GROW News
March 10, 2010
GROW Nebraska's Pre-conference
The 2010 Pre-Conference will feature GROW Member, Michele Johnson of Art Cottage Web Site Development and Michele M. Johnson Fine Art. Michele will be covering many aspects of successful web sites and will touch on how to incorporate social networking into your web site for a larger web presence.
After the presentation, GROW Staff and UNL Extension will also be available for one-on-one technical assistance in the areas of product description and pictures, social networking, and adding the affiliated program to your web site.
The pre-conference will be held April 21, from 2 pm – 5 pm at the
Holiday Inn Express & Hotel Suites, Lincoln Airport.
The pre-conference is for GROW Nebraska members only and has a limited space.
Sign up now to register!
Rooms are available for the discounted rate under GROW Nebraska. Call 402-464-0588 to reserve a hotel room.
GROW Nebraska's MarkeTECH Conference
The GROW Nebraska Annual Meeting is now called the GROW Nebraska Conference. This year's MarkeTECH conference will be held in Lincoln on April 22 from 8 am-5 pm.
The conference will also feature the annual product evaluation, a service business trade show, a wonderful meal and many great speakers.
Chris Russell, operations manager at Google, will be the keynote speaker. View the
speaker's profiles and the conference agenda
here.
Food and beverage members, if you are attending the MarkeTECH conference, you are eligible to promote your food product by providing a snack during breaks at the conference.
E-mail us if you're interested.
Sign up for
here. If you have any questions, please contact us at 888.476.9632 or e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Marketing Workshops (New Workshop)
Twitter Tense? Facebook Frets? Social Media Stressing You Out? We Can Help!
GROW Nebraska has teamed up with the University of Nebraska Extension Specialists to help you reduce your anxiety in keeping up with the social media marketing craze.
Social media marketing is essential to increasing brand awareness and expanding your online business presence. However, if you don’t understand how it works, thinking about posting tweets, updating your Facebook page and incorporating your blog into the media mix seems overwhelming.
Not only will we teach you how to save time by being more efficient when using social media, but we are bringing the "Get Social Sessions" to you. Spots are filling quickly! Price is $10/person. If you have questions, call us at 888.GROW.NEB or e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org. If you are interested in attending one of these workshops, please sign up
HERE.
- March 16 - Lincoln- 9-12pm at UNL East Campus - Filley Hall
- March 16 - Lincoln- 2-5pm at UNL East Campus - Filley Hall
- March 18 - Kearney - 9-12pm at IntelliCom - FULL
- March 18 - Kearney - 1:30-4:30pm at IntelliCom
Product Evaluation
GROW Nebraska is excited for their 2010 Product Evaluation. The product evaluation is one of GROW Nebraska’s™ most valuable services. The goal of the product evaluation is to provide you with suggestions on how you may improve your product or where you should be selling your product. The result of the product evaluation is to add to your business’s bottom line and increase your income.
This year GROW Nebraska™ has assembled a panel that consists of industry experts. Here is Linda Fettig, one of this year’s 2010 Product Evaluation Panel. Fettig is the Executive Director of the Nebraska Rural Development Commission. She holds a Masters of Organizational Management with an emphasis in economic development and entrepreneurship from Peru State College and a Masters of Leadership from Bellevue University with an undergraduate degree focus on community development. She and her husband have owned several small businesses. Linda is an adjunct professor for Bellevue University, College of Professional Studies and also the author of "The ABCs of Development: It's About Building Capacity"
Sign up to participate in the product evaluation.
Be Featured in the GROW Annual Report
GROW Nebraska is working on their yearly Annual Report. We would like to feature members on the cover as we did last year. If you have a picture of you with your product or service, please send it to
info@grownebraska.org. Photos must be print resolution (300 DPI). Product only shots will not be accepted.
Promote Your Business With a Large GROW Book Ad
As a GROW Nebraska member, you get a FREE listing in the GROW Book. In addition, we are offering a limited number of advertising spots for magazine style ads to allow you to really promote your business. This is an excellent opportunity for you to learn the process of advertising at a very affordable price. The prices will be as follows:
1/8 page: $75
1/4 Page: $125
1/2 Page: $250
Full Page: $500
All you need to do now is email Kristi at
kristi@grownebraska.org to have your spot reserved. GROW staff will work with you to develop your artwork, or you can have your ad prepared by someone else. The space is limited, so reserve your spot today!
Check Out GROW's Social Media
Have you checked out GROW social media lately? GROW Nebraska would like to have 5,000 fans by June 1, and we need your help. If you would like to recommend your friends become fans of GROW, simply visit
facebook.com/growneb and click the "suggest to friends" link on the left side under the picture. Once you do this a box will pop up where you can choose the friends you would like to suggest the page to.
You can also visit our
YouTube page and view all the videos about our members. Want to know when a new video is uploaded? Just create a YouTube account and follow GROW.
Flavors of Nebraska
The Flavors of Nebraska Passport is a project that will bring tourists and visitors into your place of business. "Flavor' refers to the unique mix of people, places and products that make a visit to Nebraska a warm, friendly, experience, and that means YOU! We are printing a brochure that will list unique businesses around the state, show a map of the state so visitors can see how easily your business fits into their route, and include a section with squares where you can place a code indicating the brochure holder visited your business and made a purchase. After visiting a designated number of participating stores, they can mail the brochure back to GROW and they will receive a thank you gift of GROW Bucks from GROW Nebraska. These are redeemable at GROW retail outlets, and we ask you to redeem them as well. All you have to do is send the GROW Bucks back to us and we'll send you a check.
The brochures will be distributed via your business and the I-80 rest area visitor's kiosks, and the information will be available on the GROW Flavors of Nebraska web site. Currently there are not any fees for you to participate in this project. If you are interested in participating in this exciting service, we need you to
sign up here. You will be asked to complete a survey that will tell us if you qualify for the project, and we'll take it from there. If you have questions, please email
info@grownebraska.org.
Be Featured on our Blog
Want to get your business noticed on Google? Would you like your company to have the opportunity to get higher on the search engine ranking? Well if you answered yes to any those questions, you need to take advantage of the NEW service from GROW. It’s the GROW Blog Services.
Click here, provide the information requested and GROW will develop a blog for your business.
Click here to see the members who have taken advantage of this and look for more to post soon. Become a blogger today with the easy NEW service from GROW Nebraska.
Is your Business using the GROW Calendar of Events and Facebook Fan Page?
One of the best benefits of your membership with GROW Nebraska is the calendar of events. If your business has an event or is attending an event, please contact
info@grownebraska.org within two weeks of the events so we can promote it on the GROW Facebook Fan Page and Twitter. Please upload photos of new products and other important details about your business on the GROW Nebraska Facebook Fan Page. If you have any questions, please email
info@grownebraska.org. Over 2,900 fans would love to know about your business.
Don't Use a Credit Card to Finance Your Business!
Did you know that GROW Nebraska has the Quick GROW Express Loan available to GROW Members? The interest rate is 5.25% with flexible payment options. The GROW Micro loans products are administered by REAP (Rural Enterprise Assistance Program).
Contact
info@grownebraska.org for more information or Jeff Reynolds, REAP Director at 402-656-3091 e-mail
jeff@cfra.org
IMPORTANT for Non-food, Product Members
Please visit this
link to download your GROW Nebraska Form 13. Form 13 is the Nebraska Resale or Exempt Sale Certificate for Sales Tax Exemption. You may include it with your taxes to show that GROW Nebraska paid sales tax on all items sold in our retail locations. If you have any questions, please contact us at
info@grownebraska.org.
CHANGE THE WORLD with GROW: Glass Reuse for Our World
We are inviting you to help us GO GREEN and make a small step in changing the world. We are piloting a glass reuse program at the Kearney store. A GROW member suggested this project.
What is the project?
Consumers will be encouraged to bring their empty glass jars of GROW Nebraska products to the Kearney store where participating members will re-sanitize and reuse the glass containers.
Why be involved?
- FREE glass container because you will be able to reuse the returned empty jars Environmentally conscientious consumers will want to buy your product because it is recyclableYou will get additional product promotion
- It’s simple.
How to be involved in this project:
- Sign up here
Agree to put a small label on your participating products that says it is returnable for recycling
Pick up empty glass containers at the Kearney StoreRe-sterilize the glass containers
- Reuse them!
If you have any questions about this project, don't hesitate to contact us at
info@grownebraska.org.
New Members
Alotta Brownies - Fremont, NE
Michelle Kaiser, owner and baker of Alotta Brownies, makes a gourmet line of bakery products that features 20 different kinds of bars and brownies, cakes, cookies, breads, chocolates, coconut macarroons, and rugelach.
Three Pillars Media- Lincoln, NE
Ryan Cole and Matt Sherman of Three Pillars Media are the regional leader in spectacular showcase photography, video production, and other media. Projects range from individuals to small businesses to large corporate clients. Their goal for every project is to provide the customer with high quality, easy-to-use media, including photos and video that work for them.
SilverNail WoodWorks- Fremont, NE
Dan Ruffcorn can create your next family heirloom. From bedroom furniture to jewelry keepsake boxes to custom cutting boards each piece is handcrafted to suit your style and size specifications. All pieces are custom made to order. The process is simple, you choose the piece or style, the type of wood and get exactly what you want.
Mail Solutions - Omaha, NE
Rich Howdle can save you time. Mail Solutions will mail out your letters and business materials for a great price.
Crete Glass Creations- Crete, NE
See these great kiln glass products that Rod and Deb Klaus have done.
Member News
Enjoy a Sunday afternoon drive in Kearney County on March 14. Pick up your map at the Kearney County Museum from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. After you enjoyed the drive, drop by Burchell’s White Hill Farmhouse Inn from 3:30-5:00 pm for pie and coffee. If you would like to share a drive, please contact Mary Lou Kristensen at 832-1789.
There is an Aronia Berry meeting on Friday, March 19, 2010, 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at Cedar Hill Vineyard & Gardens. For questions or to RSVP for this meeting contact Carol Peters at
carol.peters@rcdnet.net by March 12.
Connie Brott is in the process of setting up a store in Hayes Center, NE featuring GROW Nebraska products. If you are interested in having your product line there or getting more information, please contact her at 308-350-5001 or e-mail
lcbrott@gpcom.net
Food Entrepreneur Assistance Program Seminar
The Food Processing Center is offering a one-day seminar for all individuals interested in exploring the idea of starting a food manufacturing business. The “From Recipe to Reality” seminar will be offered on April 10, 2010. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. Registration deadline is April 1, 2010. Contact Jill Gifford at 402-472-2819 or
jgifford1@unl.edu for an information packet.
