Ten sessions focus on simplifying the process of enewsletter production for businesses

NORTHAMPTON—Dee Dice, the owner of the marketing and consulting business Constant Growth, will offer a workshop series on enewsletter production, Wednesdays from Feb. 14 through April 24, from noon to 1:30 p.m., via Zoom.

“From Concept to Inbox” is for business owners who have dabbled with distributing enewsletters and want better results in less time. Participants will learn to enhance the readability, effectiveness, production time and engagement of their communications. Checklists and templates will be provided. 

Each week will focus on a specific topic, technical aspects, hands-on activities, demonstrations, and Q&A sessions to ensure participants can apply the new concepts and technology to their email newsletter.

Dee is an experienced small business consultant who excels at entrepreneurship, strategic and vision planning, budget development and community relations and is a Certified Solutions Provider for Constant Contact, the email marketing platform.

She is a consultant with the Hilltown Community Development Corporation and formerly was the small business director for Valley Community Development. She also has worked as a business advisor for the Center for Women and Enterprise and Small Business Strong, and she serves these organizations that provide free business consulting: Hilltown Community Development Center, Center for Women and Enterprise, Small Business Strong and Sphere Northampton.

To register or learn more, email Dice at dd@constant-growth.com.

The post Marketing Consultant with Constant Growth of Northampton to Offer Workshop Series appeared first on Beetle Press.

A year ago, I began working with Kiki Keating, the founder of KikiNetwork, a global PR company based in New Hampshire. I wanted to learn how to swim in a much bigger pond, and I have not been disappointed. 

Kiki honed her PR skills while leading the first-ever marketing and communications department at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. In this long-time role, Kiki built relationships with MarComm professionals around the world as well as with the journalists they need to reach in order to raise awareness about their schools, professors and their research, programs, students and alums.

Ten years ago, Kiki founded KikiNetwork and put her skills to work for her clients, who range from graduate schools to entrepreneurs and the creators of new technology to authors of books.

Kiki is a whirlwind of energy who never stops working—and playing—and she is creative, imaginative, and focused on finding the best PR opportunities for her clients.

In addition to the PR business, she also runs a second venture, the MakiNetwork Business Media Conference, with her business partner, Matt Symonds. Named by blending Matt and Kiki’s first names, the semi-annual event brings together PR professionals from highly ranked global business schools and top-tier international media. 

MarComm professionals make up the audience, and journalists from premier publications around the world come to speak about what they are covering in the news and how to best get their attention.

During Covid, Maki had to go virtual, but came back with a lot of energy this year in London. Kiki invited me to come with her to help with everything that goes on at the conference, and I was thrilled to be included—both for the chance to sightsee and be an observer in a room full of like-minded professionals.

I was so appreciative, I told Kiki I would do whatever she needed. 

Maki was held last week. Tune in next week to learn what I learned!

The post Supporting a Global PR Guru appeared first on Beetle Press.

Many entrepreneurs don’t know how to write and send a press release, and those in leadership roles in marketing or communications simply don’t have the time. That is where I come in. 

But for those who enjoy learning and doing on their own, I can also help by teaching you the basics. PR 101, so to speak.

If you are the new head of your company’s marketing or communications team, and the PR strategy recently fell in your lap, I can teach you. Or if you have a new junior member on the team who’s charged with PR, I can teach them, too.

I call this service a Media Consult, and in such a session, I teach people everything they need to know about writing a press release and getting it where it needs to go. I discuss what is and isn’t news—what editors do and do not want to hear from you—and I brainstorm topics that would make sense for each businessperson or organization leader.

I’ll also walk you through a sample release, using a topic that makes sense for your business to flesh the release out and complete it. Finally, I’ll pass on the key contact information for some of the region’s editors and teach you how to send your release to them.

Over the years, I have done many media consults with entrepreneurs—mostly small business owners but also with new members of a communications or marketing team—and I’m always proud to see their releases getting picked up in the news in the months that follow. 

Honestly, it’s not a fine science. It’s a logical, formatted process.

After a consult, some clients find that PR work is more than they have the bandwidth for, and they turn back to me to prepare and send their releases anyway. That works, too!

If a Media Consult might help you get noticed more often in the media, please be in touch.

I love sitting in the teacher’s seat as much as I like writing and editing!

The post DIY Media Relations appeared first on Beetle Press.

I’m a longtime storyteller, and for several years now, I’ve been showing you the kinds of stories I write for clients to help them raise awareness and educate those they serve. In these gnarly post-Covid—and perhaps pre-Delta-Variant—times, I’m also going to shift back at turns to talking about why I help clients create content. 

Businesspeople, including myself, have been knocked in the gut for the past 18 months, and now, we’re lifting ourselves up and focusing on regrowth and sales. It’s a great time for the reminders on how to make PR and content marketing work for you. 

The posts I have been creating for my audience in recent years have provided real-life examples of blogs and press releases I produce for clients such as Glenmeadow, Florence Bank, Thornes Marketplace, and the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction. They give prospects a solid idea of what I can do for them.

Starting with this blog, though, I will turn the spotlight on why my clients tell stories on their websites and how that content has helped them reach goals that included growing their customer base, finding new residents, raising funds, and recruiting volunteers. I’ll also tell you how you can use storytelling as your own marketing tool. 

It’s important to talk about the power of content now because our goals are multifaceted and our means for reaching them might not seem clear.

Stories are important in business. Storytelling sells.

Ninety-one percent of American shoppers are buying online these days, and stories help them find your website. Stories are content, and, as Bill Gates told us years ago, “Content is king.” 

“Content” means something different to different businesspeople, though. So, what is content? It’s blog posts about your work, staff, and customer successes; photographs that show your products and interactions with clients and staff; infographics on the benefits of your products or services; videos of staff, clients, and customers; and newletters and eblasts that offer news and resources. 

More simply put, content is information and education about your work.

You must create content to reach your audience and stay relevant. It brings fresh material to your website, which improves your Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, and makes it easier for your prospects to find you.

Telling stories keeps your audience informed about what you do, how you do it, why you do it, and how you can help. It keeps you engaged with your clients and prospects and ensures when they need what you do, you are top of mind for them. 

Now is the time to add more content to your site and refresh what’s there. What is new in your business? What is different? How are you helping people solve problems in their work and lives?

Start creating new online content for your business that addresses the changes you have made and the ways that you are improving your services, and your clients’ lives. This will help you make a comeback and keep your business strong.

Post blogs. Start conversations on social media. Send out enewletters and eblasts.

If you are not part of the online dialogue, you are not getting noticed. 

Stay tuned for tips on everything from what stories you might tell about your work to networking advice. 

Let’s stay relevant, strong, and consistent in this time when so much is shape-shifting in the world.

Email me to schedule a conversation. 

We can talk about what you might feature on your website, and what stories are newsworthy.

Wouldn’t it be great to find yourself in the newspaper some morning while you’re drinking your coffee? I can make that happen—over and over.

Just get in touch.

Learn how I can help you strategize your storytelling so that you reach your audience on your website and also connect with the media so you can raise awareness in the wider community.

Let me help you get started with your storytelling campaign.

The post Fresh Content for Regrowth appeared first on Beetle Press.

Note: Glenmeadow is a retirement community—or life plan community—in Longmeadow. I partner with the marketing team to plan and promote educational events for older adults in the region, and I also write blogs for Glenmeadow about programs and services, staff, and residents. The below is a blog, which also lives on the Glenmeadow website, that offers an overview of the fall slate of Glenmeadow Learning programs. Take a look as there might be one you’d like to attend!

We suspect you have been keeping yourself busy in these past few months. At the same time, we hope you will be pleased to learn that we have a full slate of educational and travel programs ready to unveil for the fall, winter, and spring!

Through our education program, Glenmeadow Learning, we will offer three programs beginning on September 4 at venues in Greater Springfield. Our three topics are politics, technology, and the environment. Through our travel program, Glenmeadow Getaways, we’ll have over a dozen options to take in the theater along with a trip to Egypt in July 2020.

Please read all about it, in this blog and a blog we will post tomorrow, and when you see what you like, be sure to register as our programs are first-come, first-served, and they are popular and do fill up!

Glenmeadow Learning

Our Glenmeadow Learning classes are offered free throughout the region and cover a variety of topics that are sure to expand your horizons. Our Learning program is one way in which we fulfill our mission to serve older adults in Greater Springfield by enhancing their knowledge.

The following are our three fall programs:

Both Sides of the Aisle:
A Conversation about America’s Two-Party System
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 10 a.m.–noon
Storrowton Carriage House, 1305 Memorial Avenue, West Springfield

The American political system has always been dominated by two parties, but rarely have our politics felt so contentious. Americans are increasingly divided by their loyalties, and a growing number seem to identify as neither Democrats nor Republicans. In the face of daily scandals and policy gridlock in Washington, what does the future hold? Our experts discuss the dynamics of our political system and the path forward.

Moderator: Rob Genest, op-ed editor, the Springfield Republican. Panelists: Donald
Robinson, Professor Emeritus of Government, Smith College; Samuel VanSant Stoddard,
Assistant Professor of Political Science, College of the Holy Cross; Ron Chimelis, op-ed writer, the Republican; and Matt Szafranski, editor/founder, Western Mass Politics & Insight.

Get Tech-Savvy:
An IT Primer for Older Adults
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17 10 a.m.–noon
West Springfield Public Library, 200 Park Street, West Springfield

Today’s technology makes it possible for us to connect with friends and loved ones who are far away through apps on our computers, tablets, and even our telephones. Several Western Mass IT professionals will offer an overview of how these tools work. Participants will then break into groups for a demonstration of programs that can find you a ride, allow you to video chat with family, or play games. Please bring a smart phone, laptop, or tablet.

Our leaders will include: Derek Allard, owner of Tunnel 7, which offers digital design and marketing services; and Patrick Lostaglia, Glenmeadow’s network administrator.

Environmental Responsibility:
Taking Steps to Protect Our Planet
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19 10 a.m. –noon
Agawam Public Library, 750 Cooper Street, Agawam

Tornadoes, fires, hurricanes, floods— all signs that our planet is in revolt. Environmentalist Terra Missildine will speak about how her mission to protect the Earth began and why it’s important for everyone to commit to doing so. She will also outline what individuals, organizations, and legislators can do to begin to bring about positive change and environmental healing. Terra will offer samples of earth-friendly products.

While in an early iteration of a sustainable living program at UMass Amherst, Terra Missildine founded the first eco-friendly cleaning company in Western Mass. She also supports sustainability by growing organic food to feed her family of three.

Glenmeadow Learning programs are free and open to the public, but space is limited, and reservations are required. For more information or to enroll, contact us at 413-567-7800 or learning@glenmeadow.org. Or visit our Events page.

Contact me if I can help you plan or promote a program or service.

The post Glenmeadow is a source for education appeared first on Beetle Press.

Today, the businessperson with the voice on the inside cover of Business Monday is Barbara Paulo, the owner and artistic director of Shear Xtreme Salon and Beauty to Be in Northampton. Last week, I featured Robert Floyd, the owner of the Robert Floyd Photo Gallery and Learning Center in Southampton. The week before that, Dave Sweeney, co-owner of Players Edge New England in Westfield.

And on and on for many Mondays, going back about four years.

I enjoy helping these businesspeople to raise awareness with thousands of readers of The Republican. They are always incredibly grateful. They write to thank me and tell me how their phones started ringing as soon as the ink on their piece was dry. Some write me thoughtful, handwritten notes.

The column isn’t really about them or for them, though. It’s a public service the newspaper provides the community; consumers have a chance to take a quick look at a new business each week to determine what interest and value it holds for them.

The trifecta win is that some readers connect with services that are life-changing.

Like Susan Manolakis’ clients.

Susan spent many years running a full-service hair salon but transitioned into a full-service cancer wellness and hair salon in January 2016. Her business, the Balance Cancer and Wellness Salon and Boutique in Southwick offers customize wigs for those struggling with cancer, as well as tailored bras, breast forms and symmetry shapers to accommodate any body shape.

After the piece on Susan’s business ran, she was contacted by a representative from a local hospital. Susan and the person had a nice conversation, and now, that hospital sends many of its patients Susan’s way. A beautiful outcome for Susan—but also for the patients, who have been connected to services that are giving them comfort in tough times.

Even with these results, though, it is difficult for me to find business owners willing to take the time to be featured in Voices. They are either too busy, or too skeptical. Hmm, I imagine some think. What’s the hook? Nothing is free these days.

But being highlighted in Voices is free, and there is no hook. There are a few qualifications: You must have been in business for at least six months; you can’t use the column to sell and hyper-promote; and your business needs to have some individual quality. (I can’t feature every insurance salesman and real estate agent in the Valley. Sorry.)

You don’t need to know me. You don’t need to write me a 500-word essay on the history and value of your business, and you don’t need to beg.

If you’d like to be featured in Voices, simply email me. It’s that easy.

Think about it. Email me today! It could be transforming for you—and for many readers of The Republican out there who need what you’re offering and don’t know it yet.

The post Giving Voice to Businesspeople appeared first on Beetle Press.

As a longtime professional in the marketing and communications industry, I tend to think I have a good sense of what it takes to get a message across about a product or service in a way that connects well with a given audience.

So, when a company I will call SafeAlert launched a recent ad campaign on Pandora—and completely missed the mark in my mind—I couldn’t help but critique away.

A man tells the story behind the product in the minute-long-ish advertisement. He says his daughter recently went off to college, and he was worried about her safety, so he bought her a SafeAlert device to wear on her clothing.

Good idea, I think. Who doesn’t worry about their kids when they head away from home?

This voice-over man goes on to say that when his daughter has a problem, she can activate her SafeAlert device, and it will signal her friends.

Yes, that’s the kicker right there. The device alerts her friends.

“How about alerting the cops?” I can’t help but ask out loud as I am running and listening to this ad for the first time. And then it gets even better.

The man says his daughter’s friends will be able to talk to one another so they can make a plan to get his daughter to safety. He said the friends will hear everything his daughter is experiencing.

Ah, excellent, I think. The friends—all also in college themselves, mind you—will make a plan to rescue her. And they will hear everything, so, in other words, they can all be traumatized together. Beautiful. Clever.

The guy says at the end of the ad that SafeAlert costs $5 a month. I can’t help but blurt out loud that I’d be willing to spend three times that amount for a product that alerts the police. Hello!

Anyhow, after listening to this ad a dozen or more times, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a bad advertisement or simply a bad product all together. So, I went to the SafeAlert website.

The site is very good. It has clear and simple explanations about how the product works by allowing the user’s phone to instantly communicate with friends’ phones, and the examples they offer up in a series of videos seem to make it clear that this is a product that comes in handy when you’re running and twist your ankle or you fall off of your bike and need a ride home.

It doesn’t address how things might go with SafeAlert if you were to get attacked by a rapist or someone wielding a knife. If you had time, you could yell, “Call the police.” And your friends could call 911, but God, I can’t imagine setting up a situation in which my friends would have to listen while I was being assaulted.

I would sign up for a device like this in a minute if it, you know, would alert the police instead of my best friend in the case of an emergency.

Call me crazy. I’m holding out for the new improved model.

The post Messaging for Safety Device is Scary appeared first on Beetle Press.

After checking in with Michael Filas, the professor at Westfield State University who I collaborate with on the intern program, I created a list of students from Westfield State and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, going back about six or seven years.

Interns from the spring semester, Kayla Fontaine, Shannon Grossman and Molly Ahern helped me track down email addresses for all of the intern alums. After choosing a date with Kayla, Shannon and Molly, I sent an email to the group and excitedly waited for replies.

I had in mind an afternoon full of hummus, chips and other snacks and former and current interns milling about, sharing their stories of their careers. I thought it would be especially useful for Kayla, Shannon and Molly and fun for everyone, including me.

As usual, the hopeful optimist in me was blinded but what could be instead of focused on reality.

About a half dozen folks replied right away that they were unable to join. One is living in California, and likewise others were out of range for an afternoon visit. One was traveling that weekend.

I was excited about seeing the six former interns who RSVP’d with a “yes” and the three current students at the gathering and started making plans for activities that would get them all talking without feeling awkward about it. I was thinking of some activities Val Nelson used at a networking event she held earlier this year.

Then, the Friday before the gathering, things started to unravel.

One young woman’s car broke down.

Another, about to graduate, had a lot of work to cram in before the big day.

Molly was unaware of a surprise graduation party her parents were hosting on the same afternoon, three hours away.

Like the 10 little Indians (well, only sort of), those kinds of stories kept coming in to me, and then we were down to one “Maybe I’ll get there but will be late” from one former intern and Kayla and Shannon, who were still all in.

I cancelled the event, thinking it had only been a few days since Kayla and Shannon had seen each other.

It was not a total loss, though.

I got to hear about what some of my former interns are doing, just as I had hoped, but not live—via email.

Maddie Cicitto, for instance, is working at a small public relations firm in New Britain, Connecticut.

“I am using so much of what I learned at Beetle Press, and I still feel so grateful and lucky that I got to intern with you,” she told me. “I felt like you believed in me, pushed me to do new things and gave me the opportunities that would help me in the future. I’m really looking forward to continuing my PR path.”

Vanessa Pesa, the former student with the failing car, is working at Berkshire Bank in marketing.

She told Kayla in an interview for a blog we recently posted about her: “Listen to Janice. She is there because she wants more than anything to teach you, to help you in your endeavors and to see you succeed.”

It was all music to my ears, especially hearing about their success.

And I modeled a skill I teach to all my interns: keep in touch with people in your network. Check in. Say hi. Stay connected.

Good will always come of it, whether it’s a new work opportunity, an idea or just some good news and stories.

The post Keeping in Touch Has Merit appeared first on Beetle Press.

It just keeps jetting off in varying directions, thinking, planning, imagining, organizing. I add to my to-do lists even in my sleep, and that’s okay with me. I like an active agenda.

But that is why, as I fly off on a month-long journey to the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific, I can’t stop thinking about what I will do besides just have fun. That is why, on the first official day of my trip, I am working on the plane instead of reading a book or daydreaming.

I never actually intended for this trip to be a vacation.

The departure and arrival dates were set in stone and came with an affordable price tag, so I delighted in the fact that I would spend a month on a tropical island in winter, but I also knew I had to find a way to make my work happen while I was gone.

I very carefully have arranged my schedule so that, until Jan. 23, I am not accepting new projects and will instead focus on two book assignments. One is a novel I am writing for a client in Western Massachusetts, to memorialize a story that haunts him; the other is an editing project for a Canadian man (formerly of Northampton, Massachusetts) who has written a memoir about losing his older brother in his early teen years.

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have these deep and moving projects to sink my fingertips in. In the first few hours of the flight from Chicago, Illinois, to Honolulu—the second of three legs of my trek—I read the first half of the memoir and can’t wait to turn my attention back to it.

But I have in mind to accomplish more on the trip as well. I want to do some planning and thinking and working on my business.

So, I also plan to blog about my journey and what I learn about Majuro and its people, (starting with a piece on training for adventures.) I want to blog about tips and ideas I have on marketing, networking and professional development.

I want to think ahead to how I will keep four interns busy this coming spring and outline projects for them. And I want to fully plan a five- or six-week workshop for business and organization leaders who want to do more than touch on the how-tos of sending out a press release. I’m hoping this workshop will be ready for spring, so stay tuned.

Of course, Majuro is a place where electric power and wifi are not always available, so it may be that there are days when I can’t spend my mornings on vocational pursuits, as I imagine.

If that should happen, I have a notebook and pen along as well.

I’ll jot down some trusty notes, and you’ll hear all about it later.

I’ll pass the time running or snorkeling instead.

Not a bad plan, I’d say.

The post A Little Work, a Little Play appeared first on Beetle Press.

A May graduate of Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, Ruby has returned to her childhood home of Easthampton, Massachusetts, to pursue a career in public relations, and Janice is very pleased that Ruby will be spending part of her time working with Beetle Press.

As a student, Ruby held different sales and marketing positions, including work with nonprofit organizations. She decided to focus on PR after a meeting with her undergraduate advisor; Ruby wanted a career in which she could express her compassion through her work and showcase her skills and expertise. She says, “My advisor, Nancy Kerr, possessed a pure passion and enthusiasm on the subject of PR, and the more she talked about the opportunities that would be open to me and what I could accomplish for businesses and organizations, the more I thought that it was the route for me.”

During Ruby’s time at Champlain, she got the chance to study abroad in Dublin, Ireland. One of her courses in Dublin was Writing in the City, in which the class would explore the many intricacies of the city and write about it.

Ruby says the professor would take the class to amazing places and hidden gems around Dublin, tell them stories about the history and then give them a chance to reflect and write anything that came to them. “This was such a time of growth in my life as well as in my writing,” she says.

This summer, Ruby was connected to Beetle Press via her father, Brian Dillon, a local accountant and a client. Janice wrote a press release for Brian when his business relocated to Easthampton, and it was picked up by multiple print publications. Ruby was interested enough in Beetle Press to learn more. She and Janice sat down to chat, and there was an immediate connection.

Ruby has now written several successful press releases of her own. She loves having the opportunity to work with local businesses and nonprofit organizations, helping them to raise awareness. She’s excited too, to see her work in local print publications.

Outside of work, Ruby enjoys reading, photography and spending time with friends and family. After she studied abroad in Dublin, she caught the travel bug, and, since then, she has had a burning desire to experience different cultures, cuisine and to see many areas of the world-writing about all her experiences along the way.

The post Ruby Dillon a New Member of the PR Team appeared first on Beetle Press.