2011 Business Recognition Program is Underway!!

The City of Aurora has established Business Recognition Awards Program to acknowledge businesses in our community that have contributed to the city’s economic vitality.
The City of Aurora will also choose one Aurora businesses that demonstrates a commitment to Sustainability, energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste diversion, water conservation, and/or social responsibility.
Selected businesses will be presented with their award at a celebratory event hosted by the City in December of 2011. To be considered by the Business Advisory Board Selection Committee, this application must be received by the city no later than Friday August 12, 2011.

Fill able PDF form | Online version

Google Plus: Do we need another social networking site?

By Shafey Danish (TimesWireService.Com)

This is Google’s first full fledged attempt at taking on Facebook. I guess Larry Page and Sergey Brin didn’t quite like the fact that Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken them on the billionaires list, and are now getting back. More...

Google+ and circles of friends

From Timeswireservice.com


Google has launched social networking site Google+ and its circles are attracting the users to join it making the site very simple and user friendly.

Google has tried to provide many facilities to the users in a very simple way. Google+ has a look similar to Facebook. Like Facebok it also has navigation tools in a bar on the left. It also streams information in the main panel in the middle and links to connect with friends on the right.

Creating A Memorable Elevator Pitch

Article by SuzanMarie Chin on November 13, 2010

I thought this was a good refresher for an elevator speech.
Having a great elevator pitch in your arsenal of marketing tools is essential for networking and personal marketing. Making it clear, concise and memorable can often be challenging. Here's a few quick tips for creating your perfect 30-second speech. More

Google Changes Search-Results Page, How Merchants Can Benefit

May 25, 2010 · by Bill Hartzer

Google has made some major changes to its search results recently, adding more options for searchers. These are not changes to search algorithms, which determine the websites that show up, and where. Rather, the new changes give searchers options that allow them to tailor the type of search results that they see. To help you navigate through these changes and what it really means for your ecommerce business, let's look at sample search results and focus on what your site can do to appear in them. For example, let's focus on one keyword, "toys." Read more

SEO in Your Press Releases

Are You Using SEO in Your Press Releases?

Written by: Melanie Rembrandt with StartupNation

I thought this article really hit the nail on the head.

Optimize your press release with SEO keywords.

Now, this may seem foreign to many of you. But if you have a little extra time, you can get a lot more out of your press releases in just a few simple steps:

Read more

Customer Service Makes "Cents"

I love the chambers ...Here an example from the Wallow County Chamber

There is plenty of information discussing the impacts of poor customer service on a business. The Harvard Business Review reports that if you can prevent 5% of your customers from leaving you, you can increase your bottom line profit by 25 – 95%.

Upon further investigation, the US News and World Report completed a study revealing that the average American business loses 15% of its customer base each year. From this number, 82% of these customers stop buying from one business and go to another because of poor or indifferent ser-vice. Another 14% leave because they are displeased with prices and ~5% go elsewhere based on recommendations. So, with the Harvard Business Review saying that you can increase your bottom line profit by 25% - 95% if you can prevent 5% of your customers from leaving, and U.S. News and World Reports says 82% of customers leave one business and go to another because of customer service issues...then it becomes clear how serious customer service is to a business. One other detail pointed out in these studies is the sad fact that most of these customers don’t bother to complain.
It’s been shown time and time again that getting new customers into your store is one of the most expensive things you can do to grow your business. Once we have them, we simply can’t afford to lose them.

We can argue that rural areas should not be compared to metro economies. This may be true. Nevertheless, the forces that drive customer behaviors are fairly universal. Exceptional service includes: trustworthy relationships, clerks and employees attentive and courtesy to your customers, and the willingness to go the extra mile — proactive service (page 4). We live in an age of Internet, Wal-Mart's, Costco's and catalogs. You may or may not loose a customer to another local merchant; instead you might loose them to the Internet. ―Shop local‖ and ―customer service‖ are intertwined and both must be present in order to keep our local business community alive and thriving.
Do you know what customers think when they enter your business? How are customers treated in your business when you are not there? Are your employees knowledgeable on how to deliver great customer service? Or are you possibly loosing customers (that 15%) due to poor service or even no service?

Thanks Wallow County Chamber !