Biznik Success Story: Annie Jacobsen, Assisted Transitions, LLC

The Biznik Member: Assisted Transitions, LLC
Assisted Transitions is the premier move management company in the Pacific Northwest providing their clients with the highest quality of individualized care during a residential move. With several years of professional experience, founder and co-owner Annie Jacobsen demonstrates a deep understanding of the various issues individuals face during a major life transition. By owning and operating her business locally, Annie and her new business partner offer a unique caring and personalization to all projects that large moving companies can't - and don't - offer.

The Challenge: Increasing Awareness Among Potential Clients
Assisted Transitions' initial focus was the rapidly-growing senior services market. However, not many people were aware that the company's particular type of move management service existed. The company needed to increase awareness of their services and create a stronger network for referral purposes. While the Assisted Transitions team knew they had to reach potential clients in advance of a move taking place, they would frequently only hear about senior moves (and everything that had gone wrong) after the fact.

The Solution: Business Networking
Business networking - both via the Internet and face-to-face meetings - has provided Assisted Transitions with a means to more efficiently and more accurately reach potential clients. As a member of Biznik, a business networking community that connects independent business people with each other, Annie found numerous opportunities to expand her client base and share the benefits of her business. Many of these individuals were outside of her primary focus on seniors, which enabled Annie to explore new avenues for business growth.

Another benefit of being a member of Biznik was that Annie was able to find service providers in close proximity to her and in related industries (carpet cleaners, movers, elder law attorneys, in-home nurses, real estate agents) - knowledge she was able to pass onto her clients.

The visibility the company has received from Biznik has significantly increased Assisted Transitions' connections in the Puget Sound area, as well as given the company website a national and international audience.

Results: Business Success
By being a member of Biznik, Assisted Transitions has been exposed to a much broader audience. In the two and a half years that Annie has been using Biznik, Assisted Transitions is on track to triple the number of clients the company assists in 2008, compared to 2006. Annie has taken on a business partner, and doubled the number of fully trained team members. And, the company headquarters has grown from Annie's house to actual office space and warehouse storage in the Seattle area.

Why Biznik?
In addition to generating leads, Biznik has provided Assisted Transitions with tips and tricks on how to grow a successful business. The company has received online guidance on business policy, pricing within various industries, the use of various technologies, and employee screening and hiring.

Since Biznik is organized by city, by simply creating an online profile, Annie was able to immediately reach out to hundreds of like-minded business people in her local area.

Biznik has been a resource for how-to business information, provided great connections to other service providers, increased visibility for the Assisted Transitions' website, and ultimately generated more leads.

"Biznik provided the connections and business know-how I needed to really boost my business," said Annie Jacobsen. "I frequently hear from potential clients who tell us they've heard about our business from other Biznik members."

About Biznik:
Biznik is based on a simple idea: connecting small businesses to each other for mutual business benefit. Biznik combines powerful social networking technology with face-to-face meetings and education, in a community that serves the unique needs of entrepreneurs and personal businesses. Biznik is a free service with opportunities for members to pay for enhanced features and more visibility. Membership levels include Supporting, Active and Basic. Biznik offers a variety of services for each member at each membership level, with new programs and resources being added on a regular basis. More information on Biznik may be found at www.biznik.com.