8 minute read
Key Program Resources
Entrepreneurship Badges & Pins
When you sell Girl Scout Cookies, you practice-goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills, and business ethics—as you learn to think like an entrepreneur. You can earn badges and pins each year you run your own Girl Scout Cookie business. Then explore your own business idea by earning an Entrepreneur badge.
Daisy
Brownie
Junior Cookie Business Financial Literacy Cookie Entrepreneur Family Entrepreneur
Cadette
Senior
Ambassador
Cadette Pins
Check off the boxes as you complete each activity with your family— you can earn a different pin each year!
YEAR 1
1. Hit those benchmarks. You already know how to set personal and troop sales goals and think of strategies you’ll use to meet them. Now try breaking your personal goal into benchmarks, or short-term goals, and share them with your family. Splitting your main objective into smaller goals to meet along the way will keep you on track, and giving regular updates to your family will let them know how to support you best!
YEAR 2 YEAR 3
Benchmark________________________________________________________________ Date achieved_____________
Benchmark________________________________________________________________ Date achieved_____________
Benchmark________________________________________________________________ Date achieved_____________
Benchmark________________________________________________________________ Date achieved_____________
Benchmark________________________________________________________________ Date achieved_____________
Benchmark________________________________________________________________ Date achieved_____________
2. Choose your path. Practice
decision making while earning the My Cookie Venture, Cookie Market Researcher, or Cookie Innovator badge with your troop or on your own. Share what you’ve learned with your family and let them know specific ways they can help you launch your business plan, kick off your marketing campaign, or spread your big idea. Knowing when and how to ask for help and feedback will make you go far in the future!
3. Learn about financial planning. Ask a family member or
another trusted adult in your community to tell you about a time when they set and reached a financial goal. What was the goal? What did they do to make sure they reached it? Would they do anything differently based on what they learned from the experience? Think about how their knowledge could help you with your business.
4. Grow your network. Use the prompts below to create a customer pitch, then ask your family to help you think of ways to find people to try it out on. Testing your pitch on a group and absorbing the feedback will improve your people skills and refine how you talk to customers.
INTRO—how will you introduce yourself and your cookie business? ________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ YOUR STORY—what is your troop going to do with the proceeds, and how did you come up with your ideas? _________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ YOUR PRODUCT—describe your products and why buying them is the right choice. What do customers get when they buy Girl Scout Cookies versus similar products? ____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ YOUR TEAM—who is already supporting your cookie business? ________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ YOUR SUCCESSES—what have you achieved so far? __________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ YOUR ASK—tell your audience how they can best support you. What do you need? Be specific. __________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ YOUR CONCLUSION—how will you summarize your pitch and restate your ask? ________________________________
Record your pitch and post it to your Digital Cookie® or Smart Cookie® site!
5. Thank your
customers. A great way to maintain your network is to thank your customers and tell them about the outcomes of your cookie business. Consider having your family help you record a thank-you video to tell customers all you’ve achieved and learned. Keeping clients informed and up-to-date on your successes is an important part of business ethics!
Family Tips
Your Girl Scout is ready to take charge of her cookie business. Her skills will grow as she learns to ask for help and brainstorms ideas with others. Look for opportunities to encourage her to:
n Be curious about others’ experiences and ideas by researching how to tell engaging stories and how to create a pitch. Spend an evening online together watching related how-to videos and reading relevant articles. Then help brainstorm ideas for groups for her pitch.
n Collaborate with others to accomplish her goals and learn.
Let her take the lead in asking you for help and feedback.
Remember: teamwork makes the dream work!
Check with your troop leader about how your girl can get each pin, or head to girlscoutshop.com to purchase it.
Digital Marketing Tips for Cookie Entrepreneurs and Families
The Girl Scout Cookie Program® offers girls unique opportunities to engage in online marketing and sales as they learn about ecommerce and how to think like entrepreneurs.
Follow these four steps as you run your cookie business, and take your marketing efforts to the next level by going online using your Digital Cookie® or Smart Cookie website and social media platforms.
Safety tip: Girls of all ages should partner with their parents or guardians to develop a plan to safely market their business online. Although your parent/guardian should do the posting for you if you’re under age 13, all girls should have a hands-on role in marketing their cookie business.
Safety tip: Make sure your marketing materials don’t reveal your personal contact information (like your address, school, or last name) or your cookie booth location.
1.As you set goals for your cookie business, think about how digital marketing can help you meet them. Imagine customers in your community who may not know a Girl Scout. Expand your reach by sharing your secure Digital Cookie or Smart Cookie link to reach them. Be sure to:
• Be honest. Yes, the Girl Scout Law also applies to your sales technique! From your Digital Cookie or Smart Cookie site to your digital marketing campaigns, be honest, straightforward, and approachable as you write about your cookie business. • Create a sense of urgency. After all, Girl Scout Cookie season only comes around once a year! Countdowns to the last dates to order are a great motivator for driving sales. Use language that will encourage potential customers to buy from you right now. • Make an impression. Use clear, eye-catching photos in your marketing materials. This may include pictures of the different cookies you’re selling, yourself in your Girl Scout uniform, or something tied to your goal. If you plan to use your cookie earnings to go camping, tell your customers about it to show that the cookie program powers amazing girl-led adventures! • Highlight special features or products. Share the top-selling cookies in your lineup or any special varieties. Do you have a new flavor available for purchase?
How about a gluten-free option? Do your customers know that Thin Mints are made with vegan ingredients? • Use a clear and prominent call to action. Share your goal and exactly what your customer can do to help you achieve it.
Earn one of the Cookie Business badges to help you discover new skills. Each badge has digital marketing skills built right in.
My First Cookie Business Cookie Goal Setter My Cookie Customers Cookie Decision Maker My Cookie Team Cookie Collaborator
My Cookie Venture Cookie Market Researcher Cookie Innovator My Cookie Network Cookie Boss My Cookie Business Resume Cookie Influencer
3.Use digital marketing to expand your network and grow your people skills. Try some of the following strategies:
• Think of your favorite brands, and then check out their websites and social media accounts. What do they do to create a relationship with their customers on Facebook or Instagram? What can you do to safely build a relationship with your online customers? • Use platforms that potential customers could be on. Think about your target customers and where they’re most active online. • Engage your customers through email marketing. Send an email through
Digital Cookie or Smart Cookie to inspire potential customers to buy Girl Scout
Cookies and help you achieve your goals. • Turn loyal customers into brand advocates. Existing customers can be your • secret sales weapon, especially with word-of-mouth marketing in digital spaces. Avoid spam emails. Spam is an email that has been sent to someone without Safety tip: To protect your personal identity, never • their permission. Always get permission to add someone to your email list. Use marketing to inspire, educate, entertain, and entice your prospective customers. Share how you’ll use your cookie proceeds, let people know about all directly message people you don’t know online or through social platforms. Andthe skills you’re learning through the cookie program, and have fun while you’re at remember to always use yourit! Get creative in your communications—consider writing a poem or recording a secure sales link for orders. video to educate and convince potential customers to buy from you. • Show off customer testimonials. Collect and share testimonials from your customers through social media. This shows potential customers that buying cookies from you is a great investment.
Make sure to ask if you can share their words! • Say thank you! Impress customers with a custom thank-you message via email or social media. As your customer base expands beyond friends and family, find ways to maintain personalization while following Girl Scouts’
Safety Activity Checkpoints for Computer and Internet Use. Safety tip: To protect your personal identity, never directly message people you don’t know online or through social platforms. And remember to always use your secure sales link for orders.
4.Practice business ethics by safely marketing online. Before you get started, review the below safety standards. When in doubt, revisit these resources.
• You and your supervising parent/guardian must read, agree to, and abide by the Girl Scout Internet Safety Pledge, the
Digital Cookie Pledge, and the Supplemental Safety Tips for Online Marketing before engaging in online marketing and sales efforts through the cookie program. • Review Girl Scouts’ Safety Activity Checkpoints for Computer and Internet Use and Cookie and Product Sales on your council’s website.
