By Al Warr
Hunterdon County Democrat
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) New Jersey business owners in need of a little online guidance can take part in an upcoming workshop titled, “Effective Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small Business.” Social media expert Laura M. Cummins will be on hand to help entrepreneurs learn the latest trends and platforms to use, content that gets likes and shares, analytics and why they are important.
Hunterdon County Democrat
Starting a business and growing it is difficult. No doubt about it. That old saying about building a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door — it’s wrong. Your better mousetrap might well languish in your inventory.
Establishing a new business means, first of all, doing your business plan. You must pay attention to funding. You must know the market your product or service will address. In addition, there are many other considerations to think through before you start the business.
Growing your business means paying attention to marketing and customers, income and cash flow, employees and suppliers, taxes and regulations, and more. Operating your business is a 24/7/365 undertaking. Online or brick-and-mortar, growing is a juggling act.
Diana Lesanics is the guest speaker at this week’s Small Biz Networking MeetUp in Flemington. It’s set for Tuesday, Aug. 20, noon to 2 p.m., at Al Fresco’s Restaurant, located in The Shoppes At Flemington, 100 Reaville Ave. The cost is $18 and includes lunch.
“Diana has a strong background in retailing, importing, marketing and product development,” says Julie Parker. “She represents Costco and will be speaking on How To Make Your Costco Membership Work For You And Your Business.”
Julie Parker runs this 10-year-old networking group. Members include realtors, bankers, wellness consultants, tourism, accounting, webmasters, social media experts, and home-based businesses. For more information, see MeetUp.com/small-biz-networking or call Julie at 908-310-8098.
If you are confused by social media — and its importance in your business — then you can get some help from an expert in an upcoming workshop, Effective Social Media Marketing Strategies for Small Business.
“Many businesses are on social media, but they are not consistently posting or engaging with existing or potential customers,” says Laura M. Cummins. “Social media is an extension of one’s website, and it is a great way to promote business products, services, promotions, community involvement, and much more.” Laura runs NineDotz.com.
If you struggle with social media, or if you are not sure which sites are best for your business, this workshop can provide some answers. Laura will be covering social media strategies that create results, latest trends and platforms to use, content that gets likes and shares, analytics and why they are important, and more.
“All types of businesses, including professionals, can benefit with tangible takeaways that you can implement right away in order to create some outstanding results,” says Laura.
The workshop is set for Friday, Sept. 6, 10 a.m. to 2, at the College, Career, And Life offices, located at 299 South Main St., Flemington. The class is limited to 20. Bring your laptop or tablet. Cost is $65 per person. For more information, and to register, visit NineDotz.com.
The local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is located at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) in Branchburg. It is a resource center for businesspeople — whether starting up or thinking about it or needing help with an on-going operation.
Anyone can request a free business counseling session. This is a one-on-one meeting, completely confidential, to get some answers to the business problem you bring to the table. Face it: sometimes you just need to bounce your ideas off another person. To set up your own counseling session, call or visit the website.
In addition, the SBDC offers many workshops and classes. Some are free, others are offered at a reasonable fee.
How To Purchase A Business Or Franchise is a three-hour session set for Tuesday, Sept. 10, from 6 to 9 p.m.
The Side Hustle–How To Start A Business While Working Full Time is a new class which is scheduled for Thursday evening, Sept. 12, from 6 to 9 p.m.
Others coming up in September include Entrepreneur Assessment (Monday, Sept. 16), Building Blocks To Starting A Business (Tuesday, Sept. 17), Business By The Numbers (Wednesday, Sept. 18), and more. All are evening sessions, 6 to 9 p.m.
The SBDC is located on the RVCC campus, 118 Lamington Road, Branchburg. For more information, call 908-526-1200, ext. 8516 and visit SBDCrvcc.com, where you will find a complete listing of services and sessions.
The Center for Business & Entrepreneurship is a creation of Unity Bank. It’s located at 119 Main St., Flemington. Courses for businesspeople are offered here.
Building An Organization Of Excellence is an upcoming session led by Jim Barnoski, president of Sandler Training-Somerset. In it, strategies, planning, structures and processes of building a business will be addressed. This session will be held on Thursday, Aug. 22, and it will be repeated on Thursday, Sept. 5. It’s a two-hour session, 9 to 11 a.m., either date.
Another session in the Unity Bank series will cover e-commerce. On Friday, Sept. 13, from 9 to 11 a.m., Audrey Kerchner of INKYMA will be presenting a course Perfecting Your E-Commerce Site To Maximize Sales. This session will home in on specifics: what to put on your site and what types of images and descriptions work to sell the product, shopping cart process and setup, security and payment process services, and alternatives to doing-it-yourself. This session is $25.
For more information, and to register, call the Hunterdon Chamber at 908-782-7115 or visit HunterdonChamber.org.
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