At the beginning of each fall and spring semester, The Hilltop Microfinance Initiative has the opportunity to accept a group of freshmen and sophomore students from Georgetown University to join us in advancing our mission of economic development through microfinance. This fall, the members of HMFI are thrilled to welcome our biggest new hire class to date! We received over 100 applications this fall, with students coming from all of the Georgetown schools.
During this application process, our leadership team made sure to offer a variety of different recruitment events to showcase the values and mission of the Hilltop Microfinance Initiative; these events included information sessions, a Women’s Event, a Students of Color Event and a Sophomore Roundtable. We hoped that from these events, prospective applicants would have both formal and informal meetings with the club’s executive team and leadership to learn more about HMFI and what kind of impact they could make by joining.
HMFI accepted 18 new hires; with a mix of 13 freshmen and 5 sophomores. One of our eager new hires, Ryan Reamy, told us how he heard about HMFI from CST Director Meera Dahiya, and after “she gave a pretty impressive pitch for the club…I was really interested in the intersection of community engagement, finance, and social impact that HMFI had to offer.”
Another new hire, sophomore Sophie Piedras (COL ‘25), from New Jersey, told us, “I wanted to join HMFI because I felt it was very different from most clubs at Georgetown, especially in the fact that it would give me the chance to leverage my Spanish speaking skills to better connect with underrepresented communities and the business leaders within them”.
Our new hires are currently participating in our comprehensive new hire training program, in which they will have weekly meetings to learn about each of the five internal departments of HMFI. By the end of the semester, we will have matriculated them into their new departments, where they will begin making their impact on our organization and continue growing HMFI’s presence throughout Georgetown and the greater DMV area!
by Georgie Wilson, SFS ’24
The first thing that usually pops into people’s minds when they think of “financial literacy” is usually an endless Excel spreadsheet filled with numbers that are impossible to understand. Only one-third of adults in the world understand basic financial concepts, and 4 out of 7 Americans are considered financially illiterate. However, financial literacy is a crucial tool that isn’t all that hard to learn! Below, we talk about some of the most important tips that can help you strengthen your knowledge of personal finance.
These are just a few tips for keeping your own personal finances on track. HMFI offers a series of modules for more detailed information on how to take your understanding of personal finance to the next level and improve your ability to budget, save, and build credit. Check it out now!
Georgie Wilson, SFS ’24
Since 2008, HMFI has worked to disburse micro loans to members of the D.C. community, and we’ve been working to constantly grow our impact in microfinance within the DMV area. However, one of our most common questions is, what exactly is microfinance?
Microfinance, or micro loans, is a form of banking services provided to members of communities all over the world who cannot gain funds or resources from traditional banking routes. Microfinance has existed for hundreds of years, yet it began to gain attention in the 1980s as the Grameen Bank was founded to help startup businesses in Bangladesh. Since then, microfinance has flourished throughout the world, including the United States.
This financial avenue has directly impacted over 120 million people by 2021, yet the World Bank has estimated that at least 500 million people have been indirectly impacted by the benefits of microfinance too. Microfinance is specifically crucial to the D.C. community, as many individuals within the area are faced with limited financial resources that traditional banks do not cater to. With over 37,000 businesses with less than 50 employees in Washington D.C. as of 2020, there is a great need for microfinance institutions to support small businesses in the D.C. and greater DMV area.
HMFI has disbursed 13 loans to clients in the DMV area, and our mission is to make sure to provide clients with working capital in order to make a tangible, long-lasting impact. Ranging from a real estate business to a food truck, HMFI has worked for over the past decade to make microfinance and micro loans available to hard-working D.C. small business owners. Whether it be a Small Business Loan or an Impact Loan, HMFI offers D.C. small businesses the opportunity to grow and improve as much as possible!
Georgie Wilson, SFS ’24
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people are increasingly relying on business websites and emails for information. Sending out regularly scheduled newsletters and maintaining a polished website are two ways to ensure that your clients have access to relevant information regarding your business. Below are some ways to help maintain strong relationships with clients through newsletters and your website.
Write about how your business is working to adapt and serve clients during COVID-19. You can also include information about changes you are making to your product/service as well as employee updates.
You can include links to news articles that are related to your business or the DMV area. This will help your clients stay updated with your business and industry as a whole. It will also make your newsletters more timely and engaging.
Featuring clients in newsletters is a great way to show appreciation for your clients and dedication to clients as individuals. Featuring employees will give your newsletters more of a personal touch and offer a sense of human connection.
By providing tips to clients, you can increase clients’ incentive to click on and read through your newsletters. This can help bring more attention to your business as well as help your clients personally.
As businesses are constantly shifting their strategies and operations during the pandemic, it is important to keep clients updated about changes. To make sure that clients know the latest information, go through your website and make sure there is nothing outdated.
Many individuals have had to adapt during COVID-19. To make this process easier, provide resources to your clients that are also relevant to your business. This is just another way to show your clients that you care about them personally.
Because people are increasingly relying on online platforms for information, take some time to update and polish your website. Make sure it is organized so that clients can easily navigate it. Grouping similar information under tabs can help make your website more organized.
By Arman Alim (MSB’24)
HMFI has the pleasure of serving small business owners throughout the DMV area with the utmost kindness, diligence, and respect. As an organization we pride ourselves on getting to know you and your business on a personal level and not just as another number!
We love talking to potential clients and hearing their stories as well as challenges as they shape the past, present, and future of any business.
In order to get to know you better and best serve you on a holistic level, you’ll have the pleasure of talking to an amazing member of our client services team! I know it can be nerve-wracking and even overwhelming to meet with us, but I can assure you that it will be a seamless and productive experience for both of us!
They will do everything in their power to make you feel comfortable and feel valued by our organization. We are here to serve and support you!
We love to hear about what makes you as awesome as you are. Everyone has unique stories and interesting experiences that have shaped them and their business.
Each business has its own strengths and unique aspects that truly makes it stand out. We want to hear about them in detail in order to best serve you.
Everyone in the client services team is here to help you throughout the process, and will ensure that you have all the necessary information going forward. We will make sure you know what the next steps are as soon as possible.
You should be sure to expect all of these things the next time we have the chance to sit down and speak with you! We’re here to help and make everything go as smoothly as possible. We look forward to meeting you!
Published on August 21, 2021
By Arman Alim (MSB’24)
With over 100 million monthly users in the United States, everyone is on Facebook: young and old. Although the social media space can be a difficult place to navigate, it can also be a gold mine when it comes to growing your business and getting your name out there.
Facebook gives you so many opportunities and avenues to promote your business. Here is a guide to utilizing Facebook to your advantage:
This will be the face of your business on the website and will ensure that everyone has a centralized place to see all the aspects of your business.
Don’t just pick any picture because people will often judge the quality of your business by the appearance and layout of the page. Put your best foot forward and pick an eye-catching profile picture.
It can be anything unique to you and your business. Maybe a picture of the staff, front desk, product, or anything else that is relevant! Make your page pop.
It is essential that people have proper contact information especially if they are interested in your business. This can be an email address or phone number, whichever is more convenient for you!
If you’re a restaurant owner, show off your food with detailed descriptions. If you’re a gym owner, show off your gym space and equipment. Whatever you do, make sure you show off the quality of your business in the posts section. This section should be able to summarize exactly what your business does and give people an idea of what they can expect from you!
Ask past customers to do you a favor and give you a review. People use these as a way to evaluate the legitimacy of your business. Make sure you put your best foot forward and have stellar reviews.
People are always looking to support local businesses whether that be consumers or fellow small businesses in your area. Get your message out there by contacting groups that are relevant to your business and actively network on them.
They are an excellent way to create traffic on your page and get the word out about your business to more people. Although it can be pricey, it can be a good way to get people in the door which could bolster your business.
Published on August 21, 2021
By Arman Alim (MSB’24)
Getting yourself and your business out in the world can be tough and stressful, but it doesn’t always have to be
Networking is an essential part of everyday life from friends and family to the workplace. Especially in regards to businesses, networking can be the difference between your business/ professional life going under and staying afloat. Here are several things to keep in mind in order to make networking painless and an asset to your business.
These events should be focused on your business segment or anything you anticipate growing into! Try to use them to gain expertise in your field as well as get to know people with similar backgrounds as you.
1. Try out Eventbrite! It is an awesome place to find events. There are thousands of in person and virtual events posted.
2. Facebook Posts/Groups! Another place where people are constantly posting events locally and virtually.
They can make icebreakers that much easier and can help you better articulate your business, goals, and vision when networking. There is power in numbers and that definitely applies when networking.
You can only talk so much with someone at a time, make sure you are able reconnect and continue to build important relationships! Find something that you can follow up with, ANYTHING to get the conversation to roll over.
Ask them to refer you to others that might be helpful to your business going forward! Everyone always has a friend that can give a helping hand!
Keep a list of past clients and make sure you reach out to them! Your past clients know your worth and can advocate for you best!
Maybe someone from a completely different business or background. Having differing perspectives and viewpoints can be extremely helpful.
Don’t pigeonhole yourself! Anyone and everyone can help you in their own unique way.
People that are valuable can be all over the place. The internet gives us the opportunity to meet with people face to face from all over the world, USE IT!
The world is more interconnected than ever, you can definitely make valuable connections over the internet through Zoom Calls and other platforms! Overcome distance and gain knowledge!
Just find people you would think could help you or give you good advice & meet them over lunch casually and talk business!
Find any excuse to get to know people and pick their brain. It can be over coffee, lunch, a walk in the park, or anything where two people can talk to each other.
Published on August 13, 2021
By Jared Price (MSB’23)
Social media engagement is a measure of how people are interacting with your social media content. There are several metrics used to track interaction and activity across social media platforms: number of likes, comments, shares, retweets, followers and audience growth, click-throughs, tagged or untagged mentions, etc. The popular social media platforms for marketing include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit, and TikTok. Regardless of the platform or metric, high levels of engagement shows that followers are interested in your posts and want to support your business. High engagement is heavily correlated with better marketing reach, greater brand awareness, and improvement in ROI.
A big challenge facing companies’ marketing efforts, especially in the wake of the pandemic, is low engagement rate across social media platforms. Social media engagement is critical to enhancing marketing reach and creating greater brand awareness. Luckily, there are several steps that can be taken to improve your business’s social media engagement. Below we break down some important tips to help boost engagement rate across your platforms:
It is important to establish a baseline before putting an engagement strategy into place. Tracking your current number of followers, comments, like, and shares on average per post will help you measure your growth going forward. Make sure to track your engagement regularly and think about what trends are influencing your data (i.e. if certain posts working better than others, specific months generate more engagement than others, etc.).
Conducting audience research is a great way to gauge who is interacting with your content. Make the effort to identify and analyze your target market – learn as much as you can about their demographics, interests, other likes, etc. From there, you will gain a better understanding of which social media platforms to post on, when to publish, what type of content is likely to generate the most engagement, your brand image, and much more.
A great way to boost media engagement is to encourage more user-generated content. Having clients post about your company on social media about the services they received is useful. tactic that allows clients to interact with your brand and get their content featured on your profile. Depending on the platform, there are several creative ways to get your audience into your content: answering user-generated questions, posting polls, hosting media upload contests, or simply spotlighting customers in your story.
Another tactic is to better utilize social media reach to create real-time interactions with clients. For example, employees could host weekly Q&A’s about their work using Instagram and Facebook Live Video features. Another form of real-time interaction could include manually replying to your audience directly on platforms by monitoring and engaging in the comments section. These are creative ways of engaging your audience.
Lastly, posting frequently and using high-quality visuals (photos, videos, infographics, GIFS) across all platforms is critical to boosting engagement. There are many third-party sites that help generate high-quality content. Canva is a very simple and efficient third-party photo editor for your branding images and content posts. HMFI’s marketing team uses canva to create and design our media posts. There are several other options available as well.
Implementing any or all of these ideas will surely lead to increased engagement rates across our platforms. Take the time to plan your engagement strategy and put it into action. With many businesses still operating virtually, it is critical that your small business knows how to create and share valuable content across social media platforms.
Published on April 25, 2021
By David Kim (NHS ’24)
What is the importance of targeting the younger generation? There are around 80 million millennials in the U.S., making them the biggest demographic in the country. Millennials also make up most of the workforce. Basically, the reason why marketers target the younger generation is the long-term potential. Most of the younger generation hasn’t reached their peak buying power as most are bogged down by student loans and starting families. However, by building loyalty with the younger generation, it allows companies to have a more secure future within their respective markets. So here are the top nine ways to market the younger demographic:
Thankfully today, connecting with clients over social media is a simple, quick, and effective way to maintain relationships. As the popularity of social media grows, marketing and outreach through online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are becoming increasingly important. Here are few tips about interacting with clients and maintaining an engaging profile on social media.
There are so many ways to stay in touch with clients during a pandemic, especially with the help of modern day technology. At the end of the day, make sure you ultimately stay active on your social media, reach out to clients, answer questions, and engage with them as much as possible.
