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Business owners instinctively know they’re supposed to join a chamber of commerce. But how do you get the most out of that membership? Vicky Kulikov is here to show small businesses how to do just that. We also say a word or two in response to this frightening but often true occurrence: What if my marketing plan has gone out the window already this year?
Transcript:
Jeff Randolph:
Keep moving forward.
Welcome to the Small Business Miracles podcast. I’m Jeff Randolph. This small business podcast is brought to you by EAG Advertising and Marketing. We are going to talk about marketing, and we’re also here to celebrate entrepreneurs. We have marketing news and advice the business owners can use to keep moving forward. This week we sit down with Vicky Kulikov. She’s the Director of Small Business at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.
But first, we’ve got another small business marketing tip to talk about. Here we go. Today’s tip is sad. It’s not something that you really want to have happen to you, but what if my marketing plan has gone out the window already this year? That could be because your industry has softened up or because you had unexpected expenses in the first quarter or two and have had to really shift. Well, this is such a great example of how the best plans can go awry because of other factors: the economy, the industry, politics, competitors, you name it. It’s actually more common to adjust a plan throughout the year than it is to follow what you originally put in place at the beginning. So you’re not alone.
In this particular situation, I have three things a business should do, whether that’s B2B or B2C. First, your marketing plan should always, without fail, be built in priority order. Doing this gives you the easy answer as to how to reduce or expand your budget. In this case, instead of pausing all of your marketing while you’re trying to figure out what to do, you know what’s budgeted by strategy, by tactic, and you can start trimming from the bottom up. Get rid of those last priority items first and keep the ones that are working for you.
Next, in nearly every case, if you can’t do anything else, continue doing search engine optimization, especially if you see your entire industry dip. Your competitors are feeling the same crunch. This is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to not let a competitor get ahead of you, or for you to get ahead of that competitor in the search engine results. At a minimum, you can maintain your positioning so that you’re still found by people who are searching, especially when they’re ready to start buying again.
Finally, strengthen those relationships with key accounts. Focus on deepening relationships with your existing clients through account-based marketing strategies. Personalized attention and solutions can lead you to increased loyalty and potential upsells. Meet them where they are: email, social media, direct one-to-one communication. If things are rough for you, it means it’s probably rough for them, so show them that you’re in it with them to get through this together.
Howard Humphries – Mr Mom (1983):
Until then, remember, we’re all in this together. Schooner Tuna, the tuna with the heart.
Jeff Randolph:
And that is your marketing tip for the week.
Welcome back to the podcast. This is Vicky Kulikov that we’re here with today. She is the Director of Small Business at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.
Vicky, welcome to the show.
Vicky Kulikov:
Good morning, Jeff. Thanks so much for having me.
Jeff Randolph:
Absolutely. And let’s start with Chamber membership in general as we just dive immediately into your first podcast ever. This is your first podcast?
Vicky Kulikov:
It is. Yeah.
Jeff Randolph:
Man, it’s my second.
Vicky Kulikov:
Oh, okay. Right.
Jeff Randolph:
We’re excited about that. Now, let’s start with Chamber membership in general, because you started your career with the Chamber as the engagement manager where you cultivated relationships for perspective and new and current members. I think business owners instinctively know about Chamber membership. I think we know we’re supposed to join the Chamber and that that’s a thing we can do, but I don’t know that we always do a great job of knowing what you should get out of that Chamber membership and how a company could really maximize their Chamber membership. So, talk a little bit about that. How does a company really get the most out of belonging?
Vicky Kulikov:
Well, Jeff, I think that’s actually a great question. As the regional Chamber, we have about 1,900 members, so it is a larger organization, but what that does is provide lots of opportunities for committee involvement, meetings, events, larger signature events like our annual dinner, so there is plenty of opportunity to find your niche at our Chamber. I suggest to new members that, just jump in and try different events, whether it’s our every other Friday neighborhood networking. A lot of folks love coming to that. They might find that they really love that our public policy work, and so they may attend those meetings. So really just kind of get your feet wet, see what is meaningful and productive and what you like most, and then whittle it down from there because I think at last count we have about 440 events/meetings per year-
Jeff Randolph:
Oh, wow.
Vicky Kulikov:
So there’s lots of opportunities. So if you stay connected to our calendar on our website and stay connected to our staff, we’ll certainly make sure you find your way through the Chamber.
A lot of folks, there are that group of members that they just believe wholeheartedly in being good civic members.
Jeff Randolph:
This is what you should do.
Vicky Kulikov:
Right. That you should write the check and so some of them are fine not attending, but those, especially small businesses who really want to get good use out of the membership, coming to the events is key and forming those relationships with the Chamber staff and other members.
Jeff Randolph:
Oh yeah, absolutely. Talk to you, say, “Hey, here’s what I’m hoping to get out of this.” And you’ve seen this. You’ve had that conversation a million times with people. “For you, if these are your goals, here’s what I think you should do.”
Vicky Kulikov:
That’s right, that’s right. And I would say to our Chamber members, especially the smaller ones, like the smaller businesses or even the microentrepreneurs, make sure you’re connecting with Chamber staff. Have one or two folks there at the Chamber that you have a solid relationship with that can be your point person. Because if you’re in contact with them on a regular basis, they’re going to be just naturally, they’re going to see opportunities that come across their desk and they’re going to be like, “Oh, this is a great fit for Jane,” or whoever.
Jeff Randolph:
Yeah, you’re a good person to have looking out for somebody because you’re tapped into all of the things that go on. So yeah, if you’re looking out for somebody, you’re going to help them out.
Vicky Kulikov:
Yeah, exactly.
Jeff Randolph:
Let’s talk specifically about the kind of programs you run as the director of small business, like the Small Business Celebrations, Small Business Superstars. Tell us about those because we’ve experienced one or two of those things.
Vicky Kulikov:
Sure, sure. So, the Small Business Celebration is actually about 38 years old. I think that this is our 38th year. So we’ve been doing this at the Chamber for many, many years so we’re not new to the Small Business Celebration. But after COVID and after the racial injustices of the summer of 2020, we decided we really needed to reinvigorate this long-standing celebration. So we launched the Small Business Superstars, and thank you to EAG as a Superstar sponsor-
Jeff Randolph:
We love the Superstars.
Vicky Kulikov:
Yeah, well, we really appreciate your partnership. It’s been really fun. So we launched the Superstars to just really, well, one, not only to reinvigorate the Small Business Celebration, but our number one goal was truly to just celebrate small businesses coming off of that really challenging summer of 2020 and really let these small businesses know in the greater Kansas City area that we as an organization and as a business community support them and are there for them. So it was really a standalone program that got bolted on the front end of our Small Business Celebration. And we just a month or so ago had a Superstars reception with probably about 500 Superstars from around the community. It was a great celebration. And then if they choose to be part of our Small Business Celebration and throw their name in the hat for our Small Business Awards, they certainly can start their journey as a Chamber member, and we offer a generous discount to those Superstars.
Then we go into our Small Business Celebration, which is probably about four months long. We get the applications in. We have a lot of different awards. Of course, we have our Mr. K Small Business of the Year award. Last year, our winner was Fahteema Parrish and Parrish & Sons Construction, so it was super exciting. It was our first female black-owned Mr. K winner in the history of the Small Business Celebration. So that was really exciting. So, we have the Mr. K Small Business of the Year award.
We do have several other additional awards, and I’ll just rattle them off quickly.
Jeff Randolph:
Sure, sure, sure.
Vicky Kulikov:
We’ve got our Emerging Small Business award. We have our Small Business Equity award. We have our International Small Business of the Year award. We have our Legacy of Kansas City, which is for businesses over 15 years or more. And we are launching, this year, this is the inaugural year for our Luminary Arts and Creative Small Business award. So, it’s a busy time.
So, once the applications come in, we then hold our Small Business Candidate Showcase, which is coming up next week, April 11th at Union Station, and it’s a great event. All those candidates will have a booth at Union Station in the Grand Hall. It’s a great event, food, drink, open to the public, so the more, the merrier, and they will all showcase their businesses. We get such a wide range of small businesses at the showcase. It could be anywhere from, oh, gosh, a caterer all the way to some type of tech company and everything in between. So, it’s really fun. It’s a great energy and excitement, so if your listeners can come, we’d love to have you.
After the showcase, we then go into our top 10 selection for the Mr. K Small Business of the Year, and there’s things that happen there for the top 10. And then we culminate with our Small Business Awards Luncheon, June 13th at the Westin Crown Center.
Jeff Randolph:
Man, there are so many things to keep straight. I know that you’re not reading off of a list and you have 400 or so events through the year of things people can get involved in. It seems like if you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were reading these off a list, and I know you’re not. You have all of these committed to memory to keep them straight is a heroic challenge. That is amazing.
Vicky Kulikov:
Oh, well, thank you.
The one thing I do want to make sure outside of our Small Business Celebration, just to let you and the listeners know, so I do oversee our access to capital efforts as well.
Jeff Randolph:
Oh, okay.
Vicky Kulikov:
So, our public policy team, again, after the summer of 2020, launched a access to Capital Task Force and began some programming meetings and committees centered around access to capital for diverse small business owners. And from that, there was several programs that were launched, including a very popular one, which is called our Lenders Forum. The Lenders Forum brings together traditional lenders, other type of lenders as well, CDFIs, but we bring in five to six diverse small businesses who do a presentation to the lenders. They get five minutes to present their business, and then those lenders get to ask them questions. And what we’re doing with that program is cultivating relationships between these black and brown-owned businesses and traditional lenders. We know that that has been a key barrier to those businesses accessing capital, so creating those relationships and hopefully resulting ultimately in a line of credit or a loan.
So, we’ve got a generous loan, or I’m sorry, generous grant from Kauffman Foundation that has enabled us to continue that work for another, well, it’s a three-year grant, so public policy transitioned all the efforts over to small business, so I’ve been overseeing that along with a contract worker. So there’s some other programs within that, but that’s one of our bigger ones, and it’s going great.
Jeff Randolph:
I’m sure there are things you don’t do. It seems like you do absolutely everything.
Vicky Kulikov:
Oh.
Jeff Randolph:
All right. Let me piggyback on the Small Business Celebration because it’s no secret we love the events like this. We get a lot of our guests on this podcast from the Small Business Celebrations. And I’ve been impressed with them because they’re entrepreneurs who see a need and they solve it. Some of the stories that came about as a result of the pandemic where somebody sees something and says, “Hey, I’ve got a solution to that, I’m going to solve that problem and that’ll be my business.” Amazing, inspiring. You’re plugged into all of that. As you’re talking to some of those small businesses and entrepreneurs out there, what are some of the biggest needs that you’re hearing from them as a starting business?
Vicky Kulikov:
I would say, because I do work with a lot of black and brown-owned businesses and women-owned businesses, that the access to capital is a real thing.
Jeff Randolph:
An issue.
Vicky Kulikov:
An issue, for sure. So helping them navigate that space, I think, is hopefully helpful to them in starting their business.
The other thing with small businesses in general, I think they can get so super focused, of course, on the day-to-day and not getting out into the community. It’s tough for them to find that time in their calendar. I appreciate that because a lot of those owners, they’re doing everything, right?
Jeff Randolph:
Right.
Vicky Kulikov:
I think one of the barriers for them is, well, one, finding the bandwidth and time to get out, but building those relationships in the larger business community and the networking and cultivation of those relationships is something that doesn’t come naturally for a lot of them, and so they need some support and encouragement, and hopefully, myself and the rest of the Chamber is there to help them in those ways.
Jeff Randolph:
This is a good transition into the next question I have because it’s about energy and networking. Because, you’re right, I don’t think it comes naturally to a lot of people. That there are introverts out, there are ambiverts out there who are, “I can be on public for a while, but then I need to totally unplug, and I need to recover from that.”
When a business owner is making connections in the community, there was a quote by Tom Lehrer way back in the day that was, “Life is like a sewer. You get out of it what you put into it.”
Vicky Kulikov:
Okay, that’s hilarious.
Jeff Randolph:
Or you could just say, “You get out of it what you put into it.”
Vicky Kulikov:
Right.
Jeff Randolph:
For a lot of business owners, I think there’s an energy level or mindset that it takes to ‘people’ all day, right?
Vicky Kulikov:
Yes.
Jeff Randolph:
And you are out there. You have how many events per year, and these are big events, and some of them are just networking events where the job is, go in and say hi and meet people and see if there’s a connection or see if you can work together with somebody. When it comes to you and being ‘on; all day, does being ‘on’ take a toll on you personally? And do you need a break at some point, or do you thrive on that and just, “Give me a room to walk into”?
Vicky Kulikov:
Yeah, I mean, I think I definitely thrive on it. What I love about being a staff member at our Chamber is that when I’m attending our events, it’s easy to fall into the host/hostess this role, so it gives me a reason to be in that space. Now, if you put me in another room that’s not a Chamber event and it’s a networking event, then it’s a little bit harder because it’s like I really got to work to go up to this group of people, et cetera.
Jeff Randolph:
Right, right.
Vicky Kulikov:
But I would say, I probably am an ambivert. I thrive on the work that I’m doing, absolutely. And it’s super fulfilling, and it gets me up every day. Being in the role of the small business director, it takes my engagement and involvement with these small businesses at a whole other level, which I didn’t necessarily get as much in the prior position at the Chamber. I feel like I am actually able to help these small business owners. It may be in some small, small way, but I know I’m hopefully making an impact in their lives and in their business.
So, it’s very energizing and meaningful work for me to do. I thrive on our networking events and our general meetings and things that the Chamber does, but I do need to recharge, so oftentimes in the evenings, there’s lots of opportunities to go to more Chamber events and more community events in the evening. And I have to be very selective because I need that time to recharge, sitting on my couch and watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills or Below Deck or something like that.
Jeff Randolph:
Everyone needs that. Even if you’re the best extrovert ever, I think you do need that time to just go, “Okay, and I’m done peopling today.”
Vicky Kulikov:
Absolutely.
Jeff Randolph:
But if you’re listening and you’re an introvert and you find going to one of these networking events just to be frightening in every way, I’m going to go back to some of the advice you gave at the top of the show on just get to know your Chamber people and tell them what you’re after, because if you see someone in your position, someone with a name tag on, you can ask for an introduction. Say, “Hey, I’m here to meet some people who do this. Do you see anyone here that you can introduce me to?”
Vicky Kulikov:
That’s absolutely correct, and I’m glad you brought that up, Jeff, because whether we make a introduction in person for somebody, or if it’s an email introduction, I would say that that is one of the biggest benefits of a Chamber membership. You’ve got a team of 30 Chamber staff that have a lot of connections in our community, and we’re here to open doors for you and facilitate those introductions, so coming to the events in person is great, but we can also do a lot behind the scenes on just those email introductions. So yeah, if you come to an event, the networking on a Friday morning, this Friday will actually be at Chicken N Pickle-
Jeff Randolph:
Ooh, yeah.
Vicky Kulikov:
But this will be too late for that.
Jeff Randolph:
Check your local listings for times.
Vicky Kulikov:
Yeah, yeah. So yeah, if I’m there or whomever is there from the Chamber, like Jeff said, catch us and say, “Hey, I really want to meet so-and-so.” Grab us, we’ll take you right over there. And it could be after the event too. “Hey, Vicki, I saw this person, I didn’t get a chance to get their business card or meet with them. Can you connect me?” And I am more than happy to do that, that’s what we do. So, that’s really a huge, intangible benefit of being part of the Chamber.
Jeff Randolph:
Yeah, there is real value to that. Absolutely, real value.
Vicky Kulikov:
Yes. Yes.
Jeff Randolph:
All right. Vicki, I think you have done a great job at the top part of this show. It is now time to go into the lightning round. Are you ready for the lightning round?
Vicky Kulikov:
I don’t know, Jeff. I’m scared.
Jeff Randolph:
See, I know. We’ve talked about categories of questions we may ask to this point. From here on, you don’t know what I’m going to ask, you have no advanced warning. We’re just going to dive in and see where it goes. This helps people get to know you so that we can see what’s going on.
Vicky Kulikov:
My heart’s beating faster now. I’m excited. Okay.
Jeff Randolph:
We’ll start wiring people up with monitors so that we can see how this impacts them.
We’ve had your son on the podcast as well, Sam Kulikov, who has been a pioneer in the eSports world and doing some amazing things: multiple world championships, multiple titles. When you think about Sam, what would you say you’re most proud of him for? Is it the eSports work he’s done, or did he win a spelling bee in fifth grade that you still think about?
Vicky Kulikov:
I’m not going to pick one specific event or thing he won. I’m most proud of him as just being a really good human being.
Jeff Randolph:
Aw, see. Nice.
Vicky Kulikov:
And I’m going to tear up. Yeah, I mean, I know I’m his mother, but he’s just a really good person and a kind guy, and I’m super proud of everything that he’s done.
Jeff Randolph:
Aw, man. See, this is why we do this, these humanizing moments. That’s why we do this show.
Let’s talk about social media for a second because we did ask Sam this question in the lightning round as well. What’s your favorite social media platform and why?
Vicky Kulikov:
I don’t know that I have a favorite one. I am of that age where I don’t post a lot but I look at it a lot. Too much probably. I would say I’m mostly on Facebook and Instagram, but I’m more of a behind-the-scenes. Should be posting more but don’t.
Jeff Randolph:
Yeah. Well, and then you’re not alone. Most people are more stalkers and consumers on social media.
Vicky Kulikov:
Right.
Jeff Randolph:
They don’t put a lot of stuff out there. Sam said Twitter of course, because of his eSports world that he lives in, but-
Vicky Kulikov:
That makes sense.
Jeff Randolph:
It would make sense for him. Everybody has their own that is like, “Yeah, I go here. I live in this world. This is what I want.”
Vicky Kulikov:
Yeah. And I think I’ve intentionally stayed away from the TikTok world, only because I know once I go down that path, then I’m-
Jeff Randolph:
Oh. You’re never coming back.
Vicky Kulikov:
Yeah.
Jeff Randolph:
You’ll stay there forever.
Vicky Kulikov:
Exactly.
Jeff Randolph:
That’s where you’ll live.
Vicky Kulikov:
Exactly.
Jeff Randolph:
In retirement, maybe.
Vicky Kulikov:
Right. Right, right, right.
Jeff Randolph:
Eventually you’ll be like, “All right. Let’s-”
Vicky Kulikov:
Yeah, I got a few… well, a few years.
Jeff Randolph:
Let’s see what this TikTok thing has to do.
Vicky Kulikov:
Right, right, right.
Jeff Randolph:
Maybe by then there won’t be one anymore.
On your LinkedIn profile, I noticed that in your Interests section, you have three people that you follow. One is a TED talk presenter with 5 million followers. You follow a Gen Z influencer and Snoop Dogg, CEO of Death Row Records. Talk to me for a minute about Snoop. Is it the songs or was it his early work with Dre? What is it that draws you to Snoop Dogg?
Vicky Kulikov:
That’s hilarious. I didn’t even remember that that would’ve been on there, but thanks-
Jeff Randolph:
You hit ‘like’ one time and that’s it, man.
Vicky Kulikov:
Right, right. That’s so funny.
Jeff Randolph:
He’s your top three.
Vicky Kulikov:
I think he’s pretty amazing. I just love the way he has evolved. He’s matured.
Jeff Randolph:
Oh, yeah.
Vicky Kulikov:
So the breadth and scope of the work that he’s done through his career. And then his ability to connect with people that you would never think he would connect with, that is inspiring to me. So, I love that about him. I love that he has that partnership with Martha Stewart. I don’t really know what’s going on with that anymore. But he is somebody that exudes charisma and energy, and people seem to like him a lot.
Jeff Randolph:
Oh, yeah.
Vicky Kulikov:
So, I just think he’s a really interesting example of somebody who’s able to connect with all kinds of people in the world, and I appreciate that about him. Yeah.
Jeff Randolph:
Yeah, there was his recent thing that he did with Solo Stoves, the smokeless campfire stove kind of thing, where at the end of the first week, he was like, “I’m giving up smoke. Please respect my privacy.”
Vicky Kulikov:
Oh, you see, that wasn’t-
Jeff Randolph:
The next week, yeah.
Vicky Kulikov:
Okay.
Jeff Randolph:
You can’t have him give up smoke. Dogs and cats living together.
Vicky Kulikov:
Right, right. Right.
Jeff Randolph:
Mass hysteria. We wouldn’t know what kind of world we lived in if that were the case.
Yeah, so the next week he announced partnership thing. This pitchman thing with Solo Smokeless Stoves.
Vicky Kulikov:
I never knew what the actual…
Jeff Randolph:
Influencer.
Vicky Kulikov:
What that was all about. I mean, I saw the post, but then I never followed it.
But the other thing about him that I find fascinating is just that he is somebody that is on the edge, edgy. Obviously, everybody knows about his smoking and all of that, and that’s who he is, and yet he’s able to build those bridges with people who probably aren’t doing those things that he’s doing, but they still respect him for the human being that he is and the businessman that he is. So I really love seeing that he can build those bridges and that you don’t always have to have the same interests in life to be able to connect with people, and I love that about him. So he’s really an interesting person to follow.
Jeff Randolph:
It’s a good discussion on Snoop Dogg, anytime we can do that.
Vicky Kulikov:
Yeah, absolutely.
Jeff Randolph:
I’m going to give you the power to change the world in this last question. Last question in the lightning round. Give you the power to change the world to make it a better place, how would you do that? Would you change something about the way that people act or a thing or introducing something new? How do you change the world to make it a better place?
Vicky Kulikov:
Wow.
Jeff Randolph:
You’ve never had this much power before, but now that you do…
Vicky Kulikov:
That’s hard. I’ve been somebody that’s been involved for many, many years in interfaith work and always really believed in, again, that building of bridges and the importance of bringing people together. If I had the power, it would be something around that, which I think would be super beneficial for the time that we’re in today. I don’t know what that would look like.
Jeff Randolph:
You don’t have to have all the things worked out.
Vicky Kulikov:
I don’t have it all figured out? Okay. Okay.
Jeff Randolph:
You don’t have to try to figure out. You just said it.
Vicky Kulikov:
Well, I’ll let you know. I’ll come back to you with the full plan.
Jeff Randolph:
Yeah, you don’t have to have a plan right now.
Vicky Kulikov:
Oh, okay.
Jeff Randolph:
But if you could snap your fingers. Yeah, that’s what we’re after.
Vicky Kulikov:
Okay.
Jeff Randolph:
Good answer. I like that.
Vicky Kulikov:
Well, thanks.
Jeff Randolph:
I like that.
Vicky Kulikov:
Thanks, Jeff.
Jeff Randolph:
That’s worthwhile. That’s very much worthwhile.
Vicky Kulikov:
Thank you.
Jeff Randolph:
You’ve survived the lightning round. Well done. We’re out of that.
Vicky Kulikov, Director of Small Business at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, where can people find you if they want to connect with you if they want to learn more?
Vicky Kulikov:
Well, Jeff, they can probably find me on almost all social media platforms except for, well, actually, I do have a TikTok profile, but I don’t know what it is. You can find me on all of them. You can certainly find me on LinkedIn. I’m there. And if you want to find out more about Chamber events and Chamber happenings, you can visit our website. It’s kcchamber.com.
And again, love to have everybody. The more, the merrier. Attend our Small Business Showcase on Thursday, April 11th, from 5:00 to 7:30 P.M. at Union Station in the Grand Hall. So go to our website, you should find the link to register there. If not, hit me up on LinkedIn and I’ll get you in.
Jeff Randolph:
Yeah, and no matter when you listen to this, go to the website and check out what the calendar of events is. Look up Vicky and make sure she can introduce you around to somebody because, I promise you, it’ll be worth it.
Vicky, thanks for being on the show.
Vicky Kulikov:
Jeff, thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity.
Jeff Randolph:
And that is our show. Thanks to our guest, Vicky Kulikov, and thank you for listening to the Small Business Miracles Podcast. Remember to subscribe. Leave us a five star rating and review. Drop us a line on the website at eagadv.com if you have any thoughts. Until then, we’ll be out here helping entrepreneurs with another small business miracle.