Bringing European rugby players to New Zealand to be trained "like future All Blacks" means Melita Martorana needs to look for the latest and liveliest ways of advancing her business.
That's why Martorana has joined The Spark Lab NZ Business Facebook group. It's a membership group (www.facebook.com/groups/SparkLabNZBiz/) joining together many (over 1000 already) new and ambitious businesses for networking, discovering the best communication tools, learning how to use social media channels and the simple, therapeutic ability to share struggles and successes with others of like minds and situations.
In Martorana's case, her novel idea of bringing players, mostly from her native Italy (but also from Spain, Georgia and other parts of the rugby globe), is already working. But she is on the lookout for products and services which can enrich the time players spend here - and for tips on using social media channels effectively.
Martorana became involved in rugby after the 1995 World Cup when she visited her brother's pub in Rome where many international players gathered - and was caught up in the atmosphere. Her love of rugby was one of the reasons that saw her emigrate to New Zealand in 2002; jobs in rugby followed, before she began her company two years ago.
Engage Rugby NZ is linked to business partner the Auckland Rugby Union and most of Martorana's incoming players enter the ARU academy where training techniques acknowledged as among the best in the world are practised.
"The academy replicates the training given to future All Blacks and international players," she says, "and we promote that to European players and help them to come out here, usually staying for up to two months. Some stay for the whole season and have even represented Auckland at age group levels."
So far, she has helped 20 players come here and is aiming for 40 next year: "It is an amazing experience for these kids - average age about 17 - as we find them a family to stay with, they train at the academy every day and they have a lot of off-field experiences too.
"That's why I joined the Spark Lab group - I am keen to see if there are any products or services out there which are in sync with what we are doing. They can be tourism products, for example, or training gear or anything which can enhance the experience for these players.
"I also want to make sure we are using the right kind of marketing strategy as we rely heavily on digital and social marketing channels; that's where it is at. The group is great for helping me to see what others are doing and how they are using those channels."
That kind of networking and sharing of social media techniques is one of the most commonly mentioned reasons for joining the Spark Lab NZ Business Facebook group; another is raising the capital necessary to fund the expansion of a business.
That's what prompted Gustavia Lui, of online "plus-size shoe" retailer Staavias to go there - searching for tips on how to raise capital to expand a business which can't provide enough products for their market: women with large shoe sizes who struggle to get good looking and comfortable shoes elsewhere.
Staavias began only in January, with shoes hand-made in China by a carefully selected supplier - and Gustavia says the reception has been so good she is opening a bricks-and-mortar outlet in November.
Herself a plus size shoe wearer, Gustavia's struggle to find feelgood footwear gave rise to the business and she quit her job as a case manager at WINZ to pursue it. Now, buoyed by signs that she has a ready-made market, she is searching for ways to bring in more shoes.
"The thing is, it's expensive," she says. "It costs $3000 per mould per size and we have about seven sizes so far. I am trying to bring in a lot more shoes and different designs - we have quite a high heel and a very low flat and we want to bring in something a little more medium, something in between, not too high and not too low."
That's why she goes on the Spark Lab NZ Business page on Facebook: "You get notifications when people post and there is usually a lot of really good information in the comments...that's where you get the gold nuggets.
To join Spark Lab NZ Business Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/SparkLabNZBiz/
Engage Rugby NZ: http://engagerugbynz.com/
Staavias: www.staavias.com