Frequently Asked Questions About Events

  1. What events does Count Me In offer?
    Count Me In offers a variety national, local, and online events for our community members to create relationships, share wisdom, and inspire each other. Make Mine a Million $ Business Competitions are large, live events where women entrepreneurs compete for Make Mine a Million $ Business Award, a package of financing, coaching and marketing, by pitching their businesses to an audience and panel of judges. These events also include inspiring keynote speakers from business leaders, panel discussions, and lots of time to connect with other women entrepreneurs.
    M3 Meetups are small, local events organized by independent community members on a regular basis, sometimes including experts from Count Me In, speakers from the community, learning exercises, or mini-pitch competitions. More M3 Meetups are being set up every month.
    Webinars are regularly scheduled online seminars, each on a single topic. Webinars are lead by CMI experts, staff, business leaders, and representatives from banks, government agencies, public relations firms and more. Attendees can get their questions answered live, or watch recordings of past webinars at any time.

  2. Make Mine a Million $ Business Competition


  3. What is Make Mine a Million $ Business?
    Make Mine a Million $ BusinessTM is a program of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence — and founding partner, OPEN from American Express®. Count Me In introduced the program to help women entrepreneurs grow and build sustainable enterprises, create jobs and develop innovative products and services. The Make Mine a Million $ Business Award provides a combination of coaching, financing and marketing tools that women entrepreneurs need to help grow their businesses from micro to millions. Count Me In launched the dynamic movement of Make Mine a Million $ Business with a goal to inspire one million women entrepreneurs to reach annual revenues of $1 million in the next decade.
  4. Why should I enter the M3 Competition?
    The M3 Competition is designed to help you strengthen your vision, build your strategy and take your business to a million dollars in revenue in the next 12-18 months. The M3 Competition Application isn’t just a form to fill out…it’s a step-by-step guide to help you clarify what you want for your business, what you need to get it, and how you’ll use those tools to fulfill your plan. If you’ve never done an executive summary of your business plan before, or if you’ve pitched your business a thousand times, there is something you can learn about yourself through the M3 Competition Application. Your responses are reviewed completely confidentially, by a team of Count Me In staff who are committed to helping you grow your business.
  5. How do I compete for the M3 Award?
    Make Mine a Million $ Business™ targets businesses organized and doing business in the United States with the following characteristics:
    • The company must be at least 50% owned by at least one woman who is a U.S. citizen or legal resident.
    • The business should be at least two years old and have annual revenues of at least $200,000.
    All Applicants who are selected as Finalists must attend the Event at their own expense and be willing to participate in the coaching program, related public relations events, and promotions for the Make Mine a Million $ Business program and its Sponsors and other partners. In some cases applicants may be asked to change the event/location to which they have applied. You will be notified by Count Me In if this occurs.
  6. How are Elevator Presentations judged?

    Elevator Presentations are judged on the following criteria:

    • Entrepreneur’s ability to execute her vision (growth/mindset/depth of experience)
    • Growth potential of the business (in terms of size and scale)
    • Realistic marketing and financing strategy (well-defined market niche/competitive advantages/financial acumen)
    • A person/company may only apply one (1) time per event This program is available to US residents only.
  7. What do I win?
    In addition to Community member benefits, applicants for the Make Mine a Million $ Business program are competing to receive a limited number of Awards Packages consisting of products and services that are provided by Count Me In and its sponsors to help business owners grow their businesses.
    • Business coaching from Count Me In’s coaching partner, The Coach Connection
    • Count Me In’s Capitol Concierge service – personalized assistance from Count Me In experts who will help you prepare your financials to pursue financing through SBA lenders
    • Access to American Express Platinum Card for selected awardees
    • Local and national visibility for you and your business from American Express OPEN
    • Membership to Sam's Club
    • Discounts on select shipping and office and print services from FedEx
    • Increased exposure to potential customers seeking your goods or services
    • Opportunities to reach new national markets with partners like American Express OPEN, Reader's Digest, Dell, FedEx and Sam's Club
    • Promotion of you and your business through local and national television, newspapers, magazines, radio and blogs

  8. M3 MeetUps

  9. What is a Make Mine a Million $ Business(M3) Meetup?
    An M3 Meetup is a local gathering of women entrepreneurs who are focused on growing their businesses, and are looking to tap into the wisdom and strength of their peers. Meetups build a community of mutual support, providing guidance, accountability, information and inspiration to women who are facing similar questions, challenges and milestones on the path to business growth.
  10. How does a Meetup work?
    At Count Me In, we use Meetup.com to organize local Meetups around the country. Meetup.com is the world’s largest network of local groups. They make it easy for anyone to organize a local group or to find one. Through Meetup.com, more than 55,567 groups with 6 million members get together in local communities each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their communities—a perfect match for Count Me In.
    M3 Meetups are run by an Organizer and Assistant Organizers, who have decided to organize a community of women entrepreneurs in their area. The Organizers start a Group on Meetup.com, invite their peers to join the Group, and decide on the dates and locations of the Meetup gatherings. When the Organizer schedules a Meetup, all of the members of the Group have the opportunity to RSVP. Meetup.com also allows Group Members to network online prior to and following their in-person events.
    Meetups may take place at a home, an office or any location conducive to networking and productive activities.
  11. How do I join a M3 Meetup Group?
    To join a Meetup Group, just set up your free account at: http://www.meetup.com/register/ After you've created and verified your account, you can go to the Count Me In Meetup information page to find an M3 Meetup in your local area.

  12. Webinars

  13. When are Webinars?
    Webinars are two to three times every month on Wednesdays from 4pm to 5pm EST. For the most up-to-date schedule for upcoming webinars, visit www.makemineamillion.org/events. You can also join the CMI Community at www.makemineamillion.org/register to be automatically notified when new webinars are scheduled.
  14. How do I sign up for a Webinar?
    When you find a Webinar you’re interested in joining, either through a Count Me In email or on www.makemineamillionn.org, you will see a link that says “Register Now!” You will be taken to a short form to fill out, and you will receive an email from Go To Webinar when you submit the form successfully. KEEP THIS EMAIL. It includes the link you will need to use to access the webinar when it begins.
    Most Webinars are free. In some cases, CMI experts host Webinars and charge a small fee, which they share with Count Me In to help defray the cost of production.
  15. How do I watch a previously recorded Webinar?
    Follow this link to find a list of previous Webinars. Next to each title, there is a “Watch and Listen Here” link, which will launch the download of the Webinar. If you’re using a PC, the webinar will launch with Windows Media Player. If you have a Mac, you can play the webinar in Quicktime.

Shustir

Shustir

Shustir and Count Me In Want You to Grow Your Business to a MILLION $ BUSINESS. 

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