GROW News
March 3, 2010
GROW Nebraska's MarkeTech Pre-conference
The 2010 MarkeTech 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 MarkeTech Conference. This year's 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.
Would you like to promote your food product by providing the snack during breaks at the conference? (You must be in attendance.)
E-mail us if you're interested.
Details will be coming soon regarding specifics. If you have any questions, please contact us at 888.476.9632 or e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Marketing Workshops
Twitter Tense? Facebook Frets? Utterli Uneasy? 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- 9-12 and 2-5 at UNL East Campus - Filley Hall
- March 18 - Kearney - 9-12 at IntelliCom - FULL
- March 18 - Kearney - 1:30-4:30 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 Amanda Tangeman, one of this year’s 2010 Product Evaluation Panel. Tangeman has 20 years of retail management experience from Eddie Bauer to Old Navy. She now is the Store Manager of the Nebraska Bookstore overseeing the day to day operations as well as the purchasing of all Insignia products. She works closely with the vendors as well as the customers.
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
¼ Page: $125
½ 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
The continuation of the flavors project is beginning to take place. Last year's pilot of this microtourism piece was successful. This year the brochure will be bigger allowing more businesses to be featured. Watch next week for more information on this project.
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. Sandra Hilsabeck of Sandra Hilsabeck Books already took advantage of this great opportunity. Read her blog by
clicking here. 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 to 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. 2,800 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.
GROW Food Business Member – Would like to export your product?
The Nebraska Department of Agriculture will be hosting meetings March 15 and 16, 2010 with Dennis Lynch from the Food Export Help line. During his visit they will be traveling to meet one-on-one with Nebraska food companies. If your company is interested in learning more about exporting, please contact Laura Linden, Agricultural Trade Representative Inter at 402-471-6804 or email
laura.linden@nebraska.gov.
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
Bud's Originals - North Platte, NE
They sell value added gourmet specialty honey products. Their main product right now is a flavored Honey Butter spread. They generally have 20 flavors at all time. You can use it on anything from pancakes, toast, waffles, muffins, breads, pies, cakes, popcorn, vegetables, and other savory dishes.
I Bead Unique- Ogalalla, NE
I Bead Unique is jewelry incorporating Kathy Bourque's own lampwork glass, metal & wire work from one of a kind designs. A special thanks to Sherri Siefer of Rafter 7S on referring this new company.
Member News
Baby Malzer has arrived so Erin will be out of the office the beginning of March. If you are needing assistance, please e-mail
info@grownebraska.org.
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.
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.
Succession Planning Workshop
The University of Nebraska-Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) will be hosting a Succession in Agriculture Workshop on March 9, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. in the Vet Teaching Hospital. There is no charge for the workshop. For additional information and to register, please call the Rural Response Hotline at 1-800-464-0258.
