It's been up for a short time now and still lots to add to it, but I'm announcing here Kamigo Marketing is on Facebook.

Become a Fan

Don't worry, you won't be flooded with a "case studies, statistics or why you should" Webinar that you may have sat through before and just walked away frustrated that you learned little. These two sessions go beyond that, giving you the "How-To" of Facebook and will get you up and running after each session.

To find out more and to register, click here.

Image by Melissa Hemken

I am happy to announce that I am again offering the marketing mentoring service for farmers in the U.S. Northeast region during the winter months.

As the focus to buy local continues to trend upward and the economy remains in the minds and wallets of consumers it requires the need to be creative, wise and prepared. As you know, I am a strong supporter of family farms and buying local so I am offering this service to help you "Get Ready for the 2010 Season."

How It Works:

During the months of January, Feburary, March and April we meet at a scheduled time via the phone to discuss goals, progress, answer questions on new efforts and marketing advice. We will also communicate via email between the calls. Each farm is different, but below is a typical focus for the 4 months:

January - Review 2009 business and establish 2010 goals.

February - Establish existing and new marketing efforts.

March - Review marketing materials, course of actions and calendar.

April - Implementation and monitoring of actions, review goals and materials.

During this time you and I will work on ways to keep your farm in the mind of the customer, increase the awareness of your farm business and have a course of action for the season. This will have you prepared and ready to go so you can focus on growing and selling and reduce overwhelm during the season.

If you want to have a successful 2010 season contact me soon because I am limiting this offer to the first 10 qualified people who join at a special farm rate. Here is what one of my clients said about my mentoring service:

"I am very impressed with the work you are doing. You have been so efficient and your feedback is great! Thank you for your encouragement. It is a tremendous help."

If you have any questions or want to sign up contact me today.

In the United States tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving.

For me Thanksgiving is an opportunity to give Thanks to:

1. My customers and readers for their trust and support.

2. My loved one, family and friends who give and receive love.

3. My health in mind, body and spirit.

4. This beautiful and precious planet and my connection to the land sea, and sky fufilling my soul everyday.

5. To the Wampanoags and all Native people I have been blessed to learn from.

I would like to share with you a Teton Sioux Vision Quest Prayer for you to share with others in the next few days:

Let me do the right things for my people. Not for the sake of merit, but because of the sacrifice of my people in this land which belongs to them."

Have a safe and peaceful Thanksgiving.

If you are in New Hampshire on Tuesday, October 20,2009. You may want to check out a fantastic event, The Entrepreneurial Spirit: Stories of Success, that the Womens Business Center (WBC) is holding at Southern NH University.

Here is the information from the WBC's news release:

"We will hear the inspirational stories of four successful women who shepherded their dynamic business ideas from the drawing board to the board room. Learn how philosophy and vision allowed these women to overcome challenges and adversity and to create the successful businesses they run today. Following these motivational stories will be a panel of experts who will discuss new and effective marketing, public relations, social media and other outreach tools.

The panel's presentation is designed to allow our audience entrepreneurs to grow sales and increase revenue.

The conference will conclude with a special guest speaker. Meg Cadoux Hirshberg is a prominent author and wife of the co-founder of Stonyfield Farm. She will share her insights about developing her own successful career as well as the challenges of being married to an equally successful entrepreneur. Her "inside view" of building Stonyfield Farm into a nationally recognized brand will offer our audience insight and encouragement. The event will wrap up with a reception featuring networking, generous hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar. Registration opens at 3 PM.

Our scheduled Speakers include these Small Business Owners:

Sue Sylvester, Owner,Resources Laboratories, Portsmouth

Virginia (Ginny) Jawidzik, President, Omega Smart, Inc., Londonderry

Linda A. Fanaras, President, Millennium Integrated Marketing, Concord & Boston

Suzanne Bresette, Owner, Bresette + Company, Portsmouth

Special Guest Speakers:

Dr. Susan Lynch, is a pediatrician who works as a pediatric lipid specialist at the Cholesterol Treatment Center at Concord Hospital in Concord, NH, and she is New Hampshire's first lady.

Meg Cadoux Hirshberg, Prominent Author and Columnist and wife of Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of Stonyfield Farms.

Following the individual speakers there will be a New Economy New Strategies Panel Discussion. Topics to include: Marketing, Media, Advertising & Public Relations

Panel Speakers: Franne Ciriello, President, Eastlantic Publishing, Inc.

Jeff Feingold, Editor, New Hampshire Business Review

Kelley-Sue LeBlanc, Founder and Principal of Aleuromedia LLC.

Sarah Laliberte, Account Director-Public Relations, Griffin, York & Krause

LiveMusic By Erika Hunter and John Hunter

Meet special invited guests at the Reception & Networking following the presentations."

I hope you can make it. You can register on-line here

Thanks for reading.

If you are in New Hampshire between October 1-4, 2009 come visit the award winning NH Made Building at the Deerfield Fair.

The NH Made building is located across from the information booth at the lower level of the arts and crafts building. The building is filled with quality locally made products including cutting boards, candles, quilts, laser cut silhouettes, custom pressed suncatchers, jewelry and much more.

The NH Made building also has locally produced foods including fudge, caramel corn and caramel apples, spiced nuts, soda, ketchup, smoked meat and cheese, ice cream and more!

Find complete fair details and directions here.

Enjoy the great Fair and the awesome NHMade vendors and stop buy and say "hello" to me as I help out at venue.

I'm offering a special pre-release price on a new program. I'll be starting the program on September 28th, but until September 14, 2009 I am offering it at a lower introduction price. The discount is a thank you for being a reader of this blog. (Update 11/25/09 the pre-release offer at lower introduction price is no longer available contact me for pricing and questions)

Social Media Madness!

It's mainstream, just listen how everyone is talking about Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. They are MUST-HAVE Marketing tools if you have customers that...well...have a computer.

Why?

The roots of these tools are really Networking, Communicating and Relationship building, and an essential key to marketing your business is building your relationship with your customers. These "new" social media tools allow you to do just that and more.

Do you find it's overwhelming and have little time?

I've lost count of how many business owners, managers and employees I've spoken to that say they are overwhelmed and don't have the time to learn and utilize these tools. And yet...success stories about these tools are revealed everyday, and the trend toward utilizing these communications tools is NOT slowing.

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are still in the forefront as cutting edge tools necessary for successful businesses. Entrepreneurs and business people that wait to join in will find they have much more catching up to do and may find their success lags behind those businesses already building these new relationships.

The Solution (you knew I'd have one)

I've been researching and using these tools for months now and I'm currently putting the finishing touches on this Social Networking Training Program that will get you up and running quickly, effectively and with purpose.

The Social Networking Training Program

1. Initial 1-hour Purpose Meeting - You and I will establish a social networking strategy aligned with your business goals, objectives and values.

2. Initial Draft of Social Network Tools - You supply your logo, pictures and information and I use them to draft your pages for the communication tools we agreed you should use.

3. Two Training Sessions - You and I will sit down for private, in-person training sessions to get you up and running as quickly as possible.

4. Unlimited Support via phone and email between the training sessions.

Important Information

I know you have questions or may need a little more information so just contact me right here.

And yes, if you have a friend or colleague that you think could use this training, forward this post to them.

Remember the deadline for the introduction price is September 14, 2009 so just contact me right here to register.

Take Care

As a member of the NHMade Board Trustees I'd like to share some news with you that some of you may be interested in or know of someone who could benefit from this opportunity. The deadline is July 17,2009

Here is the announcement from NHMade

NH Made received a grant from the USDA to select 20 small and emerging businesses in Grafton County and/or Coos County to provide the technical assistance they need to develop effective web sites, web site materials, and e-commerce capability. At the conclusion of this program, not only will these businesses have the training they need, they will also actually have an up-and-running attractive web site, e-commerce capability, and a collection of professional-looking digital photos of their products and business locations.

The criteria is listed below. If your business qualifies, please email Ann at ann@nhmade.com by July 17th to apply to be considered by the committee as one of the final 20 recipients.

CRITERIA FOR CONSIDERATION:

Business Demographic and Finances 1. Located in either Grafton County or Coos County and primarily be (80% or more) from towns with a population under 5,000;

2. Primarily be (80% or more) from towns with a Median Household Income that is less than 85% of the state's Median Household Income of $49,467;

3. Business is an up-and-going concern, but producing far less than $1 million in gross sales;

4. Business is registered with the state of NH;

5. Employ fewer than 5 full-time employees;

6. Are U.S. Citizens.

Current Web Presence

1. Have either no web site or a very basic web site with no or very primitive shopping capability that needs enhancement and search engine optimization in order to be found on the world wide web and attract sales;

2. Photography used on the web site is of low quality and unoptimized.

Required Commitment

1. Have internet access and the ability to pay for monthly hosting fees for their web site; (cable or DSL high speed highly recommended over dial-up)

2. Have a computer able to handle the memory and functionality needs required; i.e. Windows XP or newer OR Mac equivalent, 512 MB RAM or more, Internet Explorer 6 or greater OR Firefox 2.0 or greater, and at least on free USB port.

3. Have access to a digital camera needed for keeping their web site fresh with attractive photos; (if no camera, they can borrow one or use a "loaner" from NH Made.)

4. Willing and able to pay $160 as their contribution to participating in the grant program;

5. Commit to attending the all-day conference and the program follow-up event in Plymouth, NH;

6. Agree to devote time working with the computer consultant and photography consultant and do what is necessary and required to get their web site operating with their help within the time-frame specified;

7. Agree to maintain and update their web site as needed once the program is over with the knowledge and technical capability they have learned;

8. Will supply the necessary information NH Made needs to measure the success of this program such as gross sales figures, the number of hours in the business, the number of employees, etc.

9. Be a member of NH Made, or BECOME a member of NH Made, for $75;

10. Agree to sign a letter on your own letterhead confirming that you agree to this commitment and understand all that is being asked. (The actual wording for this letter will be supplied by NH Made for you to sign - it will be similar in scope to what you see listed here.)

NOTE: If you know of a business that is not currently a NH Made member but who could qualify and benefit from this grant, please tell them they are eligible if they BECOME a member of NH Made.

Good Luck!

It is my pleasure to be speaking at the upcoming Women's Business Center's Breakfast Table being held next Thursday, February 19th.

The WBC has chosen a new venue to hold this particular breakfast table event. It will move from the standard Portsmouth location to Derry at Birch Heights on Kendall Pond Road.

This down to earth and focused presentation will inspire you to take action. You will learn how to:

1. Implement strategies that improve the way you market your business.

2. Build upon your current relationships and strengthen customer loyalty and growth.

3. Focus on low cost tactics that won't deplete your resources but will capture customers' attention.

You will walk away with actions and more that you can easily put in place and transform your marketing.

So start your day off joining many others and me on February 19th from 7-9 a.m. EST. You'll enjoy a full hot breakfast, a great topic and fun people.

Registration is required and you can find how HERE. Membership to the WBC is not required.