Dates: 3 Thursdays: September 30, October 7 and 14th
Time: 6:30-8:30 PM
Location: Tentatively the TDPRD Community Building, TBD

Myself and Laura Guntren (Business Development and Marketing Coach) are offering a 3-part workshop series for entrepreneurs. This series is designed to give small business owners/entrepreneurs the tools they need to develop a basic marketing strategy, which will help them successfully grow their business. By the end of the workshop the participants will have the tools needed to:

● Create a brand identity that will allow them to consistently and effectively promote their business.
● Position their products and services in a way that differentiates themselves from their competitors.
● Identify simple marketing techniques they can use to attract more GREAT customers (and keep those customers coming back for more).
● Build a basic marketing plan that will help them achieve your goals in a timely manner, without exhausting themselves (or their budget).

Teaching small business owners how to attract and maintain a profitable customer base is critical to the economic health of our community. As these businesses grow and thrive they provide jobs, educational opportunities, industry and commerce to the residents of our Sierra Nevada community.

NOTE: If you think “everyone” is your target market, believe that you will get website traffic without having a marketing plan, or are not sure if you need a website, a Facebook fanpage, or business cards, then this is the workshop for you.

About the presenters: Together Laura and I bring over 15 years of regional and national marketing experience and effective design experience into this workshop. The workshop dates are Sept 30th, Oct 7th, and 14th, from 6:30-8:30 pm. LIMITED TIME OFFER: Get a 25% discount for pre-registration – available until September 15: $90 for the entire series + a materials fee of $15. After Sept 15th: $120 for the series + a materials fee of $15. Contact me to register by calling 530-587-7492 or email sara@sarazimmerman.net.

• becoming a ‘liker’ (or fan)*
• tagging themselves in a photo
• commenting on your wallpage or post
• putting a comment or @ tag in their status
• uploading a photo or video

Read more on their blog or go to “help” on Facebook.

However, as good as it sounds, it takes some time to get people to find your page and make a purchase. Knowing this, Fine Art America has created a handful of ways you can promote your work. One of my favorites is their Facebook Shopping Cart. After you create an artist profile AND a Facebook account, viewers can access and buy your art reproductions all from a tab called “Shop” on your Facebook page without even leaving Facebook.

• Become a fan: Become a Facebook Fan by first logging into Facebook, then searching for the page in the search bar on top. When you find the page, click on the LIKE button on the top. This will help you to receive updates from this fan page in your feeds.

• Share Page with Friends: When you are still on their fan page, go to the left hand side below their logo and select “Suggest to Friends.”

A little window will pop up asking you which friends you want to send a generic fan message to. All you have to do is select whom and click on “Send invitations.”

• Comment, Like or Share a Post: You can either see your friend’s posts from your feed on your home page or on their home page. At the bottom of each post is a place to comment, like or share. Comment allows you to add a comment. Like shows that you like it. Share brings up a window with a link to the post where you can add your own text and post it to your profile OR you can send a personal message instead.

• Include them in an “a” link from your post: If you want to spread the word for a friend but don’t have a particular post you want to reshare, you can also make your own post. Simply go to your home page and start writing at the top. However, instead of just writing their name, type “@” and then start writing their name. A drop down list of options will show up. Select their name and a live link will be placed in your post. Also, your post may also show up on their fan page if they have their settings to do so.

These are just a few ways of how you can show support for your fan pages on Facebook. If you want to practice, visit my fan page or Laughing Sun Clothing’s.

Blogs to Follow:
- Sara’s blog: scroll down to the right and you will find a place to enter your email address for blog updates at http://www.sarazimmerman.net/more/blog/.
- Seth Godin: go to http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ and enter your email address on the left
- Marketing Sherpa: go to http://www.marketingsherpa.com/index.html and a pop up will ask you for your info.

Business Resources:
- Sara Zimmerman Art, Illustration and Design, Graphic and Web Design that will make you stand out, 530-587-7492, sara@sarazimmerman.net
- Laura Guntren, Business and Marketing Coach, 530-386-141,7 LCGuntren@hotmail.com, free 1/2 hour consultations
- Small Business Administration: http://www.sba.gov/
- Small Business Development Center: closest is Roseville at www.sbdcsierra.org
- Books we discussed last night.

Recommended Social Networks:
(Some of these have tricks to how to create and build them. If you don’t know what you’re doing and need help, please ask before you spend a ton of time).
- Facebook and a Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com
- Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/

eCards to send to clients:
- Send Out Cards: http://www.sendoutcards.com (you can also have your marketing materials made onto these)
- Smile box: http://www.smilebox.com

I know I presented a lot of stuff and it can be a bit overwhelming. However, both Laura and I are happy to help you create what you need, from a game plan that fits your time and budget to the actual materials itself. We can help you plan, set up your social networks, your email campaigns, your print/web ads, and integrate you blog and website, and the list goes on….

Additionally, I am thinking of making this a longer workshop (thank you for your feedback to recommend it) and delve deeper into the actual marketing efforts I recommended. I will keep you posted on that. In the meantime, if you have any questions or would like to schedule some time, (or know someone who needs a hand), please send them my way. I am very happy to work with small business owners so I can help them move towards their dreams. And if you want to write me some other feedback or a testimonial, please feel free to do by email, through my Linked In, on my Facebook Fan Page, or on Google.

A special thanks to the girls at Full Circle Movement for letting me host this workshop there and for Juju Z. Treat Company in providing some tasty, chocolate stuffed marshmallows.

Stay stoked and true to your passion!