Membership Sideblog
- The Marcus Welby of law, by Lance Heisler | Lampe Law Group
July 31, 2010 | 7:45 pmGrowing up in North Dakota during the 50s and 60s, I was privileged to experience something that's all too rare now - the old-fashioned family doctor. "Doc" delivered babies, set broken bones, treated pneumonia, and helped Grandpa with his newfangled hearing aid. Doc knew the community, the families, and the individuals whose basic medical needs he treated from birth through the end of life. Some of you who grew up in that time, and perhaps in smaller communities, may remember a Doc of your own. . . . → Read More: The Marcus Welby of law, by Lance Heisler | Lampe Law Group
- Kitty Mania at the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
July 28, 2010 | 10:51 pm
Let’s talk about cats, cats and more cats! Why?? Because Prairie’s Edge Humane Society is full of cats and we have many more arriving daily. As of today, there are 44 cats on the adoption floor with more awaiting their surgeries so they are ready for adoption. There are cats in every corner of the shelter who need homes! We are in desperate need of homes for these cats. We cannot emphasize this enough. So we are having a cat sale and we are calling it Kitty Mania ! Kitty Mania is this weekend, beginning Thursday, July . . . → Read More: Kitty Mania at the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
- On Watermelons and Widgets, by Tom Swift
July 12, 2010 | 11:50 am
The free market does many things well, but we know it does not do everything. Even market fundamentalists concede that the public must build roads, put out fires, police streets, and provide national defense. Most people, at least those to the left of the Tea Party edge of political spectrum, accept that the government must also be involved in education, disaster relief, and health care. That is, certain services must be rendered — necessary services, universal services — whether or not those services are financially profitable. If your house is on fire, you do not have time to . . . → Read More: On Watermelons and Widgets, by Tom Swift
- Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance, by Dan Bergeson
July 12, 2010 | 10:56 am
Okay, so most of the news about the Vintage Band Festival so far has been about the bands. But there’s a number of other events during the weekend. Like the VBF Contra Dance, for instance. The Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance will feature music by The Dodworth Saxhorn Band of Ann Arbor, Michigan and will be led by dance instructor/caller Robin Nelson. Dancing will begin at 8:30 p.m. with a “Grand March” led by 60 costumed members of the 1st Wisconsin Infantry Brigade, followed by a variety of period dances including polkas, contra dances, schottisches, reels and waltzes. . . . → Read More: Vintage Band Festival Contra Dance, by Dan Bergeson
- The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome, by Tom Swift
June 27, 2010 | 8:00 am
Even before I read the first word of this article I had a visceral reaction to it. The accompanying photographs — my eyes tend to skip over photographs in magazines — affected me in a manner that is difficult to articulate. I knew, immediately I knew, I was not going to like what I was about to read. In fact, for that reason I put the piece aside. Not now, I thought. Maybe tomorrow, I said to myself. But, then, I couldn’t not read it, either. If you have not done so already, I hope you will read . . . → Read More: The Animal-Cruelty Syndrome, by Tom Swift
- Puppies! Puppies! Puppies! by Kathy Jasnoch
June 27, 2010 | 7:54 am
June may be Adopt A Cat month here at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society and we have lots of wonderful cats, but we also have PUPPIES! We have a male Newfoundland mix named Chong who is 6 months old, he was a stray so we don’t know a lot about him. He loves to play! We also have three Australian Cattle Dog mixes who are two months old. Marcia, Bobby and Cindy were born at the shelter and spent some time in one of our fabulous foster homes. They are now back at the shelter and ready to find . . . → Read More: Puppies! Puppies! Puppies! by Kathy Jasnoch
- Relay for Life of Rice County, August 6th, Rice County Fairgrounds. By Sandy Vesledahl
June 23, 2010 | 9:35 pm
The American Cancer Society Relay for Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay for Life, teams of people camp out at local parks or fairgrounds and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events. Relay for Life of Rice . . . → Read More: Relay for Life of Rice County, August 6th, Rice County Fairgrounds. By Sandy Vesledahl
- Critter Cam live from Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
June 16, 2010 | 9:04 amNow Showing! Live Kittens playing! You can now watch our adoptable animals at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society (PEHS) live 24/7 on the new Critter Cam installed in conjunction with KYMN Radio. Thanks to the fine folks at KYMN radio we now have a live feed of our adoptable animals showing on our website and KYMN’s website, Tim and Jeff are AWESOME! Currently the Critter Cam is featuring kittens available for adoption. Watch them play, sleep, eat, and everything else they do 24 hours a day 7 days a week! It’s better than anything you can see on TV! . . . → Read More: Critter Cam live from Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, by Sandy Vesledahl
- Save the Northfield Depot: fundraising help needed. By Lynn Vincent
June 11, 2010 | 11:34 am
A BIG Thanks to all of you who came to last Monday’s Volunteer Organization Meeting, and to those who contacted us saying you wanted to help but could not make the meeting. We have pretty full support for Communications and Design and Build sub-committees, and we got a web graphic designer to help with the site. Alice Thomas is facilitating the Communications group, and Steve Edwins is facilitating the Design and Build group. What we are missing and really need are Fund Raising people. We have two grant writiers, but we need folks who are committed to the . . . → Read More: Save the Northfield Depot: fundraising help needed. By Lynn Vincent
- Photo albums: 2010 Prairie’s Edge Humane Society Walk for the Animals, by Bridgette Hallcock Photography
June 11, 2010 | 8:09 am
Thank you to all of those who came to Alexander Park on a beautiful Saturday morning in May to help support Prairie’s Edge Humane Society! I have placed all of the fun photographs on my Bridgette Hallcock Photography Facebook page so that everyone can see how much fun we had! See the two 2010 Walk for the Animals albums here and here. If you would like a print, please contact me, as the proceeds will benefit the animals at PEHS.
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Northfield retailers: making use of social networking for the holidays?
By Griff Wigley, on November 22, 2009, 10:44 pm
 With Black Friday approaching this week, the Strib ran two articles on Sunday related to retailers’ use of social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs, etc):
1) Tweet, tweet is retailers’ new ho, ho, ho; and 2) Social animal: Best Buy’s holiday strategy is all about tweets, friends and its very own Twelpforce.
Tracy, Ross and I have written about this here on LoGroNo for awhile but I think that with the sluggish economy, this holiday season would be an especially good time to start using these apps. Of course, I’m biased since part of my consulting practice (shameless plug for Wigley and Associates) involves helping businesses, non-profits, and leaders learn how to use these tools.
But Northfield has a culture of blogging and our main community media site, Northfield.org, aggregates business blog headlines into its sidebar thereby giving free advertising to any local business with a blog. The number of local citizens (not just young people) now on Facebook and using Twitter is growing rapidly, making both of those services attractive tools to complement a retail market strategy.
While these social media tools are free to use for the most part, they do take time to learn. I think Northfield could benefit from social media users group, a face-to-face gathering where newbies could rub elbows with the not-so-newbies and have fun learning together.
If I started one, would anyone show up?
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but I’d have a hard time during the sabbatical not paying attention to see if that was actually the case. I think the more places in Northfield...
Last week’s NY Times: How to Market Your Business With Facebook
I agree totally with your article! My son, Jesse, is making a career for himself in social media and the Fine Craft Collective is using using it to full advantage in promoting our business and its artists. It is so, so cool!
Thanks, Leanne. I edited your comment so that 1) the phrase Fine Craft Collective is now linked; and 2) your own website, Assemblage Jewelry, is linked from your name. Now git yourself a Gravatar and you’ll be hip, baby!
Griff, I’ve been blogging for 3 years and have one sale, yes one, that I can attribute to my blog. that makes for a poor return on investment. I’m not saying businesses shouldn’t use these tools, but you have to realize the limited response they receive. My time is important to me. If I tweet I have to give up something else. If spend one hour a day using social media tools, that’s one hour a day I cannot shelve books.
It’s tough to balance all of this, especially when the ROI is limited or difficult to measure at best. I think some small businesses do it very well. currently I have a website I use to sell books. a blog that I use to highlight events or specific books. facebook, I have not joined, but will probably start soon. twitter, I still do not see the value in this tool.
Jerry, are you dismissing the point of the ‘goodwill’ excerpt you selected in your comment? I think you’ve engendered a considerable amount of goodwill over the years just by your participation here on LG.
I went back and tagged the blog posts in which your name and/or your store were mentioned… quite a few. Just because people don’t come into your store and say “I saw X on your blog” or “I saw Y on LG” doesn’t mean it’s had no impact. How about counting the books I buy from you every Xmas? Or Ross? Or Tracy?
Also, is there any reason you don’t have your blog’s RSS feed aggregated by Northfield.org so that any time you blog, the headline gets automatically added to their sidebar widget for business blogs? That’s free advertising to the X thousand visitors they get every month.
I agree about goodwill Griff. that’s essentially why I blog. I’d like to provide more original content as well. I think that is the key to a good blog.
my blog is in the Northfield.org feed under business. I’ve been out of town, so I haven’t posted anything new for a few days. I think Northfield.org should pull KYMN out of the business section and give them their own section. on any weekday all 5 posts under business could be from KYMN.
I don’t mean to sound negative, but there is a cost to everything. not always a monetary one, but still a cost. I’ve tried to encourage other business owners to get on board. some do and some don’t. maintaining our website’s inventory is a huge task. We’ve cataloged about 15,000 books over the last three years.
Griff,
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s of Northfield has been using Facebook as a social networking / marketing tool since July. Their site is located at http://www.facebook.com/BeefsNorthfield
There is also the ability to subscribe via SMS, and receive the messages on a mobile device.
Chad and Tina are leveraging this to promote current specials and nightly events.
They are currently at approximately 200 fans, and it has been consistently growing week to week.
Personally, I would enjoy being in a social media users group, especially if it was slanted toward how Northfield small businesses could leverage Social Media to strategic advantage by understanding the customer segments, and the ways that they interact with advertising and media in general.
I still think that many small businesses are stuck on traditional media, and that market is not being utilized by the 25 and under demographic.
I am currently taking some Marketing Administration classes for my MBA and Masters of Management degrees. There are some wonderful white papers and other resources I have on social media, that I would be willing to share.
Let me know. I would love to participate as a way to give back to the local businesses. It is time to swing the competitive advantage back to our local businesses.
Regards,
-J
John, what are the advantages of Beef O’Brady’s using Facebook’s SMS service instead of Twitter?
It seems like Twitter would offer more flexibility and features and ‘viral’ ability but I’m not familiar enough with FB SMS to know.
@ Griff,
Basically ease of use, and use of a “known”.
More research would need to be done to implement a Twitter solution.
Ideally, both would be the way to go.
Oh! Oh! Were you talking about me, Jerry? I bought Jetta Carleton’s The Moonflower Vine because I read about it on Jerry’s blog. It’s a wonderful book. In fact, I reviewed it on my own blog and recommended it to my sister in Vermont, who recommended it to her book group, who read it and loved it. I don’t know how many people bought the book because they read the review on my blog (I get 50-100 hits a day, but no comments), but I know that an entire Vermont book group bought it because of old-fashioned word of mouth. By word of mouth, though, I mean an email to my sister.
In the end, Jerry sold one book (to me) because of his blog and because of the locally-generated goodwill I feel towards him. Those rural Vermonters, influenced by my recommendation of a book I learned about from Jerry, probably bought their copies on Amazon.com.
that’s the book Rob. I’d join a group Griff. Mostly I’d like to know what consumers or users like John are looking for. sometimes I feel like I’m shooting in the dark.
I’d join a social media group Griff with thoughts of inclining Pressville.org that way one day.
11/27 NY Times: Buying, Selling and Twittering All the Way
11/29 Reuters: Black Friday Shoppers Tweet, Friend And Clip
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