The Georgia Export Directory is a free, online listing of Georgia exporters of products and services to buyers around the world
Visit online at www.GeorgiaExportDirectory.com
COST: Free for Georgia exporters; advanced profile available for a minimal cost
TARGET INDUSTRIES: All industries welcome
CONTACT: Priya Verma, International Trade Manager, pverma@georgia.org
REGISTER: www.GeorgiaExportDirectory.com
The Business Services Unit of the Georgia Department of Labor in collaboration with the Georgia Employer Committees and Chambers of Commerce is hosting the Regional Business and Employer Summit on September 7, 2024 at Central Georgia Technical College (Macon Campus) Building I, 3300 Macon Tech Drive, Macon, GA 31206.
View Flyer: Region 6 Summit Registration 2016
Register Here: http://www.gadolutec.com/summitregistration.html
By: Ijeoma S. Nwatu
Published: July 14, 2024
Email marketing is just one of many ways to engage customers and ultimately lead them to purchase a product or service. Building and maintaining a healthy email list is important in learning more about your customer base and how they respond to your business, as well as generating potential new business. If your business has not explored nor maximized the possibilities of email marketing, read more about how to leverage your existing and future contacts. If you are a small business owner looking to try a different tactic or introduce something new, why not use a change in season to test new ideas.
Get permission
First and foremost, your email marketing campaign or listserv should have the option to opt-out of emails. Subscribers may have their reason for removal from your list and to capture their explanation, add a comment section before they officially remove themselves. By having permission to be in the electronic inboxes of your customers, you can better target content and offerings to be the people who want to remain on your list. If you want to incentivize your email list or a special campaign, consider adding a discount code, flash sale or customer appreciation message.
Test and then test again
Once you focus on the subscribers who remain on your list, regardless of how many subscribers, there is an opportunity to experiment with different type of sales copy, promotions, visuals, etc. A simple way to test subject lines or a specific merchandise is to A/B test a call-to-action (CTA), time of day, or even the email’s layout. Send two emails to similar groups within your email list but hold a variable for testing. Make sure to have predetermined goals and review the analytics of open and click through rates of hyperlinks, especially those tied to your website.
Incorporate seasonal trends
If weather or the time of year affects your sales or potential new business, tailor email marketing accordingly. For example, if you manage a summer camp for teens, then you may target different groups to include school staff, parents, and community officials to inform them of your offerings, cost and availability. A common example of seasonal emails is small businesses and big brands using holidays like Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day to generate sales and customer interest about their products and store specials.
Integrate email marketing as part of an entire plan
A small business may not have a lot of marketing resources but to maximize your efforts, it’s important that email marketing and subsequent campaigns are connected to other business goals and marketing objectives. Think about social media, advertising, events, SEO, and other strategies that can work in tandem with your email marketing.
Email marketing can have many layers and may require knowledgeable staff or additional resources. Starting with the basics can help small businesses take advantage being present in their customers’ inboxes. Don’t lose sight of the chance to engage them, delight them and to make a sale.
Resources
CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business
EATONTON, GA (July 21, 2024) —The Putnam Development Authority announced today that Tri-County EMC has invested approximately $2 million into a 1 MW solar site, the largest and the first of its kind in our area. The 10 acre site has over 4,200 solar panels and will generate over 2 million kWhs per year. The facility is located adjacent to the Tri-County EMC Eatonton District Office in Putnam County.
With ourSolar, Tri-County EMC members have the opportunity to get solar generation for their home or business without any of the risks of installing solar panels on their roof or property. The energy for ourSolar will come from this new 1 MW solar array in Putnam County.
For $25 per month for each 1.22kW block, the customer will have all of the energy generated by the block credited against the normal usage on that month’s electric bill. Each block should generate approximately 160 to 250 kWh per month. Best of all, there is nothing to install or finance and no contract. The customer can end their participation at any time, although to rejoin they must wait twelve months.
Cooperative Solar Advantages
About Tri-County EMC:
Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation is a member-owned electric cooperative serving more than 21,025 accounts in Baldwin, Bibb, Jasper, Jones, Morgan, Putnam, Twiggs and Wilkinson County. The cooperative, chartered in 1939, is headquartered in Gray, Georgia and has a district office in Eatonton. Tri-County EMC is governed by a nine-member board of directors elected by and from the cooperative’s customer/members. For more information about Tri-County EMC go to: https://www.tri-countyemc.com/
About Putnam Development Authority:
The purpose of the Putnam Development Authority is to develop, promote, and expand for the public good and general welfare, industry and trade within Putnam County. For more information, visit the website at http://putnamdevelopmentauthority.com/
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Contact:
Terry Schwindler
Economic Development Director
tschwindler@PutnamDevelopmentAuthority.com
706-816-8099
Small businesses looking to increase sales and profit are taking their businesses global. SBA provides counseling, training and financing to support small business export opportunities.
Read blog articles about Exporting.
CODEC will educate rural businesses on how to develop e-commerce websites, create effective social media pages and improve search engine optimization (SEO) of their websites.
Location:
Maxwell Student Union University Banquet Room
Georgia College in Milledgeville
Corner of N. Clarke St. & E. Hancock St. Entrance on E. Hancock St., Milledgeville
For Inquiries, please call (478) 445-5721
Registration Ends July 27th.
Event Registration:
GC CODEC Lunch & Learn
By smallbiztrends, Guest Blogger
The numbers are compelling.
Depending on which study you read (and there are literally dozens), anywhere from 51 percent to 90 percent of consumers read and trust online reviews.
Even if we take the smallest number, that’s still over half of consumers paying attention to online reviews.
That makes good reviews critical for any kind of business where people look for and read online reviews of products or services.
The most important thing to remember is that you can have an impact on reviews affecting your business — it’s not out of your hands. Here are ten tactics to increase the number of positive reviews of your business:
Finally, remember that the ultimate tool to get positive reviews is to deliver great products and/or services to customers.
Register Now:
www.interforjobfair.com
Who We Are
Interfor is a growth-oriented lumber company with operations in Canada and the United States. We have an annual production capacity of 3 billion board feet and offer one of the most diverse lines of lumber products to customers around the world.
What We Offer
Interfor provides local stability and opportunity. We help bring out the best in all our people by offering long-term, competitive jobs supported by training, education and great benefits. Plus, you’ll be working with the industry’s latest technologies in clean, safe and modern mills.
Interfor is one of the largest lumber companies in the world and we are growing in exciting directions. Come be a part of our success.
We are currently recruiting for Production, Maintenance, and Electrician Positions at our location in Eatonton, GA.
Along with job supported training, education and great benefits including medical, dental, 401K, short term disability, and paid time off, our production rate is $11.50 per hour and maintenance rates can range from $20 per hour to $27 per hour based on the position, experience, and skill level.
What You Offer
We appreciate the interest of all applicants, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. All applicants offered a position must successfully complete a pre-employment drug test and background check. Interfor is an Equal Opportunity Employer building a capable, committed, diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability
If you can’t attend, please apply online: Interfor.com/careers
By Caron Beesley, SBA Blog Contributor
Whether you run a small business or a multi-million dollar corporation, marketing is essential to your profitability and growth. Yet many small businesses don’t allocate enough money to marketing or, worse, spend it haphazardly.
I recently got to know a business that was investing heavily in developing a hip, niche product to add to its already very cool product line. Seemed like a sure winner. However, it quickly became apparent that product development had occurred in a silo, while sales and marketing were off doing their own thing. The result? The week before launch, the business found itself with a fantastic product on its hands, but lacked a go-to-market plan or promotional material for the new product.
In a panic, an expensive PR firm, social media strategist, and marketing consultant were all pulled in to help drive awareness of the new product. Within a few weeks, the budget had run dry and the business had to quickly revisit its overall operational and sales and marketing strategy, while moving forward on a shoestring.
Products and services don’t sell themselves. By ignoring marketing until it’s too late, many small businesses risk hitting a brick wall and, quite possibly, failing. A hip and trendy product line shouldn’t rely solely on ongoing product investment and word of mouth.
But how much money should you allocate to marketing? And how can you spend it wisely? Here are some tips that can help you do both:
How to Calculate your Marketing Budget
Many businesses allocate a percentage of actual or projected gross revenues – usually between 2-3 percent for run-rate marketing and up to 3-5 percent for start-up marketing. But the allocation actually depends on several factors: the industry you’re in, the size of your business, and its growth stage. For example, during the early brand building years retail businesses spend much more than other businesses on marketing – up to 20 percent of sales.
As a general rule, small businesses with revenues less than $5 million should allocate 7-8 percent of their revenues to marketing. This budget should be split between 1) brand development costs (which includes all the channels you use to promote your brand such as your website, blogs, sales collateral, etc.), and 2) the costs of promoting your business (campaigns, advertising, events, etc.).
This percentage also assumes you have margins in the range of 10-12 percent (after you’ve covered your other expenses, including marketing).
If your margins are lower than this, then you might consider eating more of the costs of doing business by lowering your overall margins and allocating additional spending to marketing. It’s a tough call, but your marketing budget should never be based on just what’s left over once all your other business expenses are covered.
Spending Your Budget Wisely
Knowing how much you have to spend on marketing is critical; even more critical is how you spend it.
This means having a plan. Your small business marketing budget should be a component of your marketing plan, outlining the costs of how you are going to achieve your marketing goals within a certain timeframe.
To get a sense of what your plan should include, take a look at this article from SBA guest blogger, Rieva Lesonsky: Does Your Business Have a Marketing Plan? Also check out How to Cut Your Marketing Budget and Build Your Brand Profitably.
Revisit Your Plans Often and Track ROI
Once you have developed your marketing plan and budget, remember that it needn’t be fixed and inflexible. There may be times when you need to throw in another unplanned campaign or event. At the end of the day, knowing whether it your spending is actually helping you achieve your marketing goals is more important than sticking to your budget.
Have a plan in place for measuring your spending and the impact that activities have on your bottom line. Compare tactics, analyze seasonal effects – was one quarter more profitable than another? Why? Above all, have patience and follow through on all your marketing efforts across the organization – it takes a village to build and grow a brand.
Some tactics are hard to measure, like the efficacy of print collateral, but you need to consider the impact of not having these branding staples in your tool kit before you reign in your graphic design and print funds.
Marketing plans should be maintained on an annual basis at a minimum, and revisited if you launch a new product/service, or if the market landscape changes.
Helpful Resources
Wednesday
09/14
20%
Partly Cloudy
Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday
09/15
20%
Mostly Cloudy
Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
Friday
09/16
20%
Overcast
Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
