables [the transfer of knowledge both] legally and technically. Because it’s not just law and technology [that is hampering knowledge exchange]. A lot of it is the scientific institutions [who are] resistant to change.

LR: Right. So, what is your business model?

JW: We’re a non-profit organization, but we operate very entrepreneurially. We raise money through philanthropic grants from organizations like the MacArthur Foundation, the Kauffman Foundation for Entrepreneurship. We also raise money from foundations that invest directly into disease research. So, the Cure Huntington’s Disease Initiative and other such organizations have a real mandate to work together, because unlike the NIH or a big pharmaceutical company, they don’t have the level of money it takes to get a drug on the market, so they’re looking for ways to work together, and they’ve been investing in us since the beginning. We have an interest in bringing those sorts of foundations together and, particularly in the role of biobanks, to make the tools of the life scientist democratized and available.

Creative Commons Salon at PariSoMa | Photo by disrupsean

LR: How long has Science Commons been around?

JW: We’ve been an active product of Creative Commons for five years.

LR: Do you have any success stories from your first five years to share with us? Anything that you’ve moved along that would have taken a lot longer had you not had this wonderful idea going?

JW: Sure. So, there are two phases of the project. The first phase [involved] looking at fundamental research and intervention, figuring out exactly where standardized contracts and standardized technologies that deal with properties and transactions could have a transformative impact. The first thing we did was look at scholarly journals, which is the primary vehicle that academics use for most of their science knowledge, and it’s a very analog way of doing things. [One of the most obvious places to start was] to get those journals to move around more freely so that people who wanted to read them could read them.

Since we got started, the numbers of journals under a Creative Commons liberal copyright license has gone from [roughly] 50 to [roughly] 1,000. Most of that [increase] has come from the businesses that are actually practicing open access as a new sort of constructive business model. Those are the drivers for the adoption, so we don’t try to take much credit for that.

Then we began to look at data and databases. There’s a tendency to [apply] open source reasoning, or free culture reasoning, and say [that we should use] these same sorts of free licenses on databases to achieve open source data. We actually took a contrarian position and said that licenses weren’t the answer; the public domain was the most effective way to deal with data. We put out a protocol on how to do that and then, over the last year or so, we’ve begun to see the adoption curves go up. So, in the free and open science space, we’ve seen [such important research organizations as] the Personal Genome Project at Harvard Medical School adopt this private public domain approach.

And, in the last couple of months, Merck has decided to take their entire human disease biology modeling software and data, and invest that into a nonprofit organization called Sage Bionetworks, which is in the process of adopting that very protocol for hundreds of millions of dollars of privately generated data.

What you find over and over again is that [simplifying] sharing is complicated. So, that’s where we started. In the life sciences, there’s a fundamental lack of access to the stuff that’s in research refrigerators and freezers – actual materials that you use to make data or write papers about. The goal is [to create] eBay- or Amazon-style affiliate programs for these sorts of studies, especially if they’re taxpayer funded. So, we’ve worked with a network of biobanks – particularly the Coriell Cell Repository, Jackson Laboratory up in Maine – and our first real successes [have come from putting] a set of stem cells online that will be available for any qualified researcher in the world to start doing stem cell research, instead of having to send an email to someone who’s written a paper and begging them for the stem cells.

LR: So, these stem cells will be available through Science Commons?

JW: The stem cells will be available through a third-party, called a biobank, [which is operating under the open-source protocol created by Science Commons]. It’s sort of like a greenhouse-culturing facility: In the same way that you would order your plants from a greenhouse, you can go online and order your stem cells from this cell greenhouse. What we did was broker a deal, write the contracts, and make sure the technology worked in a way that really makes it look like e-commerce. The goal is not political idea freedom; the goal is [to foster the development of] the different ways that we share. One of the ways we share is through open licensing. But another one of the ways that we share is simply by destroying the old boy’s club. [We're dismantling the old process of denying information based on how powerful a person is and replacing it with] a one-click ecology where you can provide your credit card info and order the stem cells. That’s how you begin to unleash the power.

LR: And then the whole world is working on the problem, instead of just the precious few. Fantastic! Where’s the financial model? There are a lot of drug companies and research labs that make their money doing research. What does this mean to them?

JW: Those sorts of companies get paid mainly for therapeutic interventions – drugs or diagnostic systems. And the fundamental tools used to discover those things are exactly what we want to be open. We’ve actually found that that focus has made us very good friends with these sorts of companies. They would rather compete on finding the drug than [compete] on getting access to the platform that will lead to the discovery of the drug.

LR: So, it’s not that they will be out of business. It’s quite the opposite. They’ll have more tools at their disposal to conduct their research, because those tools will be more readily available.

JW: Exactly. [That helps reduce] the overall cost, [because it reduces the cost of each phase of research. If each phase is expensive in itself, then it might reach] a point where it’s not worth investigating a disease, because you know that you won’t be able to make enough money to justify it in the long term.

LR: Exactly. There are a lot of researched diseases that are terribly underfunded, and this would be a wonderful way of solving those problems. Some diseases only affect a small population, so it doesn’t seem financially viable to research a cure. But if the research were available to other researchers around the world, the cure might be closer in sight. If you wait for a drug company to do it, it’ll never happen, because there just isn’t enough money in it.

JW: And the drug companies like this [new approach] as well, because they want their researchers to have every possible tool on the shelf. They don’t want their researchers to be denied any tool that might lead to an answer. They don’t want to have to negotiate and purchase every single research tool as if were itself the Holy Grail, when in reality it’s but one piece in a very complicated puzzle. That’s where the eBay and Amazon models come into play. We need to bring that e-commerce piece of the web to science, not just the freedom of open source.

LR: Wonderful. You know, you’re one of the great heroes of the 21st century.

JW: Tell that to my wife and my parents.

LR: We own a company called Wonderful that sells pomegranate juice, and we’ve put $32 million dollars of research into it so far, because pomegranates are quite amazing in what they do for prostate cancer and cardiac health. Is there any way that a private company such as POM can benefit or contribute to the goals of sharing research?

JW: I think so. Let’s say that a private company commissions a study to [determine] the genetic reaction of the human body to drinking pomegranate juice. That information on its own is valuable, and that’s what traditional research is all about. [In the traditional model of sharing scientific knowledge, the data is analyzed, peer reviewed, and submitted to a paid review journal.] But hopefully, [with the new protocols that Science Commons is implementing,] you’ll be able to take that information and put it on the web in a standardized format. From there, [it can then be] integrated into a network of data, such as with studies on how humans react to natural compounds. Or it can be connected to someone who’s doing a chemical analysis of pomegranate juice and looking at the actual sets of metabolites that make it what it is. We can begin to connect that to clinical studies of the impact of diet on chronic disease management.

For any one company to do that is prohibitive, unless you’re one of the massive pharmaceutical companies. What that means is that the cost of innovation and the cost of the failures remain very high. Until we can lower the cost of failure, we’re not going to increase the rate of innovation in science. I think that everyone who has an interest in science has an incentive to participate in this sort of system, the same way we have an incentive to participate in the Internet. But we have to change the concept from “I’m sharing because it’s nice” to one in which we say, “I’m connecting to the shared network because that’s where the answers are.”

LR: John, you are fantastic. The world has to hear about what you’re doing. It’s such a breath of fresh air. It really could be the answer to so many of the health problems in America, and the world.

Photos by:

Nick Vedros

disrupsean

Photos licensed to the public under CC BY SA.

Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: HIB-System
Why It’s a Gem: DIY homebuilding comes of age with a LEGO-like solution that’s as simple as it is environmental

Most every kid who has played with LEGOs has dreamed of living in a house of her own construction. Now that dream has come closer to reality, with the innovative design from Germany’s HIB-System, a company that produces wooden tongue-in-groove building blocks that most anyone can assemble into the house of their dreams, minus the bumpy green lawn and plastic pine tree.

After building more than 100 homes in Germany using this system, HIB has now come to the United States, where it hopes to make a splash in the eco-competition being held in Greensburg, Kans., a town devastated by a tornado in 2007 and now looking to rebuild its community with affordable, sustainable housing. While the HIB system still requires some help from construction professionals such as plumbers and electricians, the overall frame of the home can be done in just a few days by one person, and with the building blocks weighing no more than 55 pounds each, you can even forego the traditional heavy machinery. Welcome to the new age of DIY.
(This interview has been edited for clarity and length.)

Lynda Resnick: In this week’s Ruby Tuesday, we’re speaking with Jan Hoetzel, who is heading the North American activities for the German-based HIB-System. For our readers, Jan, could you please describe your company’s business model and its unique selling proposition?

Jan Hoetzel: The building blocks for our business model were invented by Dieter Junker, who grew up in a sawmill in the Black Forest area. He always thought about building houses with wood, [but at that time in Germany,] all houses were built with stones and mortar. Ten years ago he had the idea of making the HIB building elements, so to speak. Then eight years ago, the first [HIB-System] houses were certified by German authorities, and the building blocks were further developed. Today, we can design the house on a computer [and] send the file to an industrial wood manufacturer, [who] can take the data [and designs and] cut the blocks to our specifications. Then a licensed partner can take those precut blocks and build the houses.

Jan Hoetzel, head of North American activities for HIB-System

LR: So, it’s LEGO for grownups.

JH: Yes, and all the blocks have numbers so they are very easy to assemble.

LR: And your method of distribution plays a large role in your company’s environmental commitment. I was impressed to hear how you accomplished this.

JH: Yes, we’ve eliminated much of the mileage that might otherwise be associated with distributing our product. Rather than have one factory that ships to all corners of the country, we can instead partner with local sawmills, to whom we send the design plans for a particular home. They can then use existing technology to cut the blocks to our specifications and deliver the blocks to the local customer. This eliminates much of the cost and waste associated with many traditional building methods, which often involve shipping over great distances.

LR: Fabulous! Now, is this the sort of thing a person could assemble themselves if they’re handy, or do they need a middleman?

JH: This building system has won several prizes from the do-it-yourself organization in Germany. It’s definitely something where you can [do much of the work yourself,] but we recommend that you have a specialist provide guidance.

LR: How do your houses differ from those of a traditionally built home?

JH: The whole purpose of our design was to be energy efficient and environmentally sound. We use no chemicals in our building, so there is no off-gassing or other potentially harmful materials. The building blocks themselves are all made from completely sustainable resources, so if they do end up in a landfill, they won’t cause any harm to the planet. But in order to be environmentally practical, the homes also must be energy efficient. We’ve designed the HIB-System to cut down on heating and cooling costs, to the point where a properly constructed HIB-System structure would use roughly one-tenth the energy.

And, in order to be truly practical, our buildings are far sturdier and structurally sound than traditional wood-frame homes. The blocks have been tested by Karlsruhe University and proven to provide greater security in storms and earthquakes.

Another distinguishing factor of our homes, compared to other prefab structures out there, is that ours don’t look like prefab homes.

HIB-System homes come in a wide range of styles that favor design as much as practicality.

LR: Truly great design incorporates both style and structure. I can see that you understand that, because there’s a far greater sense of aesthetic to your designs than I’ve seen from other prefab homes. How many of your houses are there now in Germany?

JH: There are roughly one hundred houses today. Two years ago, in 2008, the initial company was acquired by an investor, so we now have a much bigger network and have a greater capacity than ever before.

LR: Have you built any houses in the U.S. yet?

JH: No, we have not. The idea was to develop the software tool and get everything ready in Europe and then roll it out overseas. However, with the Greensburg design competition, we have created [a great deal of] momentum for us, and we are now going to be in the U.S. market a little bit quicker than we thought.

LR: In the 19th century, if you lived in the rural parts of America, you could buy a home at Sears & Roebuck — they would put the pieces on a train and send it to you. Today in Aspen, these same homes, which were purchased for as little as under $1,000, are still standing. So the idea isn’t all that new, but it’s especially important for today.

What exactly comes with your home kit?

JH: That depends on [which kit] you request. [You can purchase] just the wall system, the wall system with ceilings, or the wall system with ceilings and the roof. Then the customer has a plumber and an electrician finish the interior.

LR: I’m a single family and I want to buy a modest home. What does it cost to buy the shell of this home, approximately?

JH: Depending on the style, it could be between $20,000 and $40,000. For the Greensburg competition, the homes must be designed to not exceed a price of $154,000. More than 37 HIB-System Design homes have been submitted, all with an estimated construction cost of $154,000. Even if the system is more expensive up front, you’re going to have [outstanding] long-term savings. If I’m living in a house where the temperature goes up when the oven is on and then goes down [when it's off], there’s a lot of fluctuation, [which is inefficient]. We can eliminate or diminish these inefficiencies [through proper] design.

LR: So, efficiency issues that come with the old kind of construction are gone with the HIB System.

JH: Yes, because the building blocks are very, very precise. When we build houses today here in the United States, we have to do a blower door test [used to measure a house's air tightness and, therefore, energy conservation], and our blocks are rated very, very good.

HIB-System homes are environmentally friendly, energy efficient, soundproof, and virtually allergy free.

LR: Who is your demographic is? Who are the people who would be most interested in building their house this way?

JH: I see two groups. It’s the Baby Boomers, who are often first adapters and very conscious about the environment, and they are looking to downsize and live a sustainable lifestyle. Then there are young families, who are looking for a home for the next 40 years and want a very energy-efficient home, [a safe, chemical-free environment] for their children, and so on. I think people in this country are more aware now that energy efficiency is key. So, for a new energy-efficiency concept, there’s always room for new business.

LR: Now, do you supply solar panels for the roofs?

JH: Well, I’m personally a fan of solar energy. The value of solar energy is totally underestimated, all over the world. So, I’m working with a company on the solar panel side, yes.

LR: Do you think you’ll have efficiencies of scale if you build a lot more homes? Will you be able to sell them for less?

JH: Absolutely. I remember the first house I bought [in the United States]. It was like a mansion, and it was much less money than I would have paid for the smallest house in Germany. So, it’s difficult to compare apples and apples, and we can’t do it until we’ve built the first house.

LR: I wish you luck. It would be wonderful if we could do this more in our country. You know, it might be the answer for a long-term living condition that’s allergy-free and efficient. There are so many children, because of all the problems in our environment, who are suffering with allergies and asthma, and this sounds like living in a beautiful bubble that is allergy-free and efficient for energy. It sounds like a wonderful idea. It sounds like the future.

JH: Yes, and it is from a renewable, eco-friendly source. Wood actually captures CO2. Because technology allows our method of distribution to use short delivery distances, the net effect of our homes is a CO2-positive building.

LR: Wonderful. You can’t ask for more than that.

Ruby Tuesday Pick of the Week: International Virtual Assistants Association
Why It’s a Gem: Get Just the Right Amount of Support You Need — No Commitment Necessary

Our lives have become virtual — virtual money (ATM cards), virtual sales clerks (online shopping carts), virtual relationships (texting). So why not virtual assistants? And, as with other forms of technology, the world of virtual assistants is evolving to encompass more industries and skills sets than most brick-and-mortar entrepreneurs might have believed possible. (This interview has been edited for clarity and length.)

Lynda Resnick: In this week’s Ruby Tuesday, we’re speaking with Jeannine Clontz, Acting President of the International Virtual Assistants Association. For our readers, describe your organization’s purpose and its unique selling proposition.

Jeannine Clontz: We are a nonprofit industry association that represents virtual assistants worldwide. We are a resource to people who are looking for qualified, professional virtual assistants to assistant them in their business.

LR: And what is the difference between a temp or consultant and a virtual assistant?

Jeannine Clontz, Acting President of IVAA

JC: A temp is actually an hourly employee – you have to pay employment taxes, benefits, and things like that. A virtual assistant is really an independent contractor. In some ways, a consultant is also an independent contractor – there would be a similarity there. But I think the biggest difference is that a virtual assistant is not a tax liability, like a temp or an onsite staffer is. We are actually a tax benefit, because our services, like any other independent contractor, can be taken from your taxes as a business expense.

LR: I see. Now, your website says you have 1,000 members.

JC: About 900, right now.

LR: Is it growing?

JC: It is growing. Last September-October through almost the end of the year, we saw a pretty dramatic drop. We were right above 1,000 at that point, [and then] it dropped off. But after the first of the year, we really started seeing it turn around. A lot of people [were] getting laid off, [and other] people were looking for options to stay home with children or to care for aging or ill parents. They’re looking at [being a] virtual assistant as a real option for a home-based business.

LR: And how long ago did you start IVAA?

JC: It started back in 1998. Christine Durst and Michael Haaren started Staffcentrix.com, and they started IVAA.org as the education arm for the industry. I joined in 1998, as one of the first 30 members. By late 1999/early 2000, they were at a point where they could see that the industry was really going to take off, so they incorporated and put a volunteer board in place. At that time, there were five people on the board. We have obviously grown greatly from that first 30 members, and so now we are a board of eleven, and we have close to 90 volunteers who help the organization to run and stay afloat.

It’s kind of nice, because we have lots of very experienced virtual assistants who help us take it to the next level. We have some virtual assistants who are very tech-savvy, so they introduce us to a lot of the new things that are going on in the industry. And, of course, the more brainstorming you can do with more professional business owners, the more information and brainstorming mastermind groups you can put together. And that’s what I think we offer to our clients: that technology base, being able to introduce them to technologies that maybe they weren’t aware of. We make sure we stay current with what’s going on technologically.

LR: Now, when you say you have 900 members, that means that 900 individuals who are virtual assistants belong to your association.

JC: Yes and no. I would call myself a multi-VA. I have my own business, and I have seven subcontractors who work under me. All of my subs own their own businesses, but they may not all be members of the association, but I am. But the 900 members would all either own their own business or be one of the principles in a multi-VA practice.

LR: So, it’s really a much bigger number than 900, the amount of people who are influenced by your organization.

JC: Absolutely! I would say it’s probably between 2,500 and 3,000, although statistics say there are probably 30,000 virtual assistants worldwide. We cover about 29 countries through our membership. But there are plenty of VAs out there who are not, unfortunately, a part of the association.

LR: What sort of benefits does IVAA offer the members in your association?

JC: [To start], there are several ways that we give them access to prospective clients. We have a request for proposal (RFP) system, where people can come to our site and put in what type of work they’re looking for. We also have a pretty extensive directory, so people can search by city and state [or by a specific skill set], like bookkeeping or database management.

We also have three certification programs: We have a CVA, which is a Certified Virtual Assistant; and CRESS, which is a Certified Real Estate Support Specialist; and the ethics check exam. And then we have ways for a client to look for virtual assistants with these specific designations. So, for example, if a Realtor comes to our site looking for somebody with real estate experience, they can look for someone with that CRESS designation.

LR: It seems to me that if I wanted a virtual assistant, I would want to start with you or make sure that the person I hire was associated with an organization like yours, so that I can verify their skills and level of professionalism.

JC: Exactly. We think that’s very, very important.

LR: How does someone qualify to be a member?

JC: You have to have your own business and a website in order to be listed in our directory. We do have an emerging membership level, which is someone who is new [to the industry], someone looking for the guidance, education, and knowledge that we provide. Emerging members are not listed in our directory, and they do not have access to RFPs. That way, we keep it so [prospective clients] can trust that they’re working with someone who is full-time and does have a website presence.

LR: Do you charge dues to your members?

JC: Yes, we do. The dues are $125 for the first year, and then $99 for renewals.

LR: And what do the dues go toward?

JC: They go towards marketing [our association]. We get the word out about what a virtual assistant is and how they can help [a business]. We also have certain benefits that we provide: We provide free website hosting to our members, [and discounts] with preferred partners and business partners. We also have a mentorship program for newer VAs, where we [match] a new VA with someone who is already established. A kind of buddy system.

LR: Do you go to conventions to meet prospective clients and become “less virtual” for a moment?

JC: Absolutely, you have to. It can be very isolating. I do a lot of local networking, obviously, because you still need to get out there and see what the business climate is. I would say 80 percent of my clients are outside the state of Missouri. But I still need to know what’s going on with business and understand the logic of working with people and what they’re going through right now. That’s very important. We also attend trade shows where we know there are specific niches that our members’ services fit well.

LR: I understand that you have a business and that it’s doing well. What is the name of your particular business?

JC: My business is Accurate Business Services. I just celebrated [my 11th year in business] about two months ago. I specialize in speaker/coach consultancy and real estate support, in the areas of desktop publishing and database management.

LR: What you do is much bigger than having an old-fashioned secretary. This is almost a management role that you support.

JC: Absolutely. And I think that’s why the industry has really evolved over the last ten years. When I first started out, it was strictly secretarial-type services. But now we have web designers, graphic artists, some coaches – all types of people who specialize in certain areas.

LR: Jeannine, is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

JC: I’d like to ask you a question, if you don’t mind.

LR: Sure, please.

JC: You know our main product is really our members. We’re always looking for unique and effective ways to reach prospective clients for our VA members, which is probably the most important part of our membership. We do trade shows, press releases – we do lots of search engine optimization on our own website. Would you have any ideas of how a nonprofit like IVAA could really promote the use of virtual assistants?

LR: The best way would be to get busy with your blogging, tweeting, and social media – and that takes time and energy. But you have enough people there that you could spread out the work – that is the most inexpensive way of reaching out. Do you have a Facebook page? Are your members on it? Do you invite them to join? Then get all their friends and associates on there, and start spreading the word.

JC: We are on Twitter and Facebook, [but] we don’t have a blog, and I think that’s something we might want to look into.

LR: Do a little analysis of [the industries] where your growth opportunities are and focus on that with social media. You can have an intern do this; it isn’t as though you have to do it all yourselves. You have universities in your area that are excellent, and you can find students that would be happy to help in exchange for a listing on their resume. If there’s any way you can get on radio or television, it would pole vault your industry into a new stratosphere. As good as social media is, there’s nothing like appearing on the local news channel.

JC: I will absolutely give that a shot.

LR: Why not? All they can do is say no.

JC: Thank you. I greatly appreciate it, and I wish you all the best of continued success.

LR: Thank you, dear.