Women in Business series 2012 begins today!

Women in Business series 2012 begins today!
One of the things that gets us through the winter months is the 4 part Women in Business series.  Once a month, January through April, Clarkston Area Chamber hosts a WiB (Women in Business) event.
These events are designed for women business leaders, but are open to everyone--you don't have to be a business leader, chamber member, or female to attend these events.

What exactly do we mean by "Designed for Women Business leaders?"

Our topics and speakers are motivational, inspirational--presenting 45 minute keynote addresses of high quality information and energy. 

WiB events include extra time for networking and relationship building.  I've observed over the years that when you put Clarkston's women business leaders together at a networking event, they prefer time to build friendships and advisory partners that lead to strategic referral partnerships.  They don't like to be rushed.

They DO like for events to start on time and end on time.  They enjoy surprises and are game to participate in activities.  

All that in mind--I know that today's event with Terry Bean and his presentation 6 Degrees of Connectedness will be rewarding, enriching--and fun!

Get Connected and Stay Connected

This month, the Chamber will host a member orientation on Wednesday January 25, 2012  9-10 a.m. at the Chamber office.

We've been holding these events every other month for almost three years.  They've been targeted for our newest members to help them jump start their participation in the Chamber value offerings.

We cover the basics:

Where do you go for information and updates?

How can you promote your business within the Chamber network?

What are the best fit for marketing opportunities within the Chamber?

What kind of savings and discounts are available for Chamber members?

We also bring in a member from the Ambassadors and the Board of Directors to share their experiences on what's worked for them, what tips they suggest for getting the most out of your membership and more.

Beginning in 2012, we are now publicizing these orientation dates and opening them up to all Chamber members.  We only ask that you RSVP so we are sure to have enough materials printed and on hand for the meeting.

If you're not sure what's new, what's the best fit, or how to ramp up the value you're getting from your Chamber membership, then plan to attend an orientation.  

WEDS January 25, 2012  9-10 a.m. at the Chamber

In a short while, the Chamber Ambassadors will descend upon the Chamber office.  There will be laughter and loud voices--but more than that, there will be a wave of positive energy and excitement. It's like a high tide of opportunity and "can-do!" that fills the office.

Our Ambassadors serve as volunteers.  They do what they do, because they LOVE it!  Each year, it's hard to believe, but the pool of Ambassadors gets better and better and better.

While an Ambassadors act as hosts as events, greet new members and facilitate networking--what they really do (and do so very well) is set the "temperature."

Are you comfortable?
Do you feel welcomed?

Thank the Ambassadors.

Are you able to talk, as well as listen while you network? Do you find that Chamber members you meet touch base, talk with you, send referrals in an ongoing fashion?

Thank the Ambassadors.

Do you laugh, have fun and look forward to Chamber events?

Thank the Ambassadors!

Our Chamber Networking Brand is well known, positive and copied by many surrounding groups.  It's that good, because our Ambassadors are that good!

Thank you Ambassadors!  You totally Rock!

What do you resolve to do?

Happy New Year!

Yes, I am one of those people who enjoy looking at January 1 as a lightswitch opportunity. I'm full of hope, anticipation and ambition as I approach the fresh new calendar pages.

This is an opportunity to assess, align and repurpose yourself to be the best you can be.

This year, you will have the opportunity to take advantage of some of the great talent in our area. The Chamber is deploying our secret weapon--YOU!

Sharpen the Saw
Stephen Covey talks about Shapening the Saw (you'll cut down trees faster if you take time to sharpen your saw)--and we're going to help you. Throughout the year you'll find Business Bootcamps scheduled--beginning with January 11, 2012 with the Microsoft Office 365 Cloud bootcamp.

Bootcamps will be held at different times of the day, different days of the week and offer different themes, topics, presenters and price points. While we don't expect members to attend every bootcamp, we do encourage you to attend as many as you can.

The skills, tips and connections you'll make at these events will be well worth the investment of your time and dollars.

Get connected and stay connected with your Chamber peers.
The best investment to grow your business is finding and aligning with strategic referral partners.

Measure your success
Start thinking now about how you'll track and measure your success. How many referrals do you get from other Chamber members? What dollar amount does that bring in for you?

And for my part . . . I'm renewing my commitment to keep this blog updated. It's easy to fall back and let time zip by as you race from deadline to deadline. It's IMPORTANT to follow through on what you start.

This WILL be a prosperous New Year!

Marketing Secrets for Silent Auctions and Raffles

It seems everyone has a fundraiser, auction or raffle that they'd like you to donate to. The Chamber too has two silent auctions coming up in the near future

Should you or shouldn't you consider donating something to these events?

I think you should really consider it. But you don't have to take my word for it.
ChamberSmallBusiness.com calls this “Masterful Marketing, when you donate a prize, giveaway or auction item you can generate some low cost exposure and publicity for your company."

But before you rush out to donate something--I urge you to do a little strategic analysis.

STEP ONE: Who's the target audience for this event?

Donating can be a good decision if the audience at the event is your target audience/customer base.

Donating can be a good decision if the audience is your strongest pool for referral partners and leads.

Donating does not make sense if the audience is completely unrelated to potential leads or customers.

STEP TWO: You've decided to donate something, now what will you give?
Think about that audience and identify the broadest common denominator.

You want the winner of your donation to be thrilled to have won. That means what they bid on or win in the raffle needs to be

something they can use immediately
something they would be proud to show off to others (all the more marketing mileage when they show off their winnings)
something that makes them connect with your business name and helps brand you as a thoughtful, customer oriented business
You get extra credit if you can donate something that cannot be purchased or obtained easily--if at all. (One of a kind items are hot commodities at auctions).

STEP THREE--Need some ideas?
If you're a season ticket holder for sporting or entertainment events, consider donating a set of tickets.
How about a week at your vacation condo, cottage or time share?
Maybe you have connections to get autographed sports memorabilia

Don't waste the opportunity to emphasize one of your services or value propositions. Is your company brand include: Great Customer Service; Easy communications and follow up; timely delivery of services . . . then create a donation that reinforces that message.


Tried and true items like a gift certificate for "dinner out" at a local restaurant can be coupled with a bottle of champagne and your gift card that says, "Congratulations! Celebrate your next memorable event with our compliments!" and be sure to add a tag line that matches your business.

Insurance companies: "Always here for you when you need us."
Financial planners: "We are pleased to help customers and clients have more to celebrate."
Mortgage specialists: "We can help you celebrate a new home or renovations."
Attorneys: "Good planning leads to more celebrations. We can help."
Or consider the ever popular spa or salon gift certificate.
"Relax. We're ready to help you lower your stress in other ways too--call us when you'd like more information."
"Our customers and clients agree, everyone can use a little pampering."

Or maybe you'd like to donate a gift certificate for your company's services.
A free hour of consulting, or a free evaluation . . . jazz up your donation by coupling it with a couple of your logo mugs, a pound of gourmet coffee and a sampler of chocolates.

Is somebody in your office a good baker? Add two dozen home baked cookies, an apple pie (with small American Flag!), or decadent brownies to your donation. While bidders want your company's services, the homebaked goodies provide instant gratification and urgency for them to BID ON YOUR CERTIFICATE IMMEDIATELY!

STEP FOUR--DO NOT FORGET that this is a marketing opportunity! Include your business cards, or a hand written note congratulating the "winner" of your item.

Donate your item early so the event hosts can coordinate custom signage that includes your logo

STEP FIVE--Be the "stickiest" business at the auction!
Marketers agree that it's important to create a brand, image or message that's sticky. (Meaning you stay in the audience's mind long after they've seen your advertisement.)
Auction donations and raffle prizes are a great opportunity to develop that sticky message.

What can you donate that will intrigue most of the audience? In a silent auction, your goal is to get them to bid! In fact--you want audience members to get in a bidding war for your donation.

Taking the extra time to design a dazzling basket display or creative presentation pays off big time when people talk about you AT the event and AFTER the event. Better yet--will people take pictures of your donation and post it on their Facebook pages?

Get them talking! With a little creativity, your auction item could be the buzz of the event.

Two step Technology Slide

Have you ever had one of those days--when everything you start moves you one step forward and two steps backwards?

I will confess right now that part of the issue is technology. We're upgrading to a new server and in the process we will also be implementing 2 replacement work stations. Which means we need to upgrade software . . . which means we have to convert old data files . . .which means those files don't talk to the website anymore . . . which means we need to fix the translation . . . which means . . . .

I am learning way more about software and hardware than I truly ever wanted to.

On the plus side--this transition has been much easier thanks to the expertise of chamber members. Knowing I have great go-to resources to ask questions, get advice and help implementing has made this so much easier.

Jackie Kopp, ATD Solutions is helping us upgrade our Quickbooks software and in the process helping us categorize classes to improve the ease of event program and project reports. She and Steve Hyer, IGD Solutions are helping us coordinate the newest release of Quickbooks with our online registration system.

The end result will be very nice for our members and reduce the bookkeeping time required to re-enter registrations. A direct sync with the online payments will save a lot of time!

It will also allow us to go to online invoicing and statements--saving postage. And we are looking into ACH processing as an option in addition to credit cards.

As part of this upgrade--we're also replacing our server. It's nearly 10 years old and has performed well. Periodic piecemeal upgrades have extended it's life--but it's time is done. It needs to be retired.

PC Miracles (who does our off site back ups) is taking care of the server and also the two new workstations. The computer workstations will replace our oldest machines . . . which . . . we got used from Clarkston Schools 5 years ago. These two units have had major failures this winter--and were recovered enough to limp along while we coordinated the replacement plan.

The new hardware, means we will be upgrading operating systems and therefore upgrading our database management systems. Which is where I learned that the upgraded software doesn't talk to our website . . . yet . . . but it will.

This black hole of interrelated technology woes could have been avoided with a regular technology upgrade plan.

I will admit to being, at times, too thrifty. If there's a mile left in that baby--I'm going to run it that mile! The motivation has been simple--out of necessity, I've needed to get the biggest bang for every dollar. The budget has been squeaky tight.

The thrill of dancing close to total technology failure, though, is not in the best interest of the Chamber--or you--our members. While I don't care for the adage "penny wise, pound foolish" it does apply here.

The board of directors supports and is funding a technology plan that includes regular upgrades and replacements--before we have catastrophic failures.

So if you're reading this . . . (thanks, by the way) . . . consider what you're doing to keep your data safe, your productivity high and your future clear.

1. Invest in offsite back up services for your data. It will help you sleep at night. Trust me.
2. Take time to inventory what your technology status is right now--today. And pay special attention to how old your hardware is and whether or not your software has the latest updated version.
3. Make a plan for your recommended replacement schedule.
4. Include in that plan an annual check up--where you update your technology audit.

And just do it.

Saving a few pennies today will be of little comfort when your technology decides to die.

History of Clarkston--An Interview with Buck & Joan Kopietz

Interview with Buck & Joan Kopietz:
March 2005—interviewed by Geri Batt

Buck and Joan moved to Clarkston in 1973 opening their first business, Tierra Arts and Design at 3 S. Washington Street.

In 1975, they moved their business to 20 N. Main Street.
They recall the downtown area doubling in retail businesses between 1975 and 1980, hitting its peak in the early 1980’s. The current Prudential Building, the apartment building across from the current Tierra, and Mill Street Mall housed a number of small shops and a large restaurant. Clarkston was booming!

The Kopietz’s referred to this time frame as the “Camelot Era”. There were approximately 45 stores in downtown during that time frame and visitors came from all around including Birmingham to shop in Clarkston. The business district at this time was primarily between Washington and Church Street.

Some examples of stores included: Clarkston Auto Parts in the Clarkston Travel Building, Reekwald Realty where the Village Grill is, Hallman Apothecary in the Essence on Main space, Yea Coffee Shop, Pam’s Sewing Basket, Pat’s Beauty Salon, and the Clarkston Bar, where the Clarkston Café is today. Across the street there was a clothing store owned by Fred and Sheila Ritter.

The Kopietz’s described this era as a time when the resident primary shopping needs could be met in downtown Clarkston. It was a busy small town atmosphere with the streets filled with local walking traffic and visitors. The current Summit Place Mall, then known as Pontiac Mall, was available for more extensive shopping. During this time frame, Concerts in the Park were sponsored by BAIT (Business Association of Independence Township), which later started the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce. Joan Kopietz, a BAIT member, was responsible for Concerts in the Park for 10 years before they were taken over by the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce.

Business changed drastically in the early 80’s due to a financial crunch in the United States and local government. Interest rates soared and small businesses in the Clarkston area folded. Retail buildings were sold and converted to office space, primarily Real Estate. The morale of the business community suffered and the draw of residents and visitors to Clarkston for shopping decreased dramatically. Tierra Arts and Crafts moved to 64 N. Main in 1982 upon the closing of one of the towns hardware stores. Buck recalls town folks thinking he was crazy for moving south of Church Street. However, in time this extended the downtown area of Clarkston. The building across Main from the new Tierra which was mini mall was sold and converted to apartments. The Mill Street Mall building on Washington also gradually changed from a restaurant and retail shops to offices.

The Clarkston Union Bar and Kitchen was opened in 1996 when the Catallo Family converted an old church into the current restaurant. The Kopietz closed their art and office supply in the late 90’s and concentrated their efforts on the Tierra Fine Jewelry portion of their store renting additional space out to other small businesses. The Hallman’s Apothecary also closed in the early 90’s and after remaining vacant for awhile became a gift store and is now Essence on Main. The Kopietz opened the Millpond Bed and Breakfast at 155 N. Main Street in the 90’s.