Sarah's Biz Talk posts

how to figure out who is the right real estate agent for you?

Hi All-

I know there are a lot of real estate people on Biznik and I am looking for some advice. We are in need of an agent to help us sell our house in Blue Ridge/Crown Hill. Our house is great, we love it, but we need bigger and we need to move to Bellingham for business reasons. So, it is time to sell. When we bought our house 5 yrs ago we used an agent we liked but we cant even remember her name so I am not sure it was "love" or anything like that.... I need an agent that understands the current market, our neighborhood, the fact that we have small children, and is still confident and sure they can sell our house for a good price and soon. I think I am basically looking for someone sort of like me- type A, somewhat agressive.... But how do you know what someone will be like before you hire them? What questions do you ask a real estate agent? How do you find the right one? Referrals? Interviews?

Any advice?

20th Anniversary Ideas for Corporate Bash

Hi All- Okay put your thinking caps on please. If you had to come up with a list of possible events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of a company- what would you like to see. Here are some details: -small city, this company is a player in town but not too huge overall - people all know it but think of it as sort of small though it has been growing rapidly in last couple of years -doing well in a hard hit industry (financial) so want to do something cool but not over the top extravagant as that would look bad -main building under construction so that poses a problem with 'in house activities' but willing to hear ALL ideas -owners very dedicated to community and do a ton of community support and outreach so no need to really go there. However, an element of that would be okay.

We are doing a series of events so no idea too big or too small.

Thanks!!!

Looking for someone to do the technical side of web development

I have a client who designs websites. She is great at design and has a ton of work. What she does not have is reliable back end support. Her coders are all less than perfectly reliable and she is looking for new people to subcontract the technical side of website development out to. She has asked me for some help with this and I am posting it here to see if there may be some bizniks with expertise in this area who would be interested in talking about taking on new projects. Please either respond here or shoot me a quick email if it sounds like something you may be able to help with. Thanks!

To split or not to split, that is the question...

Hi All-

Would love input on a tricky business dilemma. I have owned my company for 3+ years now and when I started I did primarily strategy and business development work for ultra-luxury brands and kids products. Then a client came to me and asked me to help them plan a big corporate event. This snowballed into other clients asking for the same thing and then finally into clients coming to me just for events, not needing the strategy side at all. So, now I am basically running 2 companies- strategy/bd and corporate events. I like both but am feeling more drawn to the corporate events side of things recently- it is giving me more in terms of hapiness than the other side of my business and I would like to grow it faster and more agressively than the strategy side (which is weird because all of my corporate exp. was in business development/strategy etc).

Anyway, do I simply continue along with my company doing 2 different things, do I start a new company just for the events side, new name, new website etc and separate the two or do I basically stop doing strategy side and just do events. I have a few steady clients on strategy side but doubt i will go after many more in the current climate as everyone is nervous as all get out. But people do need to still have events and that side of the business is still growing for sure.

Any input would be great. Thanks!

Looking to Post Needs someplace people actually go...

Hi-

I know there was some talk about this some time back but I am not sure if it got resolved. Where on Biznik is there a place to post "Needs". I am not talking about posting something just on my profile or randomly in someone else's biztalk comment- I think there should be a place in BizTalk (which is where i think it would have the most views) for us to post actual, business related needs- things that could drive business for other bizniks. and it should get good billing and exposure. For example, I have a client who desperately needs some good designers, but I have neither the time nor the desire to search around for designers on the site. I want to post what he is looking for and contact info and then have the biznikers who might be interested go after the work. I am not on often enough for people to be continually viewing my profile, and it isnt a trade or a question- he needs them, I dont know any personally, and I am guessing there are some out there that would like the project... Thoughts?

need a classical guitarist or harp player

I have lots of needs this week and am hoping to find a biznik to help me out.

I need a classical guitarist or harp player to play at an event I am doing on May 28th. It is a daytime event and a pretty small gig- we would just need approx. one hour of playtime while lunch is being served etc. Think lovely background music for fancy corporate event and that is about the vibe we have going on. If you know anyone who does this sort of gig and might be interested please send them my way!

Finding a good Corp. Lawyer?

Hi- One of my clients is looking for a local lawyer. Nothing big, he is just starting a new company and wants to incorporate , do some LOI contracts and the like. The guy I used when I started my company no longer practices in Seattle and I dont honestly know too many sole practioners. My client is pretty set on the idea of using either a sole practicioner or a small firm- he dislikes the big firm mentality. Does anyone have a referral for a good, reasonably priced corporate lawyer who can do things like S Corp docs, LOI's, partner contracts? And they need to be in Seattle, or Eastside. Thanks!

member search and back button- what am i doing wrong?

Hi- When you are searching for members on biznik and you click on someone's profile, check it out and then want to go back to the place you were in the big list of everyone why does it instead send you back to the beginning? For example, I went to the member page and typed in excel because I need someone with some mad excel skills. I was perusing the listings of members with excel as part of their profile but when I clicked on one and then hit the back button on my internet explorer it took me all the way back to the main member search page. This is super annoying because then I had to type in excel again and scroll through all those I had already checked out.

Why doesnt it just take you back one screen- to where you were before you clicked into the individual profile? Or am I missing something and there is a special button?

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Excel Guru

Hi-

I need to hire someone for a current project. Basically I have lots of information about one of my clients financials, projections etc and we have a few pro forma statements done but we are changing the business model a bit and need some new models run in Excel. You dont need to be a CPA or anything like that- you just need to know how to really use Excel- formulas, macros etc and if you have a good idea of how projections work that would be good too but is not necessary. This is an immediate project so please let me know if you know of anyone who might be available for a few hours of work sometime in the next week or so. Thanks!

Need a Caterer

Hi- One of my clients is having a big event in May- a luncheon and building dedication. We are expecting 150 people and need a caterer. It will be buffet style and we are looking for someone who can do the whole catering package- staff, food, set up etc. We are thinking "industrial chic" as a theme due to the building design. There will be lots of interesting people there- the Governor, the Mayor, a couple Senators etc so we are looking for a VERY PROFESSIONAL crew. If anyone knows anyone that might be interested please let me know. Thanks!

Need a Sketch Artist

Hi- Not sure if this is right place to put this but...

I have a client who may be in need of some sketch work. He has a large product (very large, bigger than a car, smaller than a tank but not a vehicle that I am not allowed to talk about officially yet- sorry for the cloak and dagger but he insists). He thinks it would be great to get some sketches done for the sales brochure and my go-to girl is all booked up so I am looking to expand my network and find someone who is a kick butt artist with some graphic skills that has space to take on a new project in the next month. Thanks!

Looking for corporate gifts

Hi- I am looking for some fabulous custom corporate gifts for one of my clients. This is for an event they are having where they want to give each person some sort of memento - but nothing cheesy. This is a very high level event and we are out of cool ideas- we have done fancy pens/laser pointers, clothes, trips etc. We are thinking some sort of custom sandblasted glass object (as they are celebrating hitting $1 Billion in AUM and they are pretty happy about it) but we dont like any we have seen as they are all pretty tacky... Anyone out there do fabulous custom pieces like this?

contractor referral?

Hi-

We are in need of a good contractor to work on our house in Ballard. Basically we have some serious water issues because we live on a big hill. We have done all of the standard fixes- integrated sump pump, french drain system etc etc and now it is time to bite the bullet and do the 'dig out and fix' approach. We are looking for a contractor who has experience in working with foundations, has excellent references and is of course, honest, trusworthy, reliable, reasonably priced and licensed, bonded etc etc etc. Anyone know anyone who is a real gem?

Thanks!

Position in Bellingham

Hi-

We are looking for someone in Bellingham who loves dogs, and is also competent at cleaning house. We have a need for a housekeeper/dog sitter. It is a wonderful home on Chuckanut in Bellingham ,with one human resident and one puppy resident. We need someone daily to clean the house, run errands, do the laundry and watch the puppy. This person would also have to be available for extensive puppy sitting- the owner travels a lot and the puppy would need to stay with this person when the owner is away. We are a nice family and this is for my widower father (60 and very active, still sails and travels etc) and his lovely labradoodle puppy. We are really looking for a FT person and pay is very competitive. Please email me at sarah@skbsolutions.com.

Thanks!

Bag Pipe Player

Hi All-

I have a need for a professional bag pipe player- a friend is celebrating her wedding here in Seattle (though she is from Scotland) and has her heart set on having one play. Anyone know of an indie bag piper who is available for a gig in early Feb. Truly only looking for someone who has experience playing for a crowd - a demo tape would be great... Please email me at sarah@skbsolutions.com if you know of anyone. Thanks!

Position Open: Business Development - Know Anyone

Hi-

I am working with a client - a mid-sized graphic and communications design firm on Capitol Hill - who is looking for a FT Business Development Manager as part of our revamp of their business. I am looking for good candidates- anyone know anyone who has (a) a strong selling history to major companies, (b) the desire to have a full time job with benefits etc, (c) desire to work for a pretty cool company - if so please have them send their resumes to me at sarah@skbsolutions.com. We are not looking for consultants, people who want PT, people with no selling history... Experience in Creative Services would be a huge plus! I can give more info and a full job desc. to anyone interested in passing it along. Thanks! Sarah