The NJ Small Business Development Centers: A Valuable Resource for NJ Small Businesses

In my quest to grow Caryl Communications as a company and update my own personal marketing skills, I attended a seminar this morning sponsored by the New Jersey Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), called “Marketing Upstream – Get Out of Your Comfort Zone.” We had a small group of diverse entrepreneurs and a strong leader to direct the group. The course included marketing theory and practical advice and perspective, as well as good action items.

 

I learned at this seminar that the SBDC is a valuable resource for small businesses in New Jersey. Created by President Carter and expanded by Ronald Reagan, the SBDC offers programs in marketing, finance, business planning and more. Even better, SBDC provides FREE one-on-one counseling about any topic or business challenge you have. They have 10 locations in NJ with programs provided in collaboration with our state’s community colleges and universities. I will be doing more with SBDC and will keep updates coming.

A few useful directories

This is a list of a few useful blog directories that I’ve found. Please check this list often b/c I plan to be adding new stuff to it regularly.

Will Newspapers Survive?

Will Newspapers Survive?

“The medium is the message” . . . Marshall McLuhan

I was encouraged, professionally and personally, by the WSJ’s article on January 4, 2010 outlining positive signs for the print news industry (Ad Influx Brightens Hopes for Newspapers, Magazines).

The importance of the news media for public relations practioners is obvious, especially those that focus on media placements.  As a result, navigating the changing landscape of the print industry has presented new challenges as well as opportunities for PR firms.

During 2009, recessionary pressures and the proliferation of the Internet presented a real threat to the future of many publications. The loss of ad revenues and declining circulations made even the most trustworthy publications an endangered species as generations of online readers turned to the Internet as their first source of news.

In fact, on the news side, just an hour after the 7.0 Earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, most of the first news updates communicated to traditional news agencies and broadcast media seemed to arrive through Twitter.

As a result, the debate continues – the immediacy of broadcast is less threatened by new media,  but the question remains — will the print industry survive?

As a personal reaction, during recent vacation time, I enjoyed the pleasure rather than the pressure of reading the newspaper, waking slowly to coffee and the NYT:  Perhaps it was the artistically designed layouts in print — or the tactile experience of turning the pages, folding the paper, separating the sections and seeing the whole as well as the parts. Print offers a feeling and perspective that can’t be duplicated by a rigid computer serving as the medium for the Internet and for reading news. 

Therefore, I don’t believe the print industry will become extinct, even if it evolves into a niche medium for those who want to feel what they read. Because as McLuhan said, “the medium is the message,” and while a computer laptop may heat up your lap, it rarely warms the heart.

Advanced Lighting Control Can Reduce Operating Costs and Improve Worker Satisfaction

http://www.realcomm.com/advisoryweb.asp?aid=407

Mike McGuinness, NAIOP New Jersey, talks with Gary Gellman on commercial real estate

Michael McGuinness of NAIOP New Jersey discusses the commercial real estate industry on Let’s Talk, with Gary Gellman: http://www.gellmanimages.com/start/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=172&Itemid=191

Real Estate Manager Seeks Business-Friendly New Jersey

http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/81909492_Real_estate_manager_seeks_business-friendly_N_J_.html

Dec 15 Economic Policy Forum Highlights How Businesses Have Changed

I was privileged to attend my third Annual Economic Policy Forum (http://www.njchamber.com/Events/njepf%2012.15.09.asp) on December 15, a result of my job as the PR representative for Cushman & Wakefield of New Jersey (http://www.caryl.com/clientdetails.cfm?clientID=4) , a major sponsor of the Forum’s C-Suite Survey. As I expected and hoped, this year’s program attracted the most media interest of all three annual events – a sign perhaps of the interesting times in which NJ businesses are operating today. While many survey responders, forum members and panelists believe the worst may be over, their messages also indicated the need for significant change (http://m.northjersey.com/nj/db_39210/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=vKb933Kp&storycount=19&detailindex=0&pn=&ps=&full=true#display)in the state’s business environment and in the way businesses operate.  The Executive panel of corporate leaders identified cost cutting measures, operating efficiencies, renewed commitments to customer service, repackaged products, increased responsibilities among employees and new technologies as part of their survival tactics in 2009.  In essence, those of us who weathered the past 18 months have hopefully made enough changes to end up stronger now than when the Recession  began. In fact, I believe the way businesses operate, market and succeed in the next decade has been altered forever.  This is not due just to the Recession, but also as a result of the accelerated impact of the Internet as well as the startling realities and challenges that Americans have endured in the first decade of our new Century.

The Press Release Remains An Effective Communications Tool

In contrast to many who claim the press release has outlived its value, we find this steadfast tool of PR professionals (www.searchenginewatch.com/3623806) continues to be a reliable means of delivering news for clients.  When I founded Caryl Communications (www.caryl.com) some 25 years ago, I had no agency experience – just PR background in banking and insurance at the corporate level. To succeed, many business consultants advised me to “court” reporters and writers with lunches to expand my contacts which was not my style. A certified teacher with a B.A. in English, I chose instead to deliver real news to targeted media in tightly written releases, adhering to journalistic news style and the classic pyramid structure www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=52&aid=38693. It worked. The firm’s media contacts grew from reliable writing and a paramount sense of accountability to media.

Today is not that different – and our client news which appears consistently in hundreds of printed articles and Internet impressions each month is testament to the news release. While not all results stem from releases alone, they remain the backbone of every ongoing PR campaign we launch, with some new-media modifications  to save reporters time and to achieve SEO as part of the process in our own abridged version of the social media template (www.shiftcomm.com/downloads/smprtemplate.pdf)

 So based on our experience, with a modified style for an ever-changing media landscape, I believe if the writing is clean; the release is targeted, and the news is real, the press release will remain a viable communications tool for PR firms even as the entire news industry transitions through today’s unique challenges.

Borst Landscape reaches out to community with new web site

Borst Landscape reaches out to community with new web site page and photo contest: http://ping.fm/kP5rI

NJ Industrial Real Estate shows some cracks

NJ industrial real estate shows some cracks -
http://ping.fm/lDLA4