I tell UCLA Anderson MBAs My Story (video)

The 32nd annual CREATE Conference at UCLA Anderson was one of the first business school events in the world to feature a cannabis panel. I had the pleasure of speaking on the mainstage with five different sides of the cannabis puzzle.

• Dr. Jeff Chen, director of the National Institute of Cannabis Endocannabinoid Research and Founder of the Cannabis Research Group at UCLA.

• Christian Groh (pronounced "grow" no kidding) COO of Privateer Holdings an investment fund with companies such as Leafly-which receives 11 million visitors a month, Tilray-a medical cannabis cultivator in Canada, and Marley Natural-the licensed Bob Marley cannabis brand. Christian comes from a traditional VC investment background at Silicon Valley Bank and brings the important private equity perspective to this conversation.

• Kenny Morrison, founder of VCC Brands, is a UCLA drop-out now invited back to the business school as a CEO. Kenny shared how his cannabis sales experience started in college and then matured into one of the largest edible brands in California & Washington recently. Kenny shared his perspective from the product, branding, and lobbying he leads.

• Jim Baudino, VP of Marketing at Merry Jane, is a UCLA Anderson graduate and 10 year veteran of Toyota. Jim talked about representing cannabis culture and SnoopDogg's cannabis company portfolio.

Where To Start Optimization Testing On Your Website

If you're just getting started with web optimization testing or have limited testing resources (hey that's like everybody), which pages you test is the most critical decision you have to make. At today's WhichTestWon's Conference I learned from Justin Rondeau that our optimization instincts are probably wrong on where to start testing.

Page Requirements for Optimization Testing

Before you can test a page, it must meet these two requirements:

• Does the page get enough traffic to reach statistical significance in a reasonable time frame (1-5 weeks)?

• Does the Page Directly Impact Conversation? If Yes, what is the current conversion rate? If No, what is the long term value of the conversion that this page lifts?

Start Lower in Your Funnel

For an eCommerce site, start as late in your conversion funnel as possible. Here's a typical eCommerce funnel:

• Entry Pages: These are politically charged since many people may be involved in creating these campaigns, skip optimizing these first.

• Category Pages

• Search Results

• Product Pages

• Cart & Checkout: START HERE. Few people will challenge you to improve the cart because carts are just carts. You can create a lot of lift here.

• Receipt/Thank You: Rarely tested! Try an up-sell or cross-sell here instead of during checkout.

Next, Where Is Your Landing Money?

Don't start with high bounce rate pages. We know–they're sinking ships that you'd like to save. Not worth your time. Try landing pages for your highest conversion traffic. Or landing pages for your most expensive (PPC) traffic.

Next, Test Your Conversion Path

Now that you've improved the beginning and end of the funnel, now you can test the middle. This means testing your category pages, search result pages, product pages, and so on. Find everything that is stopping people from buying in your funnel and test how to fix it.

Next, PPC Traffic

If you're paying for customers to click on your links, you need to nail the landing page. At a minimum, your page needs to feature what your ad claimed. You'll be surprised at how many people screw this up.

Next, Referral Traffic

Know who is sending you traffic and where they are sending them. Make sure you're meeting the standards that people expect.

Am I Done Yet?

Of course not! Follow WhichTestWon for more testing ideas or get you butt to Austin for the Live Event. 

My Best Advice for Female Entrepreneurs

After crossing paths with thousands of female leaders, there were 3 things I learned. There were 3 things that made being a female leader fundamentally different and frankly I was going about leading the wrong way. I've kept this video private for a while because I had barely learned these lessons in time for this speech but this is the best advice I've ever given to female entrepreneurs.

Stoney Sunday with Coral Reefer & Jazmin Hupp

This was one of my favorite interviews on women and cannabis. Coral Reefer is the first female cannabis vlogger that I saw build an incredible community to support her. She has since transitioned back to civilian life but we had tons of fun with this Thanksgiving weekend broadcast in 2015. We go into depth on talking to your mom about marijuana. And yes you get to see me dab on camera :)

What I Learned Turning Off and Tuning In

Picture of me in a hedgehog onesie on a giant teddy bear from New Years 2016, photo by Jane West.

2016 brought a lot of learning and a lot of joy.

My biggest lesson of 2016 was figuring out how to serve myself first in order to serve everyone else sustainably. People had always warned me about "burning out" but I had never hit my limit. Creating the 2nd Annual Women Grow Leadership Summit in Denver for over 1,200 women was my greatest accomplishment. It was also what broke me.

Although I could have blamed external challenges for breaking me. I realized that all my external challenges were reflections of my own inner struggles. So I went about investing everything I had into working on myself. Yoga, meditation, books, dance, music, purpose-driven leadership, cannabis, psychedelics and the School of Womanly Arts were my practices. We found a new CEO to take over my role at Women Grow on July 1st and I focused on myself full-time.

Leaving the CEO role at Women Grow was the hardest transition I've ever made. The unexpectedly tough part of aligning your personal and professional purpose is allowing them to separate when needed. It took me almost three months just to stop thinking of myself and my role as one.

I ran away to play in Spain, speak in Berlin, camp at Burning Man, and work Symbiosis. I traveled 26 weeks of 2016. I learned a lot.

I learned how to love myself unconditionally. I learned how to stop using food to solve problems that food doesn't solve (and lost 30 pounds). I learned how to stop caring about what people who don't care about me think. I learned how to put myself first every day. I learned how to process dark emotions and self-hatred. I learned to stop over-thinking the past at the expense of being present. I learned I didn't have to be afraid of my full emotional range.

I took six months off for myself. The changes I've made to my mental, physical, and emotional health have just begun to benefit me. I'll be back at the 3rd Annual Women Grow Leadership Summit in a few weeks. I invite you to join me at the summit, Feb 1-3. It’ll be an experience like you’ve never had. Click here for more info.

Scroll down to see how I learned how to be in a museum, how to Burn in Spain, new psychedelic treatments, the final Summit at Sea, winning licenses, and at the very bottom, everything else I'm up to this year.

I Learn By Teaching

I perfected the blend of education, inspiration, and community that encourages women to take huge risks. Over 1,200 women gathered in the Ellie Caulkin's Opera House in Denver to hear 32 speakers, including Melissa Etheridge.

I Learn What Burn-Out Really Is

I was wiped after this event. I couldn't think. We tried to do long-term planning but we had exhausted ourselves and the entire team. It was impossible to follow up on this momentum. I'm so grateful to the so many of you who gave me space during this sensitive period to grow and recover. I was no longer taking care of myself and I had failed to care for my team.

I Learn How to Release

I Learn How to Be in a Museum

Being featured in the Oakland Museum's exhibit on Cannabis in California was a first. You sometimes feel like you're both predicting and making history on days like this. I'm grateful we got over a dozen women featured in this exhibit.

I wrote

You have everything you need to start. Every time you are waiting for another teacher, you are wasting time. Learn in practice, not study.

I Learn to Relax in Europe

Grateful to Bar-Keep for showing me the most diverse Burning Man event in the west. 2,000 Europeans gathered on a small plane in the Spanish desert for a week in scorching July to build a humble city and party down.

Grateful for the invitation to speak at Tech Open Air in Berlin. I got to debut my talk on "Clarifying Your Calling with Cannabis" to a packed house.

Grateful to edge pushers like Cindy Gallop on "Why the Next Big Thing in Tech is Disrupting Sex" if you want to know what's up after cannabis.

I Learn About Relationship...

Excerpt from More Than Two

Grateful for the many books I read on relationship this year...including American Savage, Goddesses Never Age, The Law of Attraction, The Art of Everyday Ecstasy, and More Than Two.

Learning at the Burn

Getting the bus tuned up before we leave for the Burn.

Playa-bound!

For my fourth Burning Man, I attended for 10 days and lead a camp of 35. Friends from across the world came. I learned to run my first electrical grid (with lots of trial and error). I found a pair of exceptional Tantra Energy Teachers and became enraptured with their workshops.

I Learn About Fear & Love

John Lennon and I share a birthday in October and this thought

"There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life."~ John Lennon

I Learn About Psychedelic Treatments at Horizons

The Horizons conference presented research on MDMA & psychedelics from celebrated universities...NYU, Columbia, John Hopkins.

Multiple studies showed patients experiencing up to 8 months of relief from symptoms with just one "magic mushroom" therapy experience. These "peak spiritual experiences" were leading to increased positive attitudes, altruism, and deeper development of social relationships.I was seeing that we had extended our physical bodies past our ability to fill our lives with meaning. Alzheimer's disease was preventable if we stayed mentally active and engaged. These patients showed how spirituality was actually a component of health, particularly at end of life.

I Learn Prototyping in November

I took Prototyping for Creative Innovation with Megan Goering, formerly of Google. We ran through prototyping techniques and tests until we could do them by habit.I wrote out dozens and dozens of business ideas and then weighted them on factors like start-up costs and market size. I began testing messaging of all the different things. The cannabis helps with ideation but didn't make narrowing down any easier.

I Learn About Sex & Sugar at Sea

On the eve of the election, I boarded a cruise ship for 3,000 "innovators" and we sailed out to the Caribbean. Marijuana was legalized in six states but we were all shocked by the Presidential election. We gathered to build new ways to a future we all want to live in. We workshop. We dance. We drink. We eat. We snuggle.

I attend panels like "Sugar is the New Tobacco" and learn from Dr. Dean Ornish that 86% of 3 trillion dollars spent in healthcare are spent on chronic care for mostly reversible conditions. We've created a food system, which externalizes all the costs of eating cheap food that causes illness.

Dr. Ornish reveals that "bad habits" are developed to deal with the isolation of modern life. He uses lifestyle as treatment by asking people to eat well, stress less, move more, and love more. He's found that fear is not a sustainable motivators for people to change bad habits. You have to fill the voids those habits leave with even more joyful and pleasurable motivators.

I Learn Good Work Pays Off in December

Grateful to the Women Grow community in the Bay Area celebrating two years.

Grateful for the dispensary license process in Maryland where two teams I had advised won licenses.

Get Free Press For Your Startup With Original Data

Getting traditional PR coverage is hard! As new startups flood journalists with lame press releases, how do you stand out from the pack? Will Flaherty of SeatGeek taught "Data Driven PR" at General Assembly today.

Startups have a treasure trove of valuable, propriety data regarding some aspect of their given vertical. When packaged in a digestible and usable format to the right journalists, it will get you mentioned. Although it may not be a love story about your company, it will get you more free press.

What kind of data do you have?

• Demographics about your audience

• Trends in your marketplace

What Your Data Can Lead To

• Print: Stories were created from data sent to individual writers.

• Radio

• TV: Since television is a visual medium, they place the highest value on giving them someone who is immediately available to be on camera. This means you need someone who can talk knowledgeably and is willing to meet a camera crew wherever local news crews are.

• Infographics: These are produced by SeatGeek and take about 15-20 hours to produce. You'll notice in their Final Four infographic that they partnered with Seamless to get even more interesting data.

How to Pitch Data

1. Create a couple of hypotheses around a topic that your audience might find newsworthy. SeatGeek picks a type of event and location to focus their analysis on based on which news outlets they want to attract. It's faster to chase existing stories in news (like the Super Bowl) and provide data to earn mentions. SeatGeek has also done well digging up deep data on an original story to get higher quality mentions.

2. Pull the raw numbers into something like Excel and analyze it while keeping an open mind for new findings.

3. Synthesize the trends you're seeing in the data. What are the changes over time, locations, etc. Write compelling punch bullet points.

4. Create a visual element (graph/infographic) to convey your data in a different and powerful way. (Don't forget to include your logo & URL on the graphic)

5. Push the pitch out to interested journalists, bloggers, and media members.

Building Your List of Media Members To Pitch

• Find the media members who are writing stories in your locale/vertical/etc. If you know one site that perfectly epitomizes the readership you're looking for, copy their URL. Then do a Google search for "related:URL.com" to see the sites that are similar to them.

• Most of the time, their email address will be listed on their stories or website. If not you can use a few tricks to find it.

• If they work for an organization with a common email structure like first.last@company.com you can use that. You can use Gmail tools like Rapportive to confirm your guess.

• You can search the journalist's tweets for their email address using sites like Snap Bird. Just enter the target's Twitter name and the search term "email".

How to Contextualize Your Data Points

• Comparison: How do prices/demand/profits compare to others or past? How do customers in your area compare to other areas?

• Superlatives: Most expensive/popular thing in X years.

• Trends: How is prices/profits/demand changing over time.

• If Statements: If you bought all components individually would it be cheaper than buying them individually? If you had bought this widget it the past, what would it be worth now?

• Use Google Alerts to track what are popular story topics in your industry.

Writing Your Pitch

1. Punchy, description subject line. Use an actual data point that will stand out to a journalist drowning in story pitches.

2. Personalized opening paragraph. Make it clear this isn't a stock email to hundreds of people. Mention your specific relationship with them whenever possible.

3. Crisp, clear data points. Write in complete sentences (that the journalist can copy) and bold the numbers you're pitching.

4. Always provide a link. Encourage the journalist to link to your site by providing a landing page that supports the story (hopefully a page that puts readers a click away from a transaction with you).

5. Give them a method to follow up. Make yourself available to provide more data or provide a quote. Will uses a Google voice number that forwards to his cell phone (which I thought would be great for scaling later on, if you want to have different folks answer at different times).

Check It Out

• OkCupid (a dating site) pulled aggregated data on their users to create buzz-worthy blog posts and earn press mentions in the New York Times.

• Yipit (a daily deal aggregator) has become the go-to source on daily deal industry metrics. They produce detailed data reports that they sell to the other daily deal sites and the financial community.

CannaInsider Interview with Jazmin Hupp

In true Cannabis social media fashion, the CannaInsider was banned from YouTube in the years since this podcast from 2015. The transcript still remains though! In it, I share all the information on why women will be successful at running cannabis businesses and how to get started.

Full Transcript

Matthew: Hi, I’m Matthew Kind. Every Monday and Wednesday look for a fresh episode where I’ll take you behind the scenes and interview the leaders of the rapidly evolving cannabis industry. Learn more at www.cannainsider.com. That’s www.cannainsider.com. Are you looking for a fulfilling and lucrative career in the cannabis industry? Visit www.cannainsider.com/careers. That’s www.cannainsider.com/careers.

Now here’s your program. Women Grow connects, educates and empowers cannabis industry leaders by creating community and events for aspiring and current business executives. I am pleased to welcome Jazmin Hupp, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Women Grow to CannaInsider today. Welcome Jazmin.

Jazmin: Thank you so much for having me.

Matthew: Sure. To give us a sense of geography where are you today?

Jazmin: I am mostly based out of a suitcase. Today I am in New York City. Women Grow was founded in Denver. The majority of our national staff are there, but I have bases in New York City and San Francisco, but I’m mostly on the road. We have chapters operating in 20 cities, and my goal is to visit every city at least once a year.

Matthew: Wow. For listeners that may not have heard of Women Grow in the past, can you just give us a high level overview of what it is?

Jazmin: Sure. Women Grow is a professional networking organization that supports female leaders in all segments of the cannabis industry. Our goal, as you said, is to connect, educate and empower women to lead America’s fastest growing industry. Our largest program is the signature networking events which our held on the first Thursday of every month in 20 cities across the country. We also hold cooperative events with the top conferences, host webinars, publish a lot of content. And on February 12th we recently brought together 76 women in cannabis in Washington, D.C. Then I flew to San Francisco, held an event for 200 entrepreneurs and investors called Creating Cannabis Products for Women featuring 6 of the top female cannabis business owners in the Bay Area. And then I went to the Emerald Triangle and met with women organizing in Humboldt. That’s a pretty typical month for me in Women Grow.

Matthew: Jazmin you’re so lazy. We’re going to have to talk to somebody about that.

Jazmin: Of course.

Matthew: Now I want to rewind a little bit. I want to talk about the, you know, making cannabis products more friendly to women, but I want to rewind a little bit to back in the very beginning with you and Jane. What was the impetus to start Women Grow? What was the conversation you were having with Jane, and how did women grow spark? What was the first spark where you said we got to do this?

Jazmin: Sure. And you’ve interviewed Jane before so I will have to reference your listeners to her edition to get her perspective on it because of course it’s a little different from mine. But Women Grow was announced at NCIA’s national conference last June by Jane, and I was sitting in the audience. Jane had organized the top women business owners in Colorado who wanted more women to join the industry but had run out of steam to do it in their spare time.

She had been producing events for international organizations like UNICEF and G Medical. I had launched six businesses before this and had about a decade of practice in branding and communications. And I had been working with an organization called Women 2.0 based in the Bay Area. And Women 2.0’s mission was to get an equal amount of venture capital funding for women in technology, and I had helped Women 2.0 from grow from the Bay Area to do events in 6 countries for about 100,000 entrepreneurs. But even after 9 years of Women 2.0 only about 4% to 6% of venture capital funding goes to women which severely limits the types of technology products we see on the market. The script for how technology funding worked had already been written and it wasn’t inclusive. Coincidentally Jane had fashioned the Women Grow launch after Women 2.0. So we decided it was meant to be and started collaborating right away.

Matthew: Great idea. Now there are a lot of different areas under the cannabis umbrella where women can get involved, but they may not be aware of all the different ways they can get involved in the cannabis industry. Could you name a few to help add some color around that?

Jazmin: Sure. Well your audience is probably a lot more sophisticated about the types of cannabis businesses out there because you’re interviewing all these great people. But a lot of people start out thinking that there’s only two jobs in cannabis. Either you’re producing cannabis products or you’re selling them. And the truth is that this is a multibillion dollar industry with dozens of different specialties.

Some of the areas that I don’t see a lot of competition in, but I think women are particularly great at are cloning banks, trim crew services, HR services, marketing and training. We have a webinar that should be available by the time this podcast is released. It goes into depth about all the different industry opportunities and how to decide which one might be right for you.

Matthew: Great point. We also interviewed one of the founding members of Women Grow from Cannabis Trainers, Maureen McNamara. And she’s an excellent trainer. So that’s to your point, you know, there is a lot of opportunities in training as the other aspects you mentioned. Now for women that are in states where cannabis is currently not legal, what should they do? Should they just wait or is there any opportunities to get started doing something now?

Jazmin: Yeah, you’ll notice that a lot of the successful business owners in cannabis actually came from the legalization movement. Working to legalize in your state will instantly connect you with other like minded people, educate you on all the issues and give you the confidence to move forward. Additionally having women help write this legislation make it more likely that the final results appeal to women who are often cited as the swing vote in legalization. And it helps make sure that the final results are fair and inclusive.So if you’re in a prohibition state, find the legalization organizations near your and volunteer. Some of the groups that we partner with are NORML, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Marijuana Policy Project, MAPS which is the Multidisciplinary Associate for Psychedelic Studies and so on. And so get connected with those folks and start volunteering and start making a difference.

Matthew: That’s an excellent point about the volunteering and activism because you are dead right. There is so many people I’ve met that are really leaders in the space from a commercial side that have their origin story in the activism. So it was a natural progression. So a lot of people out there what are listening that are wondering how to get in that is an excellent suggestion. Now you were recently at Lobby Days, what is that and why is it important?

Jazmin: We just had our first annual Lobby Day event, and it was a fantastic experience for everybody that attended. To steal a line from my friend Joe Brezny, “If you’re in the marijuana business, you are now also in the policy business”. And the cannabis industry is one of the most closely regulated, and we don’t expect that to change any time soon. Unlike most developed industries where multibillion dollar companies pay hoards of lobbyists, there are actually few lobbyists involved in cannabis. So each individual person can actually make a big impact on how we get to serve patients. After 80 years of Reefer Madness, the staffers creating marijuana policy may know very little about what we do and why we do it. So we have to show up and tell them.As you would expect from an industry that is legal at the state level but illegal federally, there are a lot of conflicts to be resolved in a short term. So as your listeners probably know, access to banking for cannabis businesses is spotty at best. One of our founding members,Brook leads the Live Green Group in Colorado, and they’ve lost 34 bank accounts over the last five years. Last year they did over $10 million in revenue and didn’t have banking services for half of that. So forcing these cannabis businesses to be conducted in cash benefits no one, and that’s why we were there supporting HR 2652 which is the Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act of 2013. Notice it’s of 2013 because we’re still trying to get this passed.The second major conflict that we were working on is the section of the tax code called 280E. I don’t know if your listeners are familiar with 280E.

Matthew: Sure, you can cover that briefly.

Jazmin: Well so 280E prohibits businesses involved with drug trafficking from deducting normal business expenses from their income. This was written so that drug cartels couldn’t write off their speed boats for example. Unfortunately the IRS has interpreted that to apply to our state legal cannabis businesses. So many dispensaries pay 50% to 70% of their net income, not profit, income in federal taxes because they can’t write off salaries, health insurance, retirement benefits, business equipment, rent, marketing, utilities, so on. Cannabis business owners want to pay their fair share of taxes, but we need to make it fair.

Matthew: Gosh that is totally unfair. You’re right. Now you have somewhat of a controversial position on women’s purchasing decisions of cannabis. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Jazmin: Yes. Women are going to be the dominant cannabis product buyers after national legalization. Right now it appears that more men than women consume cannabis, but that’s mostly related to its illegal status and the types of products on the market, not because there’s anything about cannabis that’s better for men versus women. Once prohibition is lifted cannabis products become just like any other household good, and we know women already control the majority of household spending. On top of that women are more likely to be diagnosed with a chronic illness, more like to try alternative health therapy, and are more likely to be in charge of the wellness decisions for their families. One on five women will face depression. One in eight will face breast cancer. There is no scenario where I can imagine where women don’t become the dominant buyers of cannabis products.

Matthew: Right so make your cannabis products very women friendly and how do they do that?

Jazmin: Well the first step is to get more diversity on your leadership and marketing teams. Having an inclusive team where people of all genders and colors are heard are going to help you make the best decisions day in and day out for your brand to attract an inclusive audience. I especially encourage you to pick a woman to run your social media marketing. We’re seeing a ton of brands take the easy route for quick attention by posting bikini babes with bongs. If you’re treating women like decoration to attract men instead of serious customers, you’re missing out on a loyal audience. A loyal audience that very few brands are actively serving. I think anyone who probably picked up a podcast with Women Grow on it gets this, and I can’t wait to see the new products and services you come up with. The guys with their heads stuck in the sand will be quickly surpassed.

Matthew: Now is there any examples you’ve seen recently of companies that have put out in the market women friendly cannabis products that you were impressed with?

Jazmin: Absolutely. We’re seeing a lot of great work being done on the edibles front to serve a more diverse customer than just candies or cookies. So in Colorado one of our founding members is Julie Dooley, and Julie’s Baked Goods specializes in gluten free edibles with no refined sugar. Which honestly she was just a patient on the market who had to be gluten free herself due to a health concern, and there were no products available on the market for her. And so she brought those products out to the market and they’re wildly popular. We have another brand called Auntie Delores out of California who sponsors Women Grow who is going to rapidly expand into multistate operations because they’re creating products that just nobody else was in a brand that’s friendly to both men and women.

Matthew: You know one other thing that Julie Dooley is doing that’s interesting is she actually names the strain too on her edibles so you know exactly, it allows you to dial in your experience which is very helpful which I don’t see a lot of edibles doing. I know Julianna and Lauren at Auntie Delores, you know, they talk a lot about their ingredients and being very transparent with the ingredients and that’s helpful. And they also talk about, you know, doing things that other people aren’t doing. They’re like hey there’s a lot of chocolate bars out there, we’re not going to make a chocolate bar. So being innovative in that way I think really helps you stand out. So great points. Now Women Grow is still a young organization. Where do you see it going? I mean even since we had Jane on, maybe Q3 of last year, it’s changed. The scope has changed. How are things evolving? Where do you see it going in the next few years?

Jazmin: I mean it was just since you’ve interviewed her we really seen what an amazing opportunity we have to create a new industry with a new script that’s diverse from the very very beginning. This is an industry that’s going to serve people of all colors, of all genders, of all ages, and the best way to do that is to invite all of those people into the industry. So from our humble beginnings as a professional networking organization we’re now working to create programs to push women into the cannabis and up to the top.

Our monthly events in 20 cities are a great introduction to the cannabis industry for women. They can learn a bit about the industry in a supportive environment without quitting their day job or investing $1,000 up front. We hope that our events and content online are part of a very successful research phase that convinces them to get their first job or launch their first company in cannabis. From there we hope they attend one of our national events like our leadership summit which teaches women how to grow and expand their businesses to rise to the top of the market. And we’re just going to keep going from there.

Matthew: So walk me through what it’s like to attend a Women Grow event. For someone that’s walking in for the first time, what can they experience? What’s it like? What do they do? How long do they last? What’s the vibe like?

Jazmin: So our monthly networking events in these 20 cities across the United States are the first Thursday of every month. So you have a consistent time and place that you can plan to, you know, make your first entry or your fifth entry into the cannabis market. And that was something that no other organization across the country was offering was a consistent, pre-planned time to meet which seems so simple, but consistency is one of the things that this industry is lacking on many levels.

So when you arrive we hope that you will be greeted with a crowd that is the exact opposite in ratio from what you would see at a typical cannabis industry event. The majority of cannabis industry events are about 80% men and 20% women, and our events are the exact flip of that. So you’re going to have 80% women and about 20% men at our events. You’re going to have time to mix and mingle. And again these people tend to be very open and welcoming. The marijuana industry is blue ocean right now, blue sky. There’s no reason for us to even treat each other like competition because the market is going to be large enough that there is room for everyone right now. And then we listen to an industry speaker and get a current perspective on what’s going on in the market.

This is an industry that’s difficult to research online. Remember it was illegal not too long ago, and it’s still illegal in a lot of states. So there’s not a ton of information available online. You really do have to show up in person and talk to the folks doing this and do the research on your feet to really get a sense of where the market’s going and where you might belong in it. So you’ll get some great information from an industry speaker. And then we do some sort of activity at almost every meeting that will force you to introduce yourself to as many people as possible. So for example my meeting here in New York, we go around the room and everyone gets up for 15 seconds and just says who they are and what they’re interested in so that after we have the speaker people can just jet over to meeting new people. When is the last time you went to a networking event and knew all 50 people in the room, that’s the type of event that we hope to create.

Matthew: Do you have an example of a woman that came to Women Grow and didn’t have any background or history in the cannabis industry and was successful in kind of breaking into it, because I want to leave listeners with actionable information or examples on how they can get into it. You mentioned a little bit about the social media and women tend to gravitate to that because they’re good at it. That’s an excellent way you can provide value I think out of the gate. Do you have any other examples of how women kind of busted into the industry with no previous background into it?

Jazmin: Sure. I think a lot of people think that you know you had to be an underground grower for the last 20 years to be a part of this industry, but the truth is the vast majority of people getting into this industry are new to the industry. They’ve got great professional backgrounds in maybe related fields, but being new doesn’t make you unqualified. It just makes you kind of like everybody else. And so one example is we had a member come out to our Denver chapter named Lauren Gibbs, and she runs a business that does social media strategy and was able to very quickly assess what the cannabis industry needed in comparison to our other clients, and now has cannabis clients within her larger social media strategy business.

Matthew: Now there’s a lot of cannabis companies out there that are looking to get their brand out there in a national way, and you offer some sponsorship opportunities that I think do this well because everything is so compartmentalized in states or cities. Can you talk a little bit about the sponsorship opportunities you have?

Jazmin: Absolutely. Like you said there are very few national organizations in cannabis. I actually was just in Humboldt County last week, and the women there asked me well what are the women doing at a national level. How are the women organizing at a national level? And I kind of looked over my shoulder and I was like oh shoot we are the women organized at a national level. There really isn’t anybody else. And that applies to the industry in general is that there’s only a very few organizations working on a national, and we’re lucky enough to be one of those.

We’ve been really fortunate to have nearly 50 companies come out to support making cannabis an inclusive industry, and in order to make our events as affordable as possible we depend on this companies who want to be known for attracting female customers and female employees to sponsor us, and that covers the majority of our expenses. So if anything I’ve said resonates with you and you want to be part of creating something awesome, email Julie@womengrow.com to talk about those sponsorship options. The cannabis industry will never be this small again. And so your small gesture now can make a big change to our collective future.

Matthew: And before we close, you were just on a bunch of trips all around the country. Can you just give us a few nuggets of what you learned or key takeaways, you know, visiting different people in different parts of the country?

Jazmin: Oh wow. I mean I think the thing that you learn the most is that this is a very very local industry, and what is so stunning to me is how different everything is, you know, in Colorado versus Washington and Washington versus California. And then once you get within California the difference between Humboldt and L.A. they’re just different planets. So I guess my first advice is to recognize that to the outside world we may look like one cohesive industry, but there is actually so much happening and so much that varies depending on the local level, and that’s why we do have these local chapters that can talk to people about what’s happening locally in their state because a program that I might give in San Francisco that generates a ton of interest… so for example we did Creating Cannabis Products for Women for 200 in San Francisco and we got great feedback from people who said yes I’m going to start my business now, yes that really encouraged me to start fundraising, yes that was exactly what I wanted to hear. And then I drove up to Humboldt and started talking to women there about becoming executives and leading the industry and they were like hold the phone, we don’t think of ourselves as executives. We think of ourselves as farmers. We don’t think of, you know, we’re not out here to lead an industry. We’re out here to protect our families and to protect our livelihood. It’s just a whole different mindset and a whole different set of priorities. So I think the first tip is just to remember just how actually diverse the industry is.

Matthew: Now for women listening right now, you said 20% of the people that come to you, the different chapters are men, do men come? What are the reasons that men come?

Jazmin: Men come because they are very smart and they know that what we’ve got going on is pretty powerful. Many come just as a support to a female executive on their team. The guys who come they tell me that they understand how well connected and how fiercely intelligent the women are that are a part of this industry, and they want to be a part of that. They’re looking for female cofounders. They’re looking to add women to their team, and we’re a great event for that.

Matthew: Now as we close how can listeners learn more about Women Grow online?

Jazmin: Definitely go to www.womengrow.com and sign up for our list. That’s how we publish all of our future events, all of our content. Go to our blog and just read everything I’ve ever written about how to research the industry, how to figure out what event is right for you in the industry. We also encourage you to make a plan to attend a national conference this year if you haven’t already attended a national conference. It’s a great way to give you a good picture of the industry, and we host kick off events for the largest of the national conferences. So you can join us in May in Chicago. In June we’ll be in both New York City and Denver, and in November we’ll be in Las Vegas, and we do these kick off events to set you up to be more successful and make connections there. You can also follow Women Grow on Facebook and on Twitter.

Matthew: Jazmin thanks so much for being on CannaInsider today. We really appreciate it.

Jazmin: Absolutely. Thank you Matt.

Matthew: If you enjoyed the show today, please consider leaving us a review on iTunes, Stitcher or whatever app you might be using to listen to the show. Every five star review helps us to bring the best guests to you. Learn more at www.cannainsider.com/itunes. What are the five disruptive trends that will shape the cannabis industry in the next five years? Find out with your free report at www.cannainsider.com/trends. Have a suggestion for an awesome guest on www.cannainsider.com, email us feedback at cannainsider.com. We would love to hear from you.

Why Focus on Women in Cannabis Now?

Some folks are surprised that there are already groups serving minorities within the cannabis industry since it's fairly new. In truth, this industry is already quite large and I agree with predictions that it will grow $35 Billion industry in sales over the next 20 years. (For comparison alcohol retail sales in 2012 were $197.8 billion.)

The Industry's Survival Depends on Greed Not Screwing This Up

The Cannabis industry is in a volatile stage where a few bad actors could retard the progress towards creating a national regulated market. 80 years of anti-marijuana propaganda, started by William Randolph Hearst, is a daily struggle to overcome. We cannot afford to have an industry that puts greed ahead of health and safety. I'm generalizing of course, but women tend to make community- and family-oriented choices. Having women involved in the cannabis industry is just one more check on us not making the mistakes alcohol and tobacco industries did in the past.

The National Cannabis Industry Association, a founding member of Women Grow, features this education for newcomers to the industry at their events and their Code of Conduct emphasizes professionalism.

The opposition says we're the next big tobacco industry in the making.

Diverse teams show that we look and think nothing like big tobacco did and never will.

Diverse Teams Create an Industry That Serves Diverse Customers

Some early companies were focused on their most loyal customers: people who like to smoke frequently. Some of their customers had serious medical conditions, some didn't, but many ended up focusing on potency to serve those loyal clients.

Today, with over half of Americans living in a state with some form of legal cannabis, the market is much broader than we thought. Newcomers, women, seniors, and athletes are just some of the new groups we're serving now. These new customers need new products. The fastest way to create those products is to include people from those groups in your business.

Julie's Baked Goods, a founding member of Women Grow, creates healthy cannabis-infused edibles. Founded by a mom with celiac disease, she was one of the first to create edibles that would not appeal to children. Her products are a favorite among patients with digestive challenges and healthy adults.

The opposition says we're only out to get everyone high.

Let's show them we're in the industry for so many more reasons (and getting high is safer than getting drunk).  

Companies with Female Leadership Outperform Others

I was taking clients on a tour of top dispensaries in Denver and suddenly realized that the majority of stops we were about to make had female owners (3D Cannabis Center, The Farm, Good Chemistry, Mindful and LiveGreen Cannabis). Even though few dispensaries are owned by women, those dispensaries are often the ones that differentiate themselves in training, selection, or environment in my experience. Don't believe my anecdotal experience in Denver, let's get the big numbers in here.

Catalyst studies the financial performance of Fortune 500 companies based on the gender diversity of their board of directors. Here's what their study found:

• Return on Equity: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 53 percent.

• Return on Sales: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 42 percent.

• Return on Invested Capital: On average, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 66 percent.

Diversity Goes Far Beyond Just Gender Diversity

Empowering women in cannabis is just the first challenge for Women Grow. We have this chance to create a new American industry that we can all be a part of (instead of spending decades trying to change it after it's already been built). I hope you'll join us for an event near you because we have a lot to do together. 

Reading Up on the Cannabis Industry

People researching the legal marijuana industry often ask me how to get started in the Cannabis industry. These are the resources I read to stay up to speed on current Cannabis culture. Try using an RSS reader, like Feedly, to create a news dashboard of all these sites instead of visiting them individually.

Cannabis Industry Reads

• Canna Law Blog: This is a must-read for current analysis of the changing marijuana industry landscape in real time.
• Marijuana Business Daily: The oldest cannabis industry news source and the only completely editorial independent.
• Marijuana Today Podcast: Weekly podcast with the latest business news and politics discussed by friends of the ArcView group.

Current Cannabis News & Opinion

• Huffington Post's Medical Marijuana Section: Broad selection of popular web articles.
• MJ Headline News: The media arm of the Marijuana Business Association, based out of Seattle.
• The Cannabist: The Denver Post's dedicated marijuana news site with culture, reviews, and food.
• Cannabis Now: I subscribe to their print edition as well.
• Marijuana SubReddit: I'm not a fan of Reddit as a community but they do surface some great links early.
• The Weed Blog: Interesting range of original articles.
• High Times: You know High Times already and it's worth keeping tabs on. Avoid their mobile site, which values their link farm so highly that it's barely readable.

The Legalization Movement

It is important to understand legalization across America on the road to growing the cannabis industry. Donate your time, money, and some attention to this.

• Drug Policy Alliance
• Marijuana Policy Project
• NORML

Leave any sites you recommend adding to this list in the comments. Thanks!

The Call for Self Regulation in the Cannabis Industry

We have an opportunity to regulate the cannabis industry from WITHIN or will be subject to others doing it TO the industry. This is the beginning of a multi-billion dollar industry that is only growing larger every year. Many legislators are now trying to regulate this industry for the first time with mixed results. Leslie Bocskor of Electrum Partners, challenged cannabis industry stalwarts and new comers to self-regulate at the NCIA's Southwest Summit today.

Regulation Needs

• Genetics: When you buy a bottle of Malbec, you never wonder if you're actually getting Malbec grapes. When you buy a strain from a dispensary, you have no guarantee that it is actually the strain its labeled with.
• Product Integrity & Safety: Ensuring that the potency of your edibles is consistent so that your customers have a safe and predictable experience.
• Advertising & Marketing: Underage use is the cannabis industry's number #1 issue that threatening legalization across the country. We cannot afford for product names (Girl Scout Cookies) or packaging (Buddafingers) to be attractive to children.

The Alcohol Industry Invented This Model

The "We ID" campaign you see in liquor stores across the country was not mandated by the federal government. The alcohol industry works to prevent underage drinking–not because it was mandated by the state but because they understand it's good for their business. Unlike the state-sponsored "lab rat" campaign in Colorado, the cannabis industry could be educating parents on how to talk to their kids about marijuana.

Self-Regulation Done Right

The cannabis industry will need to form their own regulatory bodies funded by membership dues. Yes this will be expensive but being subject to poor regulation will cost a lot more going forward. Take the hints from the alcohol industry and decide to create an industry we can all be proud of. Not only because it makes financial sense but it's also the right thing to do.

Nevada Medical Marijuana Regulation Priorities...Live from Las Vegas

Cannabis industry leaders and a few of the 6,496 medical marijuana patients in Nevada testified today at the Advisory Commission on the Administration of Justice's Subcommittee on the Medical Use of Marijuana. The agenda included representatives from the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, NORML, Nevada Division of Public & Behavioral Health, and cannabis business owners from other states. Nevada currently allows patients to cultivate up to 12 mature plants and the application process for Cannabis businesses just closed on Monday. The 20 person committee met to hear testimony on how to regulate a brand new legal medical marijuana market before the current patients have their growing rights sunset in 2016.

The Cannabis Business Permitting Process

Chad West, Bureau Chief, Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, testified on the medical marijuana permitting process in Nevada. As of today, Nevada has received 497 applications for dispensaries, cultivation centers, infused product manufacturers and testing labs (a few more may trickle in based on mailed date). This is a merit-based process with three person panels reviewing and scoring each applicant. Each application consists of at least a banker's box worth of materials and a $5,000 or more fee (Senator Segerblom quipped that Nevada probably earned more from the application fees than all online gambling revenue to date). The winners of the permitting process will be annouced by November 3.There are currently only 6,496 medical card holders in Nevada (Mr. West admits that the state is behind in reviewing card applicants) and he is predicting a 32% growth in card holders year over year. If Nevada does go ahead with allowing out-of-state card holders to purchase medical marijuana while visiting Nevada out-of-state patients will obviously overwhelm local patients in Las Vegas and Reno. Mr. West's slides are available for download.

Regulating Ancillary Businesses

Susan Chicovsky employs 60 people for her trimming and harvesting contract labor service, Green Mountain Harvest in Colorado. She serves multiple cultivation and dispensary businesses and is expanding nationwide. Nevada is forming regulation for third-party/ancillary services and Ms. Chicovsky asked the panel to consider the following businesses types in their suggestions:

• Harvesting & Trimming Services
• Information Technology (IT)
• Staffing & HR Services
• Contractors
• Cloning Banks
• Security
• Paraphernalia
• Marketing
• Transportation
• Packaging
• Garbage Services

Cannabis Infused Body Treatments

Jordan Person, owner of Primal Therapeutics, presented her work using cannabis-infused oils for massage therapy in Colorado. Infused bodywork is not currently regulated in Colorado and Ms. Person encouraged the committee to specifically allow it in Nevada. In her work with patients, she's found cannabis-infused oils unsurpassed for pain relief and relaxation. Unlike ingesting cannabis, her treatments have no psychoactive effects but do increase circulation and reduce pain. If the treatment did you get you "high", it would be almost impossible for her to work full days. Senator Segerblom was excited to bring cannabis-infused spa treatments to Nevada but there are a lot of open questions on who would have to hold a medical card for treatment (the therapist, the patient, or both?)

Solving the Cash Loophole

Michael Tuccelli-Margolin represented C4EverSystems Cash Management, which sells a "reverse ATM" to dispensaries. Their machine takes cash payments and locks them into cartridges to be transferred into a bank. This prevents the cash from being used for money laundering, something a town like Las Vegas knows a lot about. The machine is also able to validate individual customers, and if Nevada requires the technology statewide, it would prevent patients from visiting multiple dispensaries and purchasing the maximum allowed multiple times. Mr. Tuccelli-Margolin offered to develop the technology for Nevada (for free of course). The hardware is free to the dispensaries and C4EverSystems takes a 1.75% fee on sales.

Insuring the Medical Marijuana Industry

Patrick McManamom from Cannasure Insurance Services presented on the speciality nature of insuring this new industry. They provide liability insurance for dispensaries, cultivators, infused product manufacturers, and other ancillary businesses. The risk profile of a medicated edible manufacturer turns out to be quite different from a standard bakery. Mr. McManamom claims deep expertise in risk management for the Cannabis industry versus a traditional insurer. Some of his security recommendations include:

• All access to the business, cash, and product is video recorded. Upload all video to remote service so an on-site thief cannot take the footage with them.
• Perform criminal background checks on all employees and drug testing for meth, heroin, and other high-risk drug addiction.
• Train all employees on security measures and keep security "need to know". Limit who knows the timing and procedures for handling large amounts of cash & product.
• Separate cash and product vaults.
• Require labs to retain testing samples for 90 days, in case of a bad reaction the sample can be retested.

Mr. McManamom highlighted the liability insurance requirements for Nevada. The coverage needs here are 2-3X higher than other states. For example, his largest liability policy in Colorado is under $10 million, while he's looking at $42 million policy for a facility in Nevada.More pictures of the hearing are available for download.

Explaining Why Marijuana Should Be Legal to Your Mom

As we make plans to visit family during the holidays, it's also time to gear up for your first (or fiftieth) Thanksgiving dinner conversation on cannabis legalization. Mainstream America has a ways to go when it comes to accepting marijuana and every one of us has the power to change minds and answer questions in our hometowns. The success of our industry hinges on convincing people who don't consume cannabis that it is a safe addition to healthy & conscious living.

1. Marijuana is Safer Than Alcohol

As America's increasing thirst for alcoholic beverages shows–$124.7 billion in sales last year (not including bars & restaurants)–we love our mind-altering substances. Alcohol is responsible for over 25,000 overdoses every year and is correlated with disturbing violence trends. Compared to marijuana with no overdoses ever recorded in history and no association with violence. According to the Mayo Clinic, overuse of alcohol leads to:

• Liver disease

• Digestive problems

• Heart problems

• Diabetes complications

• Sexual dysfunction

• Birth defects

• Bone loss

• Weakened immune system

• Increase risk of cancer

That's a pretty long list of disadvantages compared to the four known side effects of some strains of marijuana. (Three of these four are actually why cannabis is so popular for people with chronic illnesses or undergoing chemotherapy.)

• Sleepiness (dominate in Indica strains)

• Increased appetite (dominate in Indica strains)

• Short-term memory loss

• Paranoia (dominate in Sativa strains)

2. Marijuana is Safer Than Prescription Painkillers

According to the CDC, prescription painkiller overdoses have reached "epidemic proportions":

• Prescription painkiller overdoses killed nearly 15,000 people in the US in 2008. This is more than 3 times the 4,000 people killed by these drugs in 1999.

• In 2010, about 12 million Americans (age 12 or older) reported nonmedical use of prescription painkillers in the past year.

• Nearly half a million emergency department visits in 2009 were due to people misusing or abusing prescription painkillers.

• Nonmedical use of prescription painkillers costs health insurers up to $72.5 billion annually in direct health care costs.

Marijuana has been used for pain relief for thousands of years. The Chinese term for "anesthesia" (mázui 麻醉) literally means "cannabis intoxication” and dates back to circa 2600 BCE. Queen Victoria's personal physician, Sir Russell Reynolds famously prescribed cannabis for menstrual cramps. Prior to the outlawing of cannabis in America, there were at least 2,000 medicines that contained cannabis, produced by over 280 manufacturers.For many, marijuana has proven to be a safe and reliable alternative to prescription painkillers. A recent study of deaths from 1999-2010 showed that there "was about a 25% lower rate of prescription painkiller overdose deaths on average after implementation of a medical marijuana law."

3. The War on Drugs Has Failed

After over 40 years and spending well over $1 trillion dollars, the government's war on drugs has not accomplished any of its goals. The prices of drugs have steadily declined, while usage rates have stayed constant. In fact the U.S. is the number 1 nation in the world in illegal drug use. What we have created is a $320 billion global illegal drug trade industry that criminal cartels use to fund violent agendas–and of course don't pay taxes.

The Cato Institute estimated that legalizing all drugs in the US would save approximately $41.3 billion in enforcement costs and yield tax revenues of $46.7 billion annually, assuming legal drugs were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco. Imagine taking those revenues and using them to treat addiction or any other unintended consequences of legalization.

How to Name Your Cannabis Business

34 Examples of Branding Blunders for Cannabis Businesses To Head

Best, Ok, & Bad Cannabis Brand Names

Cannabis Business Edibles Freezer Case

Business names tend to fall into one the above categories. There are the best business names that lift the business and the brand. They are easy to remember and customers like them. Think JetBlue, Amazon, Twitter, Under Armor, Restoration Hardware and others. Ok business names don't help or hurt you. They tend to be family names or just unrelated but common words (Breyer's, Harvard, Apple). Bad brand names are detrimental or require explanation. They may be difficult to spell or remember–like skincare company Kinerase. Or they may be easily confused with a competitor's brand: Berkeley College and UC Berkeley.  Finally, your company name could be hard to pronounce so your customers might talk about your company less because they don't know how to say it (Hoegaarden).

1. Resist Green & Leaf Motifs

Listen! The first thing you must do is make your cannabis business look like just your own. Make everything you can look proprietary and custom to you. This starts with your logo not looking just like every other cannabis brand around–with lots of green and marijuana leaves. I know you live and breath your brand but customers are easily confused. Make your brand stand out by not looking like anyone else.

2. Don't Add "420"

Notice how what was "BP Petroleum" is now just "BP"? The energy business has changed since BP was originally named Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909. In 2001 they spent tons trying to show they were more than just oil by shortening their official name to "BP" in their marketing. (Too bad their 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was the largest accidental oil release in history.) The point is! Pick a name that is not dependent on one line of products. You never know where your cannabis business product lines will be in 5 or 50 years.

3. Give Your Cannabis Business Name Room to Expand

Zappos founders chose the Spanish word for shoes instead of Shoes.com because they knew one day their brand would expand to do more than just sell shoes. By choosing a brand name that doesn't connect you to only one product or vendor, you'll be able to adapt your business over many years as the market changes.

4. Make It Short

Longer names are harder to remember. Aim for two words or less.

5. Make It Memorable

I know your brand name means a lot to you but your customer may only think about you a few times a year. Make it easy to remember, which more importantly, makes it more likely that they'll tell their friends.

6. Make It Easy To Spell

Remember that the first way most potential customers are going to look at you is online through your website. If searching for your brand name is hard (because they can't spell it) you're going to have to spend more on Google Adwords to make up the web traffic.

7. If You Pick A Local Name, Your Cannabis Business Can't Move

Denver Dispensary sounds great now but what happens when you want to open a second location in Seattle? There's a long tradition of boring, location-base company names. Avoid adding the name of your street, neighborhood or town if possible.

What Are Your Cannabis Branding Challenges?

Leave them in the comments or get in touch for a workshop designed just for your cannabis brand team in Manhattan, Denver, or Seattle.

7 Reasons You Should Focus on Women in Your Advertising & Your Business

Cindy Gallop opened the second 3% Conference in San Francisco, named because only 3% of Creative Directors in advertising are women. Gallop's keynote is required watching for men and women, as she teaches us how businesses are missing out on innovative ideas and ultimately profits by staying male-centric.

Key Takeaways

• Women ARE your target audience. Women are no longer a "niche" marketing target. They make the majority of purchases in almost every sector and are key purchasing influencers in every sector (even traditionally male-dominated ones). Women influence 60% of car purchases and 90% of technology purchases. Women are even the majority of gamers today, if you include social gaming.

• "Women share the sh*t out of everything." At any social gathering listen to the men talk about sports scores while the women share their experiences. Women have shared their experiences to build intimacy since the world began so it's no mystery why today they are the majority of social media users.

• Women get stuff done. Even if your product is aimed at men, Ms. Gallop recommends targeting your advertising at women. Women are the norm. Men are now the niche audience. There is a ton of money to be made by taking women seriously.

• Marketing done with women through the male perspective is no longer acceptable. When the 97% of Creative Directors are men, you gets ads that don't feature women in dynamic, engaging, and aspirational roles – instead you only see women as mothers, girlfriends, and sidekicks. We need a new approach to creativity – created by women, presented to female Creative Directors, for female clients.

• "Women challenge the status quo because we are never it." Women innovate and women disrupt. If you want your company to be innovative, find every department run by an all-white-male team and add women to it.

• "Women notice things that men don't." They notice relationships. They notice how people communicate. They notice how to get people to work together more cooperatively naturally and intuitively. Women notice the things that will make your company run better than it does today.

• "Women get sh*t done." How many women do you know that support men by doing the things they don't want to do? From the laundry to Sheryl Sandberg operating Facebook so Mark Zuckerberg can do what he really wants to do. The men who recognize this can still be the stars of the show but have a much smoother operation behind the scenes.

Your To Do List

Cindy Gallop implores men and women to do the following things to help change this culture, and ultimately make a ton of money.

1. Call It Out. If nobody says anything, nothing will change. Every time you see a conference with an all-male line-up – say something. Every time the junior male account rep tries to take over a meeting you should be running – say something. It doesn't require being angry, it just requires pointing it out, because gender bias is often unconscious. You have to "break the closed loop of white guys talking to other white guys about white guys."

2. Put Yourself Forward. Women who don't promote themselves help this male-dominated cycle continue. Gallop cites how there's been a ton of outrage over Twitter's lack of female board members but women she knows (and are highly qualified) hesitate even nominating themselves to advise a new startup.

3. Redesign the Business. Business has been built for centuries around a male model of command and control, which is perfectly logical because, for centuries, women weren't allowed to work. The Future of Business is about complementing that with female values – collaboration, consensus building, and community. The system of business today is based around men going to work and women staying at home to support them. The reason we don't have enough women in leadership is because the very system is built to work for men and not the women who shoulder an unfair amount of the home support work. When women look up at the men running their organizations and see the grueling hours, they opt-out. But why have we designed every position at the top to be so unbearable? It doesn't have to be. Gallop challenges us to redesign a bite-size chunk of how something is done at your company. Redesign it the way you want to work and point to it as an example of how a redesigned business process makes work better for everyone.

Gallop believes the business model of the future is "shared values + shared action = shared profit (financial & social)". This is the business model she urges brands to adopt. Go beyond "co-creation" and pursue "co-action" between brands and people to benefit everyone. This business model also applies to men and women working together to create a world that we will all love working and living in.

Watch It!

How To Create A Responsible & Effective Cannabis Brand

The first annual Cannabis Business Summit wrapped up today with an overview of how Cannabis companies should shape their brand and marketing strategies. Taylor West, Deputy Director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, led a session with Kali & Bridget from Agent 64.

Culture Movements Are Not Marketing Gimmicks

Bridget believes that Cannabis legalization is a cultural movement, which means you are now a part of the cultural movement.

"Culture movements define an idea on the rise."

We have a huge responsibility to shape how the public perceives Cannabis going forward. Unlike traditional product marketing, which starts with the product, Bridget encouraged the audience to define their cannabis brand based on the culture movement and not on the product.

Integrated Marketing

I believe in integrated marketing, where every touch point from the front door to the website is shaped by marketing. Bridget spoke about the importance of looking at every single customer touch point and making it consistent no matter where you're interacting with your customers.

Why Market Responsibly

1. It's The Right Thing To Do: We are building a brand new cannabis industry from scratch and we have the opportunity to be the example. Let's skip the bad marketing to children from industries that came before us (Marlboro's Joe the Camel).
2. Don't Screw This Up For Everyone: This is an industry that is in a very volatile position. Your work in the cannabis industry reflects on the entire industry.
3. The Medical Credibility of Cannabis Is At Stake: Unless you are in Washington and Colorado, you are marketing a medical product. When you don't market cannabis responsibility you are hurting the chances of people discovering or having access to the medical benefits of the plant.
4. You Need New Customers: If you'd like to grow your business, you have to start thinking beyond your current customer base.

"Think about customers not in your traditional demographic."

Think about marketing to women. Think about senior citizens. Think about health care professionals. At the very least–you need to not actively repeal these groups. At the most–you need to attract these segments to your brand.

Define Your Brand Promise

This is the most important thing you can do. Living and breathing your brand promise from CEO to budtender shapes your entire company.Build Your Golden Circle: Define why you do it. Then how you do it. Then what you do. Simon Sinek's TED talk explains exactly why you need to do this.

Marketing Strategies

This is no different than the marketing strategy process for most industries. If you haven't been through this process before, find someone who has to guide you.

1. Define your customer segments: Who are you going to talk to and what do they want?
2. Find the white space: Where is there opportunity in the market that isn't currently saturated?
3. Figure out what unique about your brand: What do you stand for that other's don't? What is truly important to you?
4. Define your brand promise: Notice all that research and thought you need to do before you could define this?
5. Pick your target profile: What is the age, income, gender, location, etc. of your target customer?

Customer Retention

• Customer surveys: Ask you customers how they heard about you. Why they choose you. Make sure you know what makes you different from your customer's perspective.
• Brand design: What does the design of your brand tell customers about you?
• Customer database management: Do you know who your customers are and what they're buying? Personalize your marketing to your customers exact needs whenever possible. Many companies wait until they are quite large to setup robust customer analytics, missing years of data that could reveal where and how they should have grown.
• Online/social media: This is an industry that was used to darker corners. Today you need to take control of social media and your public perception actively. Options for paid social media are limited but that may not last forever. You need to build community now.

Responsible Marketing 101

• Don't Market to Children: Perhaps the most important thing to remember.
• Don't Market Like Children: Put forth a face that is professional and polished. If you take beer as an analog to cannabis, remember that no one is ever drunk in a beer commercial. Sell your experience. Your experience goes far beyond "getting high".
• Don't Alienate 50% of the Population: You can segment your marketing without actively offending women. Women are actually more likely to have a chronic illness, more likely to try alternative medicines, and more likely to control a family's medical decisions. Women aren't decoration for your ads.

What They See is What You Are

No matter what you think your mission–what your customers see is what they will define you as. This extends to your logo, signage, employees, and more. You need everything that makes up your company to be true to your brand.

What They See is What WE Are

As an industry. All Cannabis companies are affected by the images being put out by the Cannabis industry. From legislation nationally to your home district, the marketing being done in this industry will affect how the Cannabis industry proceeds (or doesn't). You have the power to shape our collective future so we hope you take it very seriously.Photo from Barbary Coast MMJ Dispensary, San Francisco

How You Can Create a Cannabis Industry We Can All Be Proud Of

1. Be A Good Neighbor

Reach out to your neighborhood–from local businesses to local citizens. When the federal government shut down Oaksterdamn, the NCIA got neighborhood businesses to hang green flags in solidarity. It's a lot easier to move forward with neighborhood organizations on your side.

2. Be Professional

Everything from answering the phone to paying your bills on time affects your own business and the cannabis industry as a whole. Don't use marketing that you wouldn't want your mother to see. Create a professional industry that shows the country what they've been missing.

3. Engage Politically

Find out who your elected representatives are and get on their email list. Attend their events and give money to their campaigns to support your cause. Be present and make phone calls so that they hear from the Cannabis industry a lot more than they do now.Make it easy for your customers to engage their officials as well. Reward customers that call their elected representatives or send emails. Make it easy for customers to engage while they wait. Harborside Health Center has a robust Patient Activist Center that rewards customers with product for participating.

4. Join an Organization

If you come from any other industry, you're no stranger to organizations and why they're important. Join an organization like Women Grow, that will lobby for Cannabis businesses.

Prioritizing Product Features for Cannabis Companies

Maybe you're designing the next Vape sensation or the next killer weed app. Whether you're starting a MMJ dispensary or working on your next edibles brand, product feature strategy will be vital to your success. (If you're opening a marijuana retailer, just replace the word "product" with "store" features.) You can always add more features but which ones matter most to your customers and which can you execute?

Picking Your Target Audience

Everyone wants to sell their products to everyone. But the truth is, you need to narrow down on who your most profitable customers will be. Even though lots of different types of people shop at Trader Joe's, the company makes many decisions by targeting a specific customer: “An unemployed college professor who drives a very, very, very used Volvo." You'd have no idea that their clear target customer is what helps make the South Pacific theme with matching specialty food at low prices so cohesive (and profitable).A clear target audience will allow you to make core strategy calls like:

• Product Line Decisions - "What products do my customer need?"
• Product Feature Decisions - "What does my target customer want most?"
• Location Decisions - "Where does my target customer shop?"
• Pricing Decisions - "How much does my target customer have to spend?"
• Advertising Decisions - "What would influence my target customer to try my brand?"

If you keep a target customer group in mind when making strategic decisions, the end result will be a cohesive product that has the potential to sell.

Picking Product Features

Let's say I'm designing a bud vaporizer targeted at glaucoma patients over 50. You can brainstorm a hundred features that you could add to this vaporizer but how do you choose which ones you should focus on? You have competitors that are developing new vaporizers with larger staffs than you, so you better move fast to keep up. Luckily you only have too weight two factors:

1. What features will differentiate my product from the competition? (In a way that won't be instantly copied.) AND
2. What features will my customers PAY for? (Extra features are nice but if it won't lead to more sales, skip it.)

Number two is a little deceiving. This includes features you can and can not advertise. Features that your customers love and tell their friends about ("looks like a USB stick so it's easy to get passed airport security") are just as important as features you can put in a big headline ("lightest vape on the market").

Prioritizing Product Features By Execution

Business success thought-leader John Spence, boils his Wharton School of Business class into one sentence:Successful Strategy = Valued Differentiation x Effective ExecutionIf you're chosen product features that differentiate you, then the most important factor to your success is which features can you effectively execute? In his book, Letters to a CEO, John Spence breaks this down:

• Highly differentiated but not valued by your target customer = bankruptcy
• Highly valued but easy to copy = price war (and there is always someone willing to drop their prices and go into bankruptcy faster than you)
• Highly valued and defensibly differentiated but not executable = bankruptcy
• Highly valued, defensibly differentiated, well executed = business success

If you can pick the features that you can effectively deliver to an audience primed for your product, your cannabis brand will be in great shape. Making the plans is often a lot easier than actually executing on them. John reminds us that "Great creative ideas abound; flawless execution of those ideas is exceedingly rare."

2014's Hot Homepage Design Trend: Mega Images

Justin Rondeau examines tests from over a thousand brands every year, as Chief Editing & Testing Evangelist for WhichTestWon. Justin explained the Mega Image trend he's seeing across the industry and some tips on doing better testing at WhichTestWon's Live Event in Austin today.

Do Mega Image Homepages Work?

You know those giant brand images filling up new home pages? Looks great but does it work? Justin presented a case study from KinderCare, which had been fine tuning their home page for years but was looking for a big lift. After the redesign with a Mega Image, they experienced a 17% lift in conversion. That's a huge lift for an established homepage but the resources required to pull this off are also huge. Unlike changing the color of a button, you've got to coordinate fresh creative that blows your brand out of the water.

Mega Image Tips

• Make sure your photo scales with the browser window size.
• DON'T use stock photos: make it genuine, make it your brand! At one company we spend about $30K a year shooting photography of our employees and our customers. (If you're looking for a team to do the same for your business, I use Meier Brand's creative team.)
• If you're using faces, try to make sure the person in your photo is looking where you want the visitor to look. Faces grab a lot of attention and will be the first place your visitors look. If they compete with your main message you probably won't see a lift.
• Don't implement blindly, make sure to test this. Although there are lots of instances of this working for other brands, your experience may be different.

Mega Image Homepage Designs With Movement

I don't have testing data on these, but was intrigued but two Mega Image homepages that use movement to complement the design. Click through the images so see one very common and one not-so-common movement implementations.

How To Start Testing

Many marketers say they don't have the resources to start testing but tools like Optimizely make testing easier than ever. Here's a few tips on getting started.

• Education is #1: The tools are great, but it doesn't replace a sound education in testing fundamentals. I personally recommend WhichTestWon's Live Events to start. You can also download their report on testing trends.
• Hire a Proper Team: Optimization requires people. If you have no one, push for a part-time resources. If you have part-time resources, push for full-time, and so on.
• Push for an Ideological Shift: If your organization doesn't believe in a data-driven testing, you're going to have to push for that from the top down. That means constantly communicating how your testing, the learnings and your results (good and bad). Showing the improvements you're making constantly will build trust in testing.
• Stay Curious - Question Everything: If there is one thing to look for in your testing culture, it's insane curiosity. Do you question everything? Great! You're doing to go well here.

Stop Sporadic Testing

Many organizations are testing as they like without a methodology.

Why It Doesn't Work

• No Long Term Gains: You may be small lifts but you won't be able to scale that effect.
• No Test Learnings: Just because changing a button color created a conversion lift, doesn't mean you know why. If you can't figure out why, you can't apply that learning going forward.
• Higher % Failure Rate: Your tests are much less likely to be correctly formulated if you don't do this very often.

Why We Don't Test More

The majority of organizations only have one person dedicating half their time to testing. It's your job as an optimizer to build the case for more testing resources with a proven track record of successful lifts. If you're not reporting back on your successes and continually proving your contribution on the bottom line, start now!

Even NPR Is Telling You How Important Marketing Is For Cannabis Companies

Their understand of marketing fundamentals is impressive. Popular Marijuana store, The Farm, has a specific target customer:

the tote-bag carrying, socially conscious, natural-food crowd. She advertises her cannabis as pesticide-free, organic and, of course, locally grown.

To stand out amongst 200 competitors, Jan Cole used her background in spa management to create a shop that customers love. The Farm transitioned from Medical to a Recreational & Medical because the City of Boulder regulations prohibit any company from owning more than one medical dispensary and one retail dispensary. They have a second store, Root Organic, that will stay medical.

Luke Runyon reports on the importance of rebranding pot away from a "stoner image". Businesses need to get ready for a huge wave of customers to try cannabis for the first time. If you can't imagine a future in which cannabis is as acceptable as alcohol, you're not dreaming big enough. Listen to or Read the Full Article on NPR>>

The Farm was also profiled in Rolling Stone Magazine:

Everything in the dispensary is upscale and female-friendly: polished wood floors, antique display cases and no bro-culture swag.

Your Company's Facebook Posts Will Soon Be A Waste Of Time

Without boosting your Facebook boosts with advertising spend, you're shouting into the dark. No matter how hard you worked to build your fan base, as many as 98% of your fans never return to your Facebook page after liking it.

Facebook Organic Post Reach Is Diving Off A Cliff

The percentage of your fans that you reach organically (without paying for ads) is rapidly declining: from an average of 12% in October 2013 to 6.2% in February of 2014 (according to social@Ogilvy). The day when your organic posts will reach virtually no one is coming fast.

Shift Strategies or Abandon Facebook Organic Posts in 2014?

Even though Facebook has become an advertising network (with a social media network as a lost leader), you can still target extremely specific audiences. What other medium can you find 15-17 year old girls who live within 50 miles of Cleveland, Ohio, and own an iPhone 4 or iPhone 5? If you have the ability to craft campaigns that speak to your customers in their own homes and phones you can reap enormous rewards. I can't name another newspaper that is sent directly to all of my customers, for as little as $25 a campaign. Can you?

Custom Audiences Are Your New Best Friends

You're going to upload lists of email addresses and lists of phone numbers from your customer contact lists. This will allow you to target your current customers for ads (even if the haven't liked your page) and find more people like your customers on Facebook. Custom Audiences will allow you target people who have shopped with you before.Uploading your customer's email addresses and phone numbers to Facebook puts a lot of trust in their court. Facebook says that they encrypt the data that is uploaded, use it for matching purposes at that time only, and then delete the data. This means you should update the data periodically to add new customers. Privacy is never perfect but this is likely worth the risk for your brand. (Technically, they hash the data, not encrypt it, if you want the full technical explanation.)If uploading your customer lists are too creepy, try tracking everyone who visits your homepage. You'll install a tracking code in your header tags so that you can retarget ads to anyone who visits your company's website. Slightly less creepy and it continues to grow as your website traffic grows. 

Lookalike Audiences Are Your New Holy Grail

How often do we sit around as marketers and complain: "I wish I could find more people who are just like my best customers." Facebook is offering to deliver them to you. Once you've uploaded a list of your best customers, you can tell Facebook to match their entire database of people within any single country to your type of people. To get started, see Facebook's "How to Create Lookalike Audiences".

So Now Facebook Is Just Like Any Other Advertising Network? Nope!

It seems clear that Facebook is turning into an Ad network and should be treated like the New York Times or Google Adwords. But one thing still separates Facebook, according to the Ogilvy report. There's one thing that STILL means your social media marketing messages should be fundamental different from other paid ads.