Loveland 365 love from Loveland Connection/Fort Collins Coloradoan
Posted on | February 28, 2010 | No Comments
Many thanks to the Loveland Connection and reporter Katie Looby (and Sara Hansen for assigning the story) for the coverage of Loveland 365 in yesterdays Loveland Connection and today’s Fort Collins Coloradoan.
See the full article here:
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100227011
New, No-Cost ESG HR Seminar March 18 – Job Descriptions and Compensation
Posted on | February 24, 2010 | No Comments
The February event, in their new venue in Fort Collins, was a great success – they had a full house. If you want to attend this March session – they buy you lunch – RSVP ASAP, they will cap attendance at 20, and last month they had 25+.
Please join ESG (www.esghr.com) for our ongoing educational series presented each month at New York Life, 3003 E. Harmony Road, Suite 110, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We provide lunch and useful educational materials that you can take back to your business and apply immediately. An RSVP by Monday of the week of the event is required. Seating is limited to 20, so call or email today to secure your seat.
March 18: Job Descriptions and Compensation
From the type of candidates you attract, to the expectations applicants have for compensation and opportunity, to the demands that you place on each of your people, job descriptions are a foundation of your organization and its success. How you define the parameters of each role, whether for a current member of your staff, a newly created position that you fill from within, or what you look for in a new hire, job descriptions and compensation must be handled right.
About ESG
Employer Solutions Group (ESG) enables its clients to cost-effectively outsource the Administration of human resources, employee benefits, payroll and related tax compliance, and Workers’ compensation. Specializing in these specific employer needs allows ESG to efficiently deliver a tailored package of services to its clients. ESG clients e then able to focus on growing and operating their businesses, rather than worrying about HR. The company’s Loveland, Colorado-based professional staff serves companies that range in size from a handful of employees to hundreds. ESG is a member of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (www.napeo.com). For more information, visit www.esghr.com, email sstolen@esghr.com or call 970-612-2022.
Tags: benefits > hiring > HR > human resources > negotiation > recruiting > recruitment > salary
Safe to Undervalue PR? Ask Toyota . . .
Posted on | February 15, 2010 | 2 Comments
Forbes.com published an article this week called “Toyota’s Snowy Respite” that basically said that the bad weather kept the U.S. government from hassling Toyota about their recall disaster.
You can read the article here: “Toyota’s Snowy Respite” by Tim Kelly (www.twitter.com/kellyJapan)
The most interesting part of the article was where it notes that Japan in general does not value public relations:
“In Japan it isn’t only Toyota that suffers from low-quality public relations; pretty much every other corporation is unprepared for the type of crisis that has enveloped the nation’s biggest. Workers are commonly rotated every few years through PR, which is often a dumping ground for duffers shunned by other departments. If you’re a backwater widget maker it’s not such a big deal, but if you happen to be the world’s biggest automaker, the damage incompetent flaks can do by turning a crisis into a catastrophe can cost millions of dollars to repair.”
There’s no small amount of Schadenfreude in play as Toyota struggles with these issues, especially given that it has created an image of “an aloof and arrogant company.”
The article closes noting that, as the company works to fix its cars’ mechanical glitches, it might spare time to mend its PR, too.
Did you know that as a culture, Japan does not prioritize PR?
What other instances of PR being overlooked have you noticed (besides Tiger Woods)?
ESG plans educational HR-related seminars February through May
Posted on | February 1, 2010 | No Comments
My friends and clients at Employer Solutions Group are once again presenting monthly HR-related seminars. There is no charge to attend, and ESG even buys you lunch.
Onward and Upward in 2010
Business Planning and People Strategies for Success
How prepared are you for the economic turnaround?
Please join ESG (www.esghr.com) for our ongoing educational series presented each month at New York Life, 300 E. Harmony Road, Suite 300, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We provide lunch and useful educational materials at these Thursday sessions that you can take back to your business and apply immediately. An RSVP by Monday of the week of the event is required.
February 18: Hiring and On-boarding
The wrong hire can cost you dearly, while the right hire can take your business to the next level. Learn how to best evaluate candidates for skill match and job fit, and how to get them trained, up to speed, and integrated into your organization in a systematic, efficient way.
March 18: Job Descriptions and Compensation
From the type of candidates you attract, to the expectations applicants have for compensation and opportunity, to the demands that you place on each of your people, job descriptions are a foundation of your organization and its success. How you define the parameters of each role, whether for a current member of your staff, a newly created position that you fill from within, or what you look for in a new hire, job descriptions and compensation must be handled right.
April 15: Performance Management
The right goals, responsibilities, expectations and encouragement can bring out the best in a staff member, if handled correctly. Learn vital keys to performance management that will keep your employees challenged, achieving, and happy, as individuals and a team.
May 20: Exit Strategies
No one ever wants to have to let an employee go, but there are times when no other options are available. It will likely be one of the most difficult tasks you ever do; and if done poorly, it can be a highly unpleasant experience and leave your organization open to legal action. Done right, you can treat employees fairly, help protect morale, minimize the pain, and avoid legal concerns.
About ESG
Employer Solutions Group (ESG) enables its clients to cost-effectively outsource the Administration of human resources, employee benefits, payroll and related tax compliance, and Workers’ compensation. Specializing in these specific employer needs allows ESG to efficiently deliver a tailored package of services to its clients. ESG clients are then able to focus on growing and operating their businesses, rather than worrying about HR. The company’s Loveland, Colorado-based professional staff serves companies that range in size from a handful of employees to hundreds. ESG is a member of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (www.napeo.com). For more information, visit www.esghr.com, email sstolen@esghr.com or call 970-612-2022.
Tags: benefits > employer solutions group > employment > firing > hiring > insurance > negotiaton > PEO > salary
Anti (ignorant) real estate agent / developer rant
Posted on | January 26, 2010 | 2 Comments
I’ve been resisting writing something on this topic, because I know and love a select group of realtors; but I can’t overlook it any longer.
Why are so many real estate people so clueless when it comes to social media?
Two recent examples that have proved to be burrs under my saddle, both Facebook related:
1. Denver-area realtor, in an exchange in response to a FB post, goes on a right-wing rant about the economy. He wraps it up with a reference to his independence, 30+ years of self employment, and his donation of $10,000 to Haiti earthquake relief. He’s certainly entitled to his beliefs, and to tout his plans.
Someone with an opposing viewpoint does a little due diligence, and discovers that his generous offer has a major contingency. He’ll make the donation *if* he sells a half-million-dollar-house. In a relatively new but stale development, given the economy. To someone who can get a mortgage. Which involves a $5,000/month house payment.
When being confronted by those facts, said realtor, who earlier insulted other participants in the exchange who had different viewpoints, decides that he and his business have been insulted, and that he is owed an apology.
I checked his Facebook profile, out of curiosity. Surprise, 90% of his posts promote his properties for sale and various incentives that can put you in your new home!
Sadly, his wife is a PR professional, and uses her profile in much the same way – to spam connections with news from her company and clients.
2. I’m involved in a community-based project with some fellow Loveland, Colorado residents, as I posted here earlier. It is called Loveland 365, and you can find it at www.Loveland365.com, on Facebook as a fan page, and on Twitter at @Loveland365.
The idea is to showcase people, places and things that make Loveland great, and to let the community participate to tell us stories we might not otherwise uncover.
We’ve gained more than 600 fans on the FB page in just about a week, so we’re pleased. A number of people have posted, and project team members have posted, too, very much in the spirit of the project.
Then, yesterday, a gent posted information. About his business. Three times. The same information, three times. In under an hour.
Worse yet, he did not know how to post a link, so he just put the URL in the text of his comment; and he did the Exact. Same. Post. Twice. Because he typed just “course” when he wanted to type “golf course.” And he did not delete his first of these duplicate comments.
His product/business is a high-end development that restricts access to it, in case you feel the need to be protected from the rampant crime in Loveland. He owns the business. It is financed by an out-of-state relative from southern California. Again, if you’re shopping, we’re talking $500k+, $5k/mo. mortgage payments, and probably a four-figure annual HOA fee.
I expressed my concern about the nature of the posts to the project team, though I knew this type of thing would eventually happen. The head of the project deleted the posts, and sent a diplomatic note to the poster explaining that this was not-for-profit, and not for self promotion. The gentleman apologized and thanked him for clarifying, but also questioned the credibility and impartiality of the project, as some posts featuring businesses had been put up by project members themselves. I’m troubled that he is so out of touch, and has the nerve to pose such a question.
Why is he dinking around, and messing up, on social media, when he is the head of “Loveland’s most exclusive community”?
Why is he so clueless as to not see that self-promotion is not the point?
Why can’t he at least find a fan/third party to post for him?
Amazing that such an accomplished, successful, intelligent individual could not get it, on so many levels. He has a beautiful product. He’s entitled to his success, he’s clearly earned it, as has anyone who can afford to buy in this particular development; but he missed a lot of signs that he was approaching this particular incident in the wrong way.
If you’re reading and you recognize yourself, please get up to speed on how to effectively use social media. I’d even be happy to help you.
If you’re reading and know better, thank you for the effort you’ve made to educate yourself.
If you’re reading and you don’t know if this is you, let’s talk.
(Tammy, Louise, Linda Sioux and John, love you, and many of your peers . . .)
Tags: agent > developer > PR > public relations > real estate > sales > selling > social media
Loveland 365: What do you love about Loveland, Colorado?
Posted on | January 21, 2010 | No Comments
Local resident and businessman John Giroux loves Loveland, and wanted to showcase the things that make it a special place. He decided, with 2010 approaching, that the new year would be a great time to showcase the people, places and things that make The Sweetheart City great. He turned to friends and associates from the community and set about creating Loveland 365, a year-long project to find and share compelling stories and images from Loveland with the world.
The goal of the project is to focus on one thing a day in Loveland – a story, image or interview – and feature it on the Loveland 365 website, www.Loveland365.com. Community involvement and contribution are not only encouraged, but are vital to the project. Please send us your thoughts and ideas on what you love about Loveland!
Many local residents might have their own well-known favorites in Loveland, and Loveland 365 also hopes to gather and share information about lesser-known local stories that residents think are important.
The L365 team has been hard at work for several weeks, and is launching the project the week of January 18. A kickoff event is planned for Friday, February 12.
Find Loveland 365 on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Loveland-365-People-places-and-things-to-love-about-Loveland-Colorado/235388313231?ref=ts
Find Loveland 365 on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/loveland365
The Loveland 365 website will launch soon, at http://www.loveland365.com/
Tags: art > attractions > Colorado > culture > Loveland > marketing > people > places > public relations > restaurants > things > tourism > travel
Web programming/design crimes
Posted on | January 20, 2010 | No Comments
There are plenty of bad web designers and programmers out there — see the long-standing (14 years!) site www.webpagesthatsuck.com, and others.
In this day and age, though, where content (and google) are king, good design and execution are no longer enough.
At minimum, your website needs to have a content management system that allows you to quickly and easily updated content, without logging and carefully detailing the changes, then sending them over to your designer/programmer for them to make — and without an invoice as a result of them doing that for you.
I have an associate who is not very tech savvy, and runs a local retail operation providing one primary service/product. His work is impressive. Unfortunately, he was referred early on in his business to a company that specializes in relatively simple, quick, inexpensive websites — and it shows.
The site that he has is not particularly bad, but it is static, and the web design group expects him to come to them, checkbook in hand, whenever he wants to make any changes.
To me, it is highly arrogant of this firm to continue to approach web design in this way — they insist on force-fitting a particular solution onto their clients, refuse to keep up with the clear trend of providing content management capability with their sites, and ignore the obvious evolution of google and search engine optimization as the arbiters of what makes a successful site.
They ultimately are doing their clients a tremendous disservice, on multiple fronts — lack of control of their site, clear shortcomings when it comes to attracting traffic, bleeding them on an ongoing basis for site updates and maintenance that the clients should be able to do easily, and more.
If you are in a technology field, and you refuse to keep up with the evolution of that technology, you are clearly not able to provide the best, most up-to-date options and solutions for your customers.
That may seem incredibly obvious, but clearly, there are people/groups out there touting themselves as “website designers” who don’t have a clue, and are too lazy, or making too much money pulling the wool over tech-impaired prospects/clients eyes to care enough to stay up to date with their skills and mastery of their “craft.”
Is that a crime? Maybe not, but if an under-performing site keeps a business from winning the customers it needs, and becomes a financial drain, rather than a business development engine, it might be close.
Tags: CMS > Colorado > content management system > google > lead generation > leads > Loveland > northern Colorado > sales > search engine optimization > SEO > web design > web programming > web traffic > website
A good idea is not enough
Posted on | January 5, 2010 | No Comments
A couple of times in the last few weeks, I encountered entrepreneurs with “a good idea” seeking publicity. The problem is, a good idea is not enough.
In one case, a local woman with a lot of drive and energy has a software-as-service business model she has built out, and she has everything but a signed contract and paying customers. I hope that she gets there, but she wanted to talk to me about publicity to help push a couple of potential “proof of concept” partners off the fence and move forward with a test project. After some discussion, I let her know that I did not think she had enough at this point to pitch a story and see any results.
Maybe, on a slow news day, but in general, a publication/reporter/readers want to see some results, where the rubber meets the road. That means, if you want to pitch a story or distribute a news release, that you need to have some results. A signed contract, a paying customer, revenue . . .
Ideally, you will have a customer or customers who will be willing to rant and rave about you/your product/your service, not just to you, but to a reporter calling to research a story.
A similar question/situation popped up on LinkedIn. Someone with “a good idea” wanted to know how to seek publicity. There was little more detail than that, and, of course, the answer starts with “it depends,” and “what do you want to accomplish?”
The bottom line is, it is not about you/your company/your product/your service — it is about what any/all of those do, and how they may tie into trends, make life easier for someone, save them money, etc. Your claims about what it will do or might do may be prescient and valid, but you need more when you want to pitch your story.
Tags: marketing > news release > pitch > PR > press > press release > public relations > publicity > story
Client, a sign company, expands during tough economic times
Posted on | December 9, 2009 | No Comments
Schlosser Signs Marks Anniversary with New Loveland, CO Facility and Growth Plans
Loveland, Colo. — Schlosser Signs, Inc. (www.schlossersigns.com) and the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation (www.ncedc.com) are pleased to announce Schlosser Signs’ recent purchase of, and move into, a 9,100-square-foot facility located in Loveland, Colorado.
Schlosser Signs is a leader in the custom design, fabrication, installation and maintenance of signage in the region and nationwide. The company’s new facility, located in northeast Loveland at 3597 Draft Horse Court, provides increased office space, staging area and storage capacity.
“We’re a small business dedicated to increasing our capabilities and technologies to meet the needs of our clients.” said Carla Schlosser, CEO of Schlosser Signs. “The new building enables our continued commitment to growth and, equally significant, marks our 10th anniversary. Staying on track, we’ll be positioned to increase our 17-person staff by up to 10 people within the next two to three years.”
Over the past 18 months, the Schlosser family worked with the staff of the NCEDC to identify available real estate as well as incentives offered by the Small Business Association. In September they closed on the Loveland property and completed their move during November.
“The NCEDC helped educate us on purchasing commercial property, and they steered us to the SBA and we were able to take advantage of stimulus incentives,” said Schlosser.
“It is great to announce the good news of Schlosser Signs’ expansion in Loveland, particularly during a time when the general business news we have is negative.” said Mike Masciola, COO and Senior Vice President of NCEDC, “The NCEDC has been working with the company since 2008 and is delighted they purchased a facility and made the needed capital investments to accommodate their exciting growth.”
Schlosser Signs is Loveland’s only full-service custom sign company, in addition to being a regional leader in the business, and is currently adding solar capability to its list of signage technology. The company’s national install accounts include McDonald’s, Noodles & Company, Chase, Wells Fargo, Key Bank and Holiday Inn.
About Schlosser Signs
Schlosser Signs opened in Loveland, Colorado in 1999. Our experienced team designs, manufactures, and installs a vast range of interior and exterior corporate signage — including monument signs, LED electronic message centers, parking lot lighting, awnings and more. Our goal is to create a top-quality, great-looking sign that will maintain the integrity of your brand while helping to promote your company to your guests and the general public.
Schlosser takes care of every aspect of each project for you, so you don’t have to worry about the details. From property surveys and visibility studies to permit acquisition and maintenance long after the project is complete — we do it all, on a local, regional, and national scale.
For more information about all of Schlosser’s products and services, call (970) 593-1334, email Carla@schlossersigns.com, or visit www.schlossersigns.com.
About NCEDC
The Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation is a non-profit organization and the primary resource in Larimer County to assist with business attraction, and business retention and expansion, of primary employers. Year to date, NCEDC staff has assisted with the creation of 463 primary jobs with a total payroll of nearly $26 million.
Tags: economy > expansion > hiring > jobs > move > real estate > signage > signs
Employer Solutions Group featured in NCBR article on Millenials
Posted on | November 24, 2009 | No Comments
SMC client Employer Solutions Group (www.esghr.com), and ESG’s business development director, Stacy Stolen, were featured in an article in Northern Colorado Business Report (www.NCBR.com) on millennials in the workplace.
You can view the article here: http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=103096
The article was inspired by the work of Ron Alsop, who had a local appearance recently. Alsop’s book, “The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking Up the Workplace,” (http://www.thetrophykids.com/) was the basis of an appearance he made in early November at the University of Northern Colorado (www.unco.edu). NCBR reporter Kristen Tatti decided to get some local perspective on the findings Alsop presented in his book, and turned to SMC and ESG as a local firm with expertise on the subject.
Tags: employment > firing > hiring > human resources > job > management > millennials > retention