February 15, 2012

Roxanne Mutchler, MVSBDC

“The New SBA Woman-Owned
Business Program”

The Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract program authorizes contracting officers to set aside certain federal contracts for eligible:

• Women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) or

• Economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSBs)

Chesterfield's Restaurant
1713 Bleecker Street, Utica

Click here for the
Janaury vol 1 Newsletter!

Grand Opening... February 1

The Tailor & the Cook

94 Genesee Street, Utica

American and Fusion Cuisine with a Spotlight on Locally Produced Products.

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1st Annual Sweater Ball
2/10/2012, 6:30p-10:30p

Presented by The Mohawk Valley Chamber of Commerce and The Utica Zoo

Daniele’s at Valley View
$50 Per Person ($60 after 1/27)

_______________________

Saturday, January 28, 2012 - 7-11pm
A Celtic Night to Remember
The Capitol Theatre, 220 W Dominick St

Join us to celebrate a wonderful night of Celtic Music with two amazing performances by Searson and The Elders!

For more information: call 838-1713 or email:kstockbridge@romecitygov.com

April 2012 Rome Home Show
Click link for forms

February 6, 2012

Please send info to President@mvbwn.org
by February 1 for inclusion in the
Febraury 6 issue.

Thanks to Deb for the great presentation! It really boosted our energy; I think some of us were going home and implementing a few of those tips immediately!

Was very excited to see lots of new and returning members at the dinner... January seems to bring many women back to the network - we miss seeing each other over the holiday break!

We still have a few member brochures left - attendees were very excited to see the new format and brochure displays all ready for them to place at their business! We'll bring another batch to the February meeting at Chesterfield's.

Special thanks to Howard & Amanda Potter of A&P Master Images for the lovely plaque they designed for our Joanne Rettke Award.

Don't forget to share your news! Always looking to promote your business!

Deb Cabral gave us some great tips and entertained us at the same time! It was awesome of her to interview us for segment on an upcoming show.

She, Sharon and I posed for this photo before I made "the big announcement" of the night!

I was "berating" Sharon for not showing up at 6pm on the dot like she always does - I had to keep her from seeing Dick before announcing she was the winner.

Click photos
to view larger.

Five Painless Ways to Raise Prices this Year

With the economy still so uncooperative, how can you sell customers on a price hike? Here are five ideas:

1. Phase it in. Let customers know prices are going up next month, or next quarter. Drive some extra sales volume now, and then the party's over and the new price goes into effect. Give clients a chance to buy in volume ahead of time to save money. It feels like a deal, but, sooner or later, customers still end up paying the new price. Personally, I like to give notice of a price hike for my writing business about six weeks before it takes effect, so clients have time to adjust to the idea.
2. Offer valued-customer discounts. Take a page from grocery stores and offer one price for your loyal frequent shoppers, and a higher one for occasional users. That way you can start grossing more without alienating your core customer base. Don't make those customers haul around a loyalty card, either -- keep the information on who gets the good prices on file yourself.

You can read about the other five ways on Carol Tice's blog, The Daily Dose, at Entrpreneur.com.

Sharon St. John is our Joanne Rettke Award Winner for 2012!

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Hands on QuickBooks Training
Join Collette Aurand, Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor, Black River Bookkeeping LLC

February 11, 2012 - 9am to 3pm
Fee: $85 - training, refreshments, lunch included

Registration Deadline January 27, Limited Seating! Register at info@blackriverbookkeepingllc.com

_________________________

SBDC Winter / Spring Schedule is Out - Click here

The next board meeting is:
February 8, 2012.

If you have something you'd like to have discussed please feel free to contact any board member and ask them to get your concerns on our agenda.

Any member is welcomed to attend a board meeting; however, you need to have an item on the agenda to be able to contribute to the dialog.

Women TIES Mohawk Valley Luncheon: “Creating a National Buzz about Your Business” sponsored by the Women’s Business Center of NYS

March 21
Tracy Black, Pampered Chef
“Using the No’s”
Location: Raspberries, N Utica

April 18
Caroline Levitt, Attorney
“The Law & Your Small Business”
Franklin Hotel, Rome

May 16
Fundraiser Honoring
Marolyn Wilson
Owner of Holland Farms Bakery and Deli of Yorkville, NY

June 20
Endowment Award Ceremony

• Barbara Adams - Liberty Tax
  Interested in her "TaxTalk" newsletter? Cick here
  
  
• Tanya Alcala - FTT Energy
  
  
• Andrea George - Complement Your Event
  
  
• Meredith Reid - All You Knead Baking & Catering / A Nut Job
  
  
• Kim Tranter - U Learn Social Mediia

What is ifttt & how can it work for you?

Put the internet to work for you by creating tasks that fit this simple structure:
if this then that
Think of all the things you could do if you were able to define any task as: when something happens (this) then do something else (that).

I set up a task so that every time I uploaded a photo to Facebook it would "automagically" save it in my dropbox!

Other things you can do is have it update your Twitter icon when you change your Facebook photo, archive your tweets or fourSquare check-ins in Google calendar, wake you up early if it snowed last night... you can even Text IFTTT in order to receive a fake call to get you out of almost any situation!

Check it out; you can use someone else's recipes or create one of your own - and don't forget to share it with us!

Need a rhyme?
WriteExpress "unblocks writer's block" This rhyming tool is one of the many resources available to make you a better writer.

Do you have a FOMO?
Want to expand your vocabulary or keep up on the newest lingo?
WordSpy, "A Word Lover's Guide to New Words", is a great place to start! You can conquer your FOMO (n. The fear of missing out on something interesting or fun, esp. when it leads to obsessive socializing or social networking) there for sure!

Looking for the right words?
Ths random word generator could be exactly what you're looking for.

November 2011
Gina Trezpacz-Timpano, Yorkville Memorials, LLC

PRESIDENT
  Veronika Freeman
  dotcalm / dotcalm domains
  733-3411

PRESIDENT ELECT
  Collette Aurand
  Black River Bookkeeping, LLC
  831-2721

TREASURER
  Regan Johnson
  Avion Energy Consultant
  271-9794

RECORDING SECRETARY
  Donna Rebisz
  Women's Business Center of NYS
  733-9848

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
  OPEN Position

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
  Michele Colicci
  Michele’s Waxing Essentials
  723-1569

OUR MEMBERS AT LARGE

Betty Abel-Jellencich
  Pondra's Homes & Hearth
  Hope House
  527-9094

Tricia Badgley
  Women’s Business Center of NYS
  733-9848

Tracy Black
  Pampered Chef
  737-8471 

Jamie L. Zalepeski
   Artistic Expressions
   337-2268

DINNER CHAIR
  Terry Rockwell
  Seniors Helping Seniors
  202-4058  

ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR
  Donna Rebisz
  Women's Business Center of NYS
  733-9848

FUNDRAISING CHAIR
  Betty Abel-Jellencich
  Pondra's Homes & Hearth
  527-9094

HISTORIAN
   Jamie L. Zalepeski
   Artistic Expressions
   337-2268 

MEMBERSHIP CHAIR
  Collette Aurand
  Black River Bookkeeping, LLC
  831-2721

NEWSLETTER/DIRECTORY CHAIR
  Veronika Freeman
  dotcalm / dotcalm domains  
  733-3411  

PROGRAMMING CHAIR
  Tricia Badgley
  Women’s Business Center of NYS
  733-9848

WEBSITE CHAIR
  Veronika Freeman
  dotcalm / dotcalm domains  
  733-3411