We are in! We joined the Chamber, and...

[Pants On The Ground]

We were VERY impressed with the lady we talked to this morning as we were signing up. This organization is VERY involved in this community. We have seen the names of businesses that we recognize from passing by them on a regular basis, from close to where we work or live, to further away than I'd thought they'd care to be part of this community's Chamber.

They do those "ribbon cuttings" I've always seen and wondered how folks got that done (now I know, LOL!), and since we've been planning on having an "open house/grand opening" event sometime soon (is 3 months after moving too late?), we're going to incorporate the two events to get even MORE exposure (well, perhaps the same amount but all at once instead of scattered out in different events).

This Saturday, they are having a "Community Showcase" event at the local high school. It is their first time to do this, so they don't have an attendance precedence yet. We are going to go ("bought" a booth space), and since DH has a pre-scheduled session coinciding with the beginning of the event, I'll go set up and be there to answer questions and hopefully sell some gift certificates until he gets there to do chair massages. We were told today that a bank has hired an MT to do chair massages, but she will be there representing the bank and not her own business. Maybe she'll realize that it would be better to be there "in her own name" for next year, huh?

I say, we have never ever been so busy or so thorough with business endeavors before (which is why our last 3 home-based businesses have failed!). It is scary, but it also feels good. I'm even busier than ever, and I had been hoping to slow things down a bit! I still plan to finish my internship and get my license by the end of the year, but I'm gonna heave to work on learning to organize my time a lot better if I'm going to get that accomplished! The Chamber is also having a 2.5-hour financial seminar on Wednesday morning (yes, the day after tomorrow!), and I am hoping that I'll be able to go. Having been up till 3 this morning working on our brochures and gift certificates so they can be printed up today, I am exhausted and need to rest before I do any more scheduling!

We are so excited about the opportunities before us. It is truly an amazing experience- and the journey has only just begun!

 

[Elisha Rocks <3]

How exciting! Good work, putting so much effort into making this business a success!

 

[CupCake =)]

Sounds like you are definitely hitting the ground running Timedess!

As for the open house, where I worked opened at the end of November and we had our ribbon cutting in January, so that it would get us a little more notice when people were starting to think about what to get loved ones for Valentine's day. So, that is also something you might consider when "timing" your grand-opening.

Having your grand-opening in December might attract more GC sales...

But if in January you might get people who are committing to taking better care of themselves in 2009...

Don't forget that when you officially join the practice the hubby can issue a press release...

 

[pooh Bear]

Good luck with everything. Yes, time management is crucial - and paperwork, from accounting to keeping ytack of people you meet through networking.

 

[Nan Hawthorne]

Congratulations on everything!

I must say that I got exited just reading your post. Feels like some really great energy you have flowing right now. Keep up the great work! t023

 

[Mommy of 2 awesome babies]

thanks, y'all!

we just got back from our first run with the new marketing strategy, too. it went great! we didn't know quite what to expect; now we'll be ready for the next time. we have had some roadblocks with getting things printed properly. we SO need to get a laser printer, but we just can't afford it at the moment. soon, though!

as for the timing of the open house/ribbon cutting, we are considering the last wednesday of october for that. folks are just starting to be thinking about the holidays (for gc promotions), yes not so close to thanksgiving that we'd get lost in that mix. we don't want to wait till the end/beginning of the year, because of the 'adding me to the business' event. i should be getting my license around that time.

 

[Hannahtater]

We are in! We joined the Chamber, and...

We were VERY impressed with the lady we talked to this morning as we were signing up. This organization is VERY involved in this community. We have seen the names of businesses that we recognize from passing by them on a regular basis, from close to where we work or live, to further away than I'd thought they'd care to be part of this community's Chamber.

They do those "ribbon cuttings" I've always seen and wondered how folks got that done (now I know, LOL!), and since we've been planning on having an "open house/grand opening" event sometime soon (is 3 months after moving too late?), we're going to incorporate the two events to get even MORE exposure (well, perhaps the same amount but all at once instead of scattered out in different events).

This Saturday, they are having a "Community Showcase" event at the local high school. It is their first time to do this, so they don't have an attendance precedence yet. We are going to go ("bought" a booth space), and since DH has a pre-scheduled session coinciding with the beginning of the event, I'll go set up and be there to answer questions and hopefully sell some gift certificates until he gets there to do chair massages. We were told today that a bank has hired an MT to do chair massages, but she will be there representing the bank and not her own business. Maybe she'll realize that it would be better to be there "in her own name" for next year, huh?

I say, we have never ever been so busy or so thorough with business endeavors before (which is why our last 3 home-based businesses have failed!). It is scary, but it also feels good. I'm even busier than ever, and I had been hoping to slow things down a bit! I still plan to finish my internship and get my license by the end of the year, but I'm gonna heave to work on learning to organize my time a lot better if I'm going to get that accomplished! The Chamber is also having a 2.5-hour financial seminar on Wednesday morning (yes, the day after tomorrow!), and I am hoping that I'll be able to go. Having been up till 3 this morning working on our brochures and gift certificates so they can be printed up today, I am exhausted and need to rest before I do any more scheduling!

We are so excited about the opportunities before us. It is truly an amazing experience- and the journey has only just begun!

Congratulations!!!

 

[pink smiling]

Congratulations. I"ve been a chamber member for about 4 years. It does take some time for it to be successful, osmetimes.

3 months is not too late for the ribbon cutting. good luck

 

[neggandbattlemaster]

Thank you, TOG and StressSolutions. We have to print out some brochures for tomorrow, and have no clue how many to print. They (the CoC) don't know how many people will come! They had 1000 adult and 1000 children's tickets printed up (they're charging $3 per adult and $1 per child for the public to attend, to help cut down on "freebie seekers"), but they don't know whether there will be 100 or 1000 come, or more..??

Anyway, our marketing budget has dwindled down to ZERO! :shock: I can't afford to have the brochures printed, so we're going to have to go with our own inkjet printer and hope that it lasts. The good point to doing our own is that if we do need more (we're going to start out with 200; they are "basic informational" brochures and not specific to this event), I can always have the kids start on it and run home to pick them up, it's not too far away.