Localization

Teaching an Adult Education Course to Promote Your Local Business

September 24, 2014 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

Will teaching adult classes help increase your business? Teaching classes can yield several benefits: (1) people may come to your class who become customers or contacts, (2) the publicity you do for the course helps your image, and (3) the material you organize can be used to write blogs, make videos for your website and YouTube, webinars, and be the basis for articles you can place in local and trade publications.

Many factors go into determining if you’ll get a good attendance for an adult education program. Some you may have little control over, like the weather, other events being held at the same time or the location of the sponsoring organization. But others you can influence, like the topic you choose, the title and write-up used to promote the program, and the type and amount of publicity done beforehand.

Here are some steps you can take to make your next offering a success:

If you haven’t given the program before, test interest in the topic, title and write-up beforehand with prospective attendees. Try to get a few commitments from people yourself before actually scheduling the workshop so you know at least three to four people who are interested in attending. You might even check what days or nights of the week would be best for your cadre of recruits before you negotiate scheduling your programs.
Do publicity yourself. Don’t leave your success 100 percent in the hands of the organization sponsoring your class, as they usually have many other programs to promote. See if you can get a media interview, send post cards about the workshop to your own mailing list, post it on your Web site and so on.
Arrange with the sponsoring organization to take reservations so you know beforehand how many people have signed up. Set a minimum enrollment. If there are fewer enrollees than your minimum, start calling colleagues and contacts and make personal invitations. Cancel if you don’t get enough pre-registrations and try a different time, topic or title.
If you get just enough signups but are worried about having too small a group should a couple of people not show up, as inevitably happens, see if you can arrange to invite a few “complimentary guests” who you would love to have see what you do. This can assure that you’ll have a critical mass even if some pre-registrants don’t show.

Of course, arranging for the sponsoring organization to require payment upfront will help prevent no-shows. Another option for encouraging commitment is to offer multiple prices, a low price for early registration, a somewhat higher price for a later pre-registration date and an even higher price for signing up at the door.

If you’ve taken steps like these and find that your workshop is still not filling, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. First, rethink your topic and title to be sure you’re addressing a strongly felt need. Have you actually heard your target audience asking for or complaining about needing the kind of information or assistance you will be offering? What are the needs they’re expressing? What words do they use when they describe what they need? Refocus your workshop on these needs and use their words in your title and promotion.

Next, rethink where you are offering the program, through what means and how you are promoting it. Are you actually reaching the people who most need it? Are they getting the information? Do they know about it? Are you offering it in a way that is attractive and feasible for them? Do they have time for a workshop or might they prefer another vehicle, like a teleconference or an online workshop?

Finally, reevaluate whether a workshop is the best medium for connecting with your potential clients. Explore how they usually go about deciding on services like yours and consider reaching out to them in other ways.

Comments and questions on the substance of this blogs are welcome. If you have other questions about this website, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment or book an appointment through Google Helpouts.

If you think we can help you, we offer webinars and consulting.

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Adapted from a prior column in Entrepreneur magazine

Give What You Don’t Need, Take What You Need

June 13, 2014 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

A new consciousness is developing for sharing things in communities and that’s the idea behind an event we’re planning now in our community. We’re calling it an Everything Else Exchange. For a number of years, the non-profit Sarah and I found, Let’s Live Local, has sponsored an annual clothing exchange and the response has been gratifying.

So this September, we’ll have our first Everything Else Exchange. The long list of items people can bring and take include small household items, music, books, office items, computer software, jewelry, accessories, knick knacks, linens, rugs, school and office supplies, small tools, beauty appliances, sports equipment, toys, games, and puzzles. For the past two weeks, I have begun the process of culling our home for those things that may be of value to someone else. Now they just take space and collect dust. In the process, I have discovered a few items we have forgotten about and are glad to have.

Everything will be free. Any items remaining will be donated to local charities for their fundraising. We’re asking that people bring items weighing less than five pounds because of facility size, but we are encouraging people to bring photos of larger items. These photos

will be posted both on a bulletin board and on the web. Following the Exchange, a volunteer will offer a class on using the web for selling items.

If your community has done anything like this, we’d like to know your experience. Sharing like this is one of the many forms, sharing can take place. With so many people living paycheck to paycheck, we’re hoping that exchanges like this will improve the lives of people.

Comments and questions on the substance of this blogs are welcome. If you have other questions about this website, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

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If you think we can help you, we offer webinars and consulting.

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Low cost 3D printers are now within your budget

April 11, 2014 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

The availability of low-cost table top or 3D printers is here! In unheard of time, Micro 3D the latest entry as a low-cost consumer printer has been obtained funding on Kickstarter.

Small enough to sit on a table, top the Micro 3D can make objects as tall almost five inches high. The carefully thought out motor uses less energy than those powering other consumer printers. If you want to learn more about this printer or to order one, here’s the Kickstarter link:

The Micro 3D is one of a number of low-cost 3D printers costing under $500. Others include:

QU-BD’s One Up for $199

Makible‘s A6 LT for $200 and A6 HT for $300

PrintrBot Simple, a kit to build a printer$349

Pirate 3D’s Buccaneer at $597. The company is saying that they will ship on June 1.

3D printers are increasingly available. Home Depot has begun selling Makerbot printers in some stores. It’s only a matter of time before Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Target will be selling them, too.

If you want to learn and or make some money using a 3D printer, at these prices, you can buy the technology at far less than early users of personal computers could. We bought our first computer, an Osborne with a 5 inch screen for $1895.

As these personal printers become more sophisticated, they will be to use more materials for making things – food ingredients, wood, metal – all kinds of materials. Already large printers are using other materials.

I believe this form of printing will change crafts, medicine, virtually every kind of product and industry in one way or another – just as personal computer and smart phones have changed our lives. This is one of many ways to create a sustainable livelihood for yourself.

To explore this or another or another way of working for yourself that bests suits your personality and your community, contact me directly for a consulting appointment. mailto:paul@elmstreeteconomy.com. Paul offers coaching through Google Helpouts and as a SBDC consultant.

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Comments on the substance of the blogs are welcome. If you have other questions, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

Corporations Getting Tax Shelter Abroad Means Make Local Businesses The Hope of The Future

October 13, 2013 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

More and more corporations are giving up their identity as American companies to avoid taxation by reincorporating in tax havens like Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, or in Ireland. as pointed out in a recent New York Times story.

Among these corporations are Fruit of the Loom, Ingersoll-Rand, Eaton Corp., and Ensco International Inc . As these companies pay less taxes in the U.S. while doing business around the world, local businesses become more important. Why?

Their importance comes about because first, they provide jobs, generally hiring people from their community, and second, they pay taxes – federal, state, and local taxes, including income and worker compensation.

When you shop or do businesses with a local businesses, it spends 45 cents of each dollar it takes in locally. This compares to only 15 cents spent locally by a corporate chain. If you have a job with a local employer, know that spending your money locally helps sustain the economy for everyone.

If you own a local business or provide a local service, you understand quite well what it means to you when someone says, “I wish I could use your service or buy your product, but right now our budget is stretched.” So when you are doing your own shopping, think about what this means to everyone in the community, you, included.

It’s the goal of Let’s Live Local, the non-profit we established to live by our motto, “live, work and shop locally.”

Corporate Tax Shelter Abroad Means Local Businesses The Hope Of The Future.

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Comments and questions on the substance of this blogs are welcome. If you have other questions about this website, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

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Tags: corporations

Does Working with Your Partner or Spouse Make Sense for Everyone?

October 1, 2013 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

Sarah and I have worked together for more than 25 years and here are some of the most important things we’ve discovered. Try these tips for working with your partner or spouse:

1. Adapt your communication style if necessary. If your partners’ styles differ, then one or the other is going to have to make changes to accommodate the other person’s style. For instance, if one of you is expressive and the other isn’t, this can be disconcerting to both of you. Recognizing how each deals with disagreements is the first step. To learn more about communication styles, read John Gottman’s book The Science of Trust: Emotional Attunement for Couples.

2. Don’t interfere with each other’s work. It’s important to allow each person to take full responsibility and perform his or her work without interference. That means no unsolicited meddling, coaching, Monday-morning quarterbacking, backseat driving or peeking over each other’s shoulders.

3. Learn how to handle thorny financial and legal affairs. When a couple disagrees about or doesn’t know the full implications of choices like changing the form of business organization, handling nondisclosure agreements or seeking investors, one partner may be reluctant to act, and it can paralyze the business. Be ready to discuss major decisions that confront you with specialists like lawyers and accountants. If problems arise that involve your relationship, seek the help of a professional business or family counselor. The number of counselors and coaches specializing in partnership and family businesses is growing

4. Give yourselves time for a private life. When family members work together, it’s easy to allow your work to consume your entire relationship. For some this means taking separate vacations; for others, it means just taking time out from work so you can do something different together, like taking a walk together for half an hour at lunchtime.

We believe from both our experience and from couples we know who successfully work together that when it works, it can be one of the most satisfying parts of your life.

Comments and questions on the substance of this blogs are welcome. If you have other questions about this website, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

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If you think we can help you, we offer webinars and consulting.

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Excerpt

We’ve worked together for more than 25 years and here are some of the most important things we’ve discovered. Try these tips for success working with your partner or spouse make sense.

Tags: working with your spouse, working together, Monday-morning quarterbacking, backseat driving or peeking over each other’s shoulders, separate vacations.

Promising new developments in 3D Printing

August 29, 2013 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

The rapid development of tools and uses of 3D printing (tabletop manufacturing) promise benefits to individuals, local communities, the economy, and the planet.

Environmental benefits

Just consider the environmental benefit of recycling our waste plastic instead of adding to the already most-filled landfills. Consider that just 1.5 million tons of plastic waste is created by just plastic bottles. If plastic is burned instead of being put into landfills, it takes twice as much energy to burn than to recycle it?

Converting our waste into the materials used by 3-D printers will benefit everyone. Imagine, too, that it proving economic to “mine” landfills, reclaiming waste from the past!

New scanners

Scanning an existing object or combination of objects so you can repair things you already own is part of the process of 3D printing. Smaller and less expensive scanners are coming onto the market. MakerBot has announced a $1,400 Digitizer that resembles a turntable record player. Other more expensive scanners are on the market, but expect less expensive scanners are coming. For example, a scanner for just $599 is being released by Matterform.

Medical Use: Bioprinting

While still being perfected, the promise of being able to use cells in gels to produce skin, blood vessels, cartilage and even organs like hearts and livers. Already cartilage” has been successful “printed” from cow tissue. Imagine a printer in an operating room in a community hospital, able to produce needed parts in the operating room – faster medical care, no waiting, cutting down on transportation costs.

Comments and questions on the substance of this blogs are welcome. If you have other questions about this website, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

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If you think we can help you, we offer consulting.

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How You and I Can Become Sustainable and Help Heal the Earth

April 18, 2013 by Paul and Sarah Edwards Leave a Comment

With this blog, I want to focus how a type of product, now available, can possibly not only help us achieve individual and community sustainability also be as link to solving the serious environmental problems of our oceans. It follows up on a recent blog describing my belief that 3-D printing or what we call tabletop manufacturing is a key element of making individuals and communities sustainable in order to live, shop, and work locally. I believe as individuals cooperating in communities, we can play an important role in solving environmental problems, particularly in ridding the oceans of increasing amount of plastic wastes that is killing ocean life, including important source of food for much of the earth’s population, as well as contaminating our beaches.

The oceans are 70% of the earth’s surface and our waste — plastic bottles, medical waste. As Stiv Wilson has written, “… replace the ocean surface with space, and the stars with plastic; it’s dispersed and it goes on infinitely.” To learn more about the scale of this problem, check out Columbia University’s report “The Garbage Patch In The Oceans: The Problem And Possible Solutions.”

The huge span of goods and products that can be made virtually in a home seems limited only by human imagination – everything from medicines and parts for the human body.

By instead of removing waste from our communities, we use it to make the products tabletop manufacturing is capable of making. One such product is called a desktop extruder. As described on its site, Filabot is a desktop extruding system, “capable of grinding various types of plastics, to make spools of plastic filament for 3D printers. Not only is it user friendly, but it is also environmentally friendly. The Filabot can process things such as: milk jugs, soda bottles, various other types of plastics, and bad prints, to make new filament for a future print. Filabot will bring the real power of sustainability to 3D printing, allowing for a one stop shop to make anything.”

Desktop extruder a key tool for using 3D printing or table top manufacturing increase the possibility of individual and community sustainability

I believe this is an easy connection – turning what we don’t use into what we do use – and in the process – reducing the costs of exporting wastes, the cost of importing the goods we need, and in the process bolstering our local economies. While not every home would have a desktop extruder, small businesses can provide this or community associations ca

For an initial free consultation to explore this or another sustainable livelihood that bests suits your personality and your community, contact us.

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Comments on the substance of the blogs are welcome. If you have other questions, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment.

Local Businesses Need to Be Findable

February 18, 2013 by Paul and Sarah Edwards 24 Comments

For the past several years, studies have found that 44% of small businesses in the United States do not have a website for their company. Often these businesses once had a website, but lacking the time to maintain it and the funds to hire someone to do it, so they abandoned their websites. Of companies that have a website, 9 out of 10 of them are unhappy with the site.

This comes at a time when 85% of people use the web to find local businesses, according to a Local Consumer Review Surveyearlier this year. Traditional ways of locating business like yellow page directories, direct mail, newspaper advertising, and radio in are being used less. So if we want business, customers need to be able to find us through the web, via smartphones and tablets.

But if you don’t have a website or are unhappy with your website’s effectiveness, these are things you can do that won’t break the budget or keep you up after hours.

First, consider one or more of these alternatives to traditional websites – a number of which are free. These also supplement a website:

Get a free listing on Google Places For ideas, check out the success stories. You can supplement your listing with locally-targeted advertising through Google AdWords Express. When someone searches Google, Google+ or Google Maps whether with their computer or smartphone, they will see your listing.

Create a Facebook Pages for your business. These pages are distinct from personal pages. A business page is. As with a website, you’ll need to add fresh content, but a Facebook page is free and if you keep a personal page, you already know about how they work. Facebook even provides guidance on how to use Facebook for marketing .

Start a blog to serve as a website and attract search engine attention. Since only 1 in 20 small businesses have blogs, a blog is a marketing tool that makes you stand out from others. Leads that come from a blog cost less than from other inbound and outbound methods and a blog can substitute for traditional publicity techniques. The two most popular blog software platforms are WordPress and Tumblr. WordPress is also a Content Management System. WordPress.com. provides free software and hosting. WordPress.org has free software but not hosting. Tumblr appeals to younger customers and is both a microblogging and a social networking site, where you can post short text entries, photos and videos from your phone or wherever you are.

With options like these, you can be found in today’s electronic universe with less time and less cost than you might think.

If you think we can help, we offer counseling.

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Comments and questions on the substance of this blogs are welcome. If you have other questions about this website, please contact me directly for a consulting appointment

This blog is adapted from written by us and published in Costco Connectio n.