Lancaster Libraries Programs

The following classes will be held at the Library System office in Greenfield Corporate Center at 1866 Colonial Village Lane, Suite 107. For more information, contact Rhonda Kleiman, Economic Development Manager, t 717-207-0500 x1225 or kleiman@lancasterlibraries.org

Geodemographic Tools for Target Marketing, Wednesday July 22 8:00-9:30am OR Tuesday, July 28 6:30-8:00pm

You’ve read the article about Simply Map and Local Market Audience Analyst. Now, come and see for yourself what these resources can do for your business. The features and capabilities of these powerful tools will be demonstrated using a variety of practical examples. While these tools are most helpful when marketing to consumers, businesses of all types are sure to find many practical applications. This seminar will be offered on two different dates and times to accommodate various work schedules. When responding, please indicate which session you’d like to attend. A third session is scheduled for September (see below for September events). Presenter: Rhonda Kleiman, Economic Development Manager, Library System

ReferenceUSA Refresher, Thursday, July 30 8:00-9:00am

See a demonstration of ReferenceUSA’s newly redesigned U.S. Businesses module. Many new features and enhancements have been incorporated into this new interface. If you are a regular user of ReferenceUSA, you will want to attend this class to learn how to navigate the changes. If you’ve never used ReferenceUSA before, you will also learn the basic features and capabilities of this invaluable database. Presenter: Rhonda Kleiman, Economic Development Manager, Library System Thursday September 10 6:30-8:30pm

Blog Basics for Beginners, Thursday September 10 6:30-8:30pm

Blogging has become a great way to let off steam, get an audience for your work and even profoundly impact the lives of others. With all the free and simple tools available, there’s no better time to get started. We’ll cover the basics of blogging: where and how to set up a blog, how to choose a topic, how to write compelling content, and more. This course is best suited for those with little or no blogging experience. CD of tools included. Limit is 15 people. Presenters – Kae Kohl & Bede Fahey, Kiwi Marketing Group

Geodemographic Tools for Target Marketing, Thursday September 17 6:30-8:00pm
(See July events above for details)

Competitive Intelligence Certification Program

Rhonda Kleiman, Economic Development Manager, Library System of Lancaster County, will be presenting this five-part series in partnership with the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Penn State The Lancaster Center.

For a full description of the seminar series, visit http://www.lancastermarketedge.com/. Cost of series is $495 for Chamber members and $695 for nonmembers. Register online at http://www.lancasterchamber.com/event.aspx?eid=1138 or call Angi Fritz at 717-397-3531 x172. Please note that this course is being presented as a series and will not be offered as single sessions at this time. A free preview session will be held at the Library System office on Thursday, September 24 from 4:30-5:30pm. Registration for this session is also required.

Thursday, October 8– Session One: Introduction to Competitive Intelligence; Scope of Program; Creating Company Lists
Thursday, October 15 – Session Two: Company & Industry Information
Thursday, October 29 – Session Three: Financial Information; International Information
Thursday, November 5 – Session Four: Trade & Regional Business Journals, Magazines and Newspapers
Thursday, November 12 – Session Five: Government Information; Web 2.0; General Trend Information; Wrap-up

DUKE Street Business Center Programs

The following free programs will be held at the Lancaster Public Library at 125 N. Duke Street. Since seating is often limited, please register as soon as possible for those programs that are of interest. Contact Diane Pawling or Heather Sharpe at 717-394-2651 x131 or dsbc@lancaster.lib.pa.us for more information or to register.

Just for Nonprofits! Thursday July 30 3:00-4:30pm

An overview of nonprofit resources found in the Duke Street Business Center – including a hands-on-demonstration of the Foundation Center’s Foundation Directory Online. As a Foundation Center Cooperating Collection site and the location of the LeadWell Nonprofit Information Collection, the DSBC is a valuable resource for nonprofit information. Presenter – Diane Pawling, DSBC Business Reference Librarian

ReferenceUSA Refresher, Tuesday August 4 3:30-4:30pm

See a demonstration of ReferenceUSA’s newly redesigned U.S. Businesses module. Many new features and enhancements have been incorporated into this new interface. If you are a regular user of ReferenceUSA, you will want to attend this class to learn how to navigate the changes. If you’ve never used ReferenceUSA before, you will also learn the basic features and capabilities of this invaluable database. Presenter: Diane Pawling, DSBC Business Reference Librarian

DSBC Nonprofit Network Event , Tuesday August 18 3:00-4:30pm

The Duke Street Business Center at Lancaster Public Library hosts a free quarterly Nonprofit Network Event for representatives of local nonprofit organizations. This event will begin at 3:00pm with attendee introductions followed by an informal roundtable discussion on the topic of Nonprofit Survival in Tough Economic Times. Each attendee should come prepared to share at least one thing (a new fundraising or cost-cutting effort, etc.) that their organization has done differently in 2009 because of the current state of the economy. The event will conclude with a brief agency highlight and a time to informally swap experiences with colleagues. Registration deadline – August 13, 2009

businessKillers® Thursday September 3 3:00-4:30pm

This educational presentation, designed by industry experts and business owners like yourself, allows you to access how well you have protected your company from the six biggest mistakes that can “kill” a business. Presenter-James McPherson, M&T Bank Corporation Registration Deadline–August 27, 2009

Solving the Mystery of Federal Grants for Nonprofits!, September 15 3:00-4:30pm

Applying for federal grants is not usually an easy, quick way to access funding for your nonprofit. Join us as we attempt to demystify the federal grant process – including the steps involved in 1) searching to see if there are grant opportunities available for your type of organization, 2) the registration process, 3) completing the application, 4) how to choose and track reasonable outcomes, and 5) how to track your completed application throughout this sometimes lengthy labor intensive process. Presenter – Daniel L. Jurman, Director of Development, SouthEast Lancaster Health Services. Registration Deadline – September 10, 2009

Preparing Business-to-Business Mail Lists for Sales or Solicitation, Thursday September 24 3:00-4:30pm

A hands-on training focusing on two of the library’s licensed company databases-- Reference USA and Harris Selectory Online. Includes a detailed comparison of these resources and how they can be used most efficiently to prepare targeted lists (and mailing labels) for business-to-business marketing/sales leads or for nonprofit-to-business solicitations or event invitations. Presenter-Diane Pawling, DSBC Business Reference Librarian. Registration Deadline – September 21, 2009

Special April 7 Marketing Workshop

In today's fragile and challenging economy, having an effective marketing plan is essential to business survival.

This special Marketing Workshop is aimed at owners of existing businesses, start-up businesses or anyone thinking about creating a business.

SCORE's new marketing workshop helps you:

- decide on the right budget
- choose the best strategies for maximizing your return on investment
- build your plan for continuing profit and growth.

Carol Aubtiz, President of Excelsior Marketing, leads the session. For more than thirty-five years Carol has created marketing plans and designed successful strategies for a wide range of businesses, from small family operations to giant international corporations. She has helped clients through four recessionary periods, from the 1970s through the post 9/11 crisis. She writes the weekly marketing e-mail newsletter, The Monday Morning Muse, and is author of the book, "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Marketing."

Workshop participants will learn:

. How to set goals to generate leads and sales
. Best ways to define and prioritize customers to achieve maximum profits
. How to establish the right-sized marketing budget
. Methods to evaluate media and media choices
. How to adjust a plan for seasonality, cycles and market changes
. Ways to integrate marketing with media
. Developing predictive models for market results
. How to measure and evaluate marketing effectiveness

This SCORE workshop is presented on Tuesday, April 7 -- 6:30-9:00 p.m. at the SCORE Learning Center, Liberty Place, 313 Liberty Street, Room 231, Lancaster, PA.

REGISTER NOW!

It's All About Workshops

This SCORE Lancaster Blogspot resource is shifting its focus away from timely small business news in order to emphasize the many workshops that SCORE Lancaster offers to help aspiring Lancaster County entrepreneurs.

We are planning on making this site a one stop center for people interested in learning more about starting and growing small business.

Stay tuned.

Visit us at http://scorelancaster.wordpress.com for timely small business news that affects Lancaster.

Facts About Federal Grants

SCORE Lancaster is frequently asked how to get government grants. Many people contact us after viewing late night infomercials which advertise “millions in free money.” They are hoping SCORE can put them in touch with that “free money.”

The reality is that the infomercials are hype designed to get unsuspecting people to pay money to buy a “grant information package” or sign up for some grant application software package.

It is true that there are many grants shown on the federal government’s website www.grants.gov. It is equally true that very few of them are available to individuals and NONE of them are available for personal financial assistance or business start-up help.

A grant from a federal agency is an award of financial assistance that will enable the recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation that is authorized by a law of the United States.

In all, there are 26 federal agencies offering over 1,000 grant programs annually in various categories.

There are many groups and organizations eligible to apply for government grants. Typically, most grantee organizations are government entities (state, local, city, township or special public authorities), educational institutions (school districts, colleges and universities) and not-for-profit organizations. In certain instances small business grants may be awarded to companies that meet U.S. Small Business Administration size standards.

The most common size standards are as follows:

• under 500 employees for most manufacturing and mining industries
• under 100 employees for all wholesale trade industries
• less than $6 million for most retail and service industries
• below $28.5 million for most general & heavy construction industries
• under $12 million for all special trade contractors
• less than $750,000 for most agricultural businesses

With few exceptions, all federal agencies, and many state and local governments, use these size standards established by SBA. You can search for further information about small business loan opportunities on the Small Business Administration’s website.

You can also explore other government sponsored loan opportunities at http://www.govloans.gov .

To find a complete alphabetical listing of governmental assistance for individual citizens, visit USA.gov website’s Government Benefits, Grants, and Financial Aid page.

If you are a business or a non-profit and would like more information and answers about government grants that might be available for your situation, contact SCORE Lancaster at (717) 397-3092. The office is open weekdays from 10AM to 2PM.

Visit our new Blog at http://scorelancaster.wordpress.com

Score Lancaster Blog Moves to Wordpress

The Score Lancaster Blog is migrating to Wordpress.com because the Wordpress blogging application has features that gives Score Lancaster more flexibility in presenting news and information to you.

Please visit us at http://scorelancaster.wordpress.com

Recession Presents Opportunity:

Your competition cuts marketing support because business is down due to the recession. This represents an opportunity for you.

Contrarian view? Absolutely not. The best time for you to strike is while your competitors are off guard. While they cut support and meet to complain about the recession, seize this opportunity to reach out to your existing customers and find new prospects.

Far too many business owners absolutely take the wrong approach. They hunker down, cut marketing budgets and pull back in bad times. The end result is “unattended customers” and less competition for you. Businesses that cut marketing budgets also de-motivate their best salespeople, who start spending more time thinking about getting a new job than a new customer.

Economic downturns are a great time to strengthen your relationships with your existing customers as well as your competitors’ customers. Odds are they are not as busy and they may be more willing to spend a more time with you - use the time wisely:

Collect testimonials: Asking for a testimonial is a contact with your customer that’s not a sales call. Tell them you would like to promote the testimonial and link it to their website, which will promote them as well. Use the opportunity to show your customers you value their opinion, your business relationship, and their business (i.e., dynamic websites, blogs, Scribd, PR news, etc.)

Survey your customers: Create an opportunity to collect feedback and discuss services and/or products you offer that they may not be fully aware of or completely understand (i.e., email marketing, custom website landing pages, etc.)

Network: Introduce your customers to people in your network that they consider prospects and ask to meet their business colleagues and associates - an excellent source of referrals (i.e., LinkedIn, Plaxo, etc.)

Use your “consulting” skills: Help your customers and prospects save time and money by providing pertinent industry news and educational materials that will help them compete during these difficult times (i.e., email newsletters, white papers and custom publications all have high ROIs).

But don’t be fooled. There is also new competition for you - competition from new business start-ups and competitors that have invested in new technologies and lower-cost marketing tactics.

Lots of new businesses are created during economic downturns. Layoffs create a lot of entrepreneurs that may soon be targeting your customers with fresh ideas, creative solutions and competitive rates. And, they are targeting your customers using high ROI marketing tactics such as online social networks, email marketing, industry newsletters, dynamic websites (blogs) and related marketing technologies.

If you are not already taking advantage of these marketing tools, now is a good time to ask yourself, if not now, when?

Don’t forget, the marketing tools mentioned above are low-cost when compared to traditional marketing methods but there is a cost. And, implementation requires resources - consider the costs while developing your 2009 marketing budget. This year will be a difficult time for many and many companies won’t survive. Yours will if you take advantage of the marketing tools available today.

This post is adapted from an article previously published by SCORE “Ask the Experts” blog which is featured in our blog roll in the right hand column.

Ideas to Help Small Business Survive the Recession

Lancaster, PA.—Entrepreneurs face challenges on many fronts, including lower consumer spending, rising unemployment and tightening credit. Inflation pressures have hit both businesses and customers. By acting quickly and decisively to protect their business today, local business owners can make it through the recession with a profitable business.

SCORE Lancaster Chairman Jerry Glenn says, “Small businesses feel the credit crunch first. We have seen difficulty accessing capital and collecting payments from customers.” Glenn adds, “Don’t wait. Now is the time to meet with a SCORE mentor to make plans to tighten credit policies, cut expenses and look at holding cash in your accounts. Experienced SCORE mentors are here to help you plan actions to survive the recession and grow when the economy turns around.”

SCORE Lancaster has fifty experts who offer free and confidential advice to small business owners. SCORE mentors have experience in finance, accounting, management, marketing, sales prospecting and strategic planning.

SCORE offers tips for small business owners on Five Recession Pitfalls to Avoid:

Cutting expenses too slowly. Don’t cut expenses a little bit at a time. Now is the time to look at expenses and decide whether your company needs to cut expenses five, 10 or up to 20 percent. Do what it takes early in the year and bring costs down.

Maintaining the same product and service mix. Your needs are changing. You can bet your customers needs have changed too. Call your existing customers and ask them what they need. Then, design your product service mix around those needs.

Reducing marketing instead of focusing on marketing. The company that stands tall, strong and visible in the marketplace has stature and status. Differentiate with strong marketing to drive leads and sales.
Lacking systems to free up your time. Streamline your business and become more efficient. Use a handheld organizer to keep track of phone numbers, dates, appointments and meetings. Set a time each week to handle routine tasks, bills and paperwork.

Keeping everything to yourself. Your team knows the economy is tough and wants to understand what the company is facing and how, together, you can make it through.

Lead toward a brighter future by focusing your efforts on today. Since 1964, nationally SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business” has helped more than 8 million aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners through counseling and business workshops.

For more information about starting or operating a small business, call SCORE Lancaster at (717) 397-3092

Free Online Business Courses from SCORE

The following online training modules are available for starting up a business:

Developing efficient systems
Learn how business systems can give you greater control, add value, lower your costs, improve profits and free up your time.

Quick Start Business Plan
If you intend to start a business, you should write a business plan. It will help you flesh out your ideas, and will be required by your bank and other lenders before they extend you credit, business loans, or overdraft protection.

Creating a cash reserve
This lesson outlines practical ideas and tactics you can use to create a cash reserve in your business. It helps you to plan ahead for cash squeezes by focusing on the financial things you can do to save or generate money.

Planning your advertising
This lesson shows you how to plan and implement your advertising to increase your chances of gaining new customers.

Creating customer loyalty
The lesson explains why loyalty is so important and covers a range of practical ideas you can implement in your business immediately to build loyalty.

Establishing advisory boards
Taking time to complete a business plan before you start your business will reduce the risk of missing something. This quick business plan outlines the main points and will give a clear snapshot of your business idea and its feasibility.

Can you afford to start?
You need a clear idea of how much money you will need to get started and how much you will be able to make. This lesson will show you how to assess various situations using financial templates you can download.

Working out your prices
The lesson will help you to set optimum prices for your goods or services. These enable you to maximize profit, while making sure your prices remain attractive to your market. Along the way, you will find out how to work out costs associated with bringing your products or services to market.

Here is a link to SCORE's main course offerings web page:
http://www.score.org/online_courses.html