First Friday Scranton

Join us this week for First Friday in downtown Scranton! For a full list of venues and a .pdf of the map, visit http://firstfridayscranton.com.

First Friday art walks are held on the first Friday of every month at galleries and businesses around Downtown Scranton. Paintings, photography, sculpture, music, performance art…you never know what you’ll find at First Friday in Scranton.

Support local artists and mingle with your Northeastern Pennsylvania neighbors, all in a casual atmosphere. Hope to see you there!

This program features Disney Institute professional development. You’ll learn about Disney’s leadership excellence and people management practices that lead to its world renowned success and enable them to attain repeat business, spur profitability and rise above the competition.

You’ll also discover how to adapt Disney’s strategies and methods to your own business. Learning is enhanced by stepping into Disney’s “living laboratory” for field experiences and an exclusive “Business-Behind-The-Magic” Tour.

By starting early and extending the morning session into the early afternoon we’re utilizing your most productive hours while also providing time for Resort activities.  Play a round of golf on one of Disney’s four PGA Championship golf courses; visit the Theme Parks with your Family; or simply relax poolside in the Florida sun.  Go ahead, you’ve earned it!

Seating is LIMITED for this exceptional program. Watch a short video about the program and visit our website for complete program and pricing details or contact Christina Hitchcock at (570) 342-7711.

This program may be a tax deductible business expense.  Check with your tax adviser.

Award nominations are currently being accepted for:

Nomination forms, instructions and judging criteria is available at www.MetroAction.org and www.scrantonchamber.com.  For more information, please contact Christina Hitchcock or Nicole Barber at (570) 342-7711 or chitchcock@MetroAction.org and nbarber@scrantonchamber.com.

A = Access to lending! Since 1997, MetroAction has been committed to providing flexible small business loans to start-up and expanding small businesses in northeastern Pennsylvania. MetroAction is one of the only nonprofit organizations in northeastern Pennsylvania authorized to provide microloans to small businesses through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

MetroAction specializes in working with people who cannot borrow from a bank due to lack of business experience, credit history or insufficient collateral.  To learn more about all of our funding programs, visit http://metroaction.org/loans.html.

B = Build better credit! MetroAction loans provide an opportunity for small business owners to build or rebuild personal credit history and raise credit scores.  As clients make on-time payments on their small business loans, MetroAction reports the payments to the major credit bureaus. This builds positive credit history and increases a borrower’s level of creditworthiness in the eyes of lenders.

If you need help repairing your credit, we partner you with Consumer Credit Counseling of NEPA. Together, we can help you assess your credit and make necessary changes to improve it!

C = Coaching through Smart Start! MetroAction’s Smart Start mentoring program, through an innovative collaboration with SCORE, pairs borrowers with a SCORE counselor for free one-on-one small business coaching.  Counselors can help develop various aspects of your business including:

•    Starting a business: licenses, taxes, permits, resources
•    Business plan development and review
•    Marketing
•    Financial and cash flow analysis
•    Management
•    Business operations
•    And much more!

Full details on our lending and mentoring programs can be found at http://www.metroaction.org/.

MetroAction can help!  We have unveiled our brand new webinar series designed specifically for those who want to attend seminar and training programs, but can’t make it to our on-site programs.

MetroAction has converted some of our most popular seminars to launch the webinar program.  They include:

• Business Basics
• Financing Your Business
• Marketing 101
• Applying for a Small Business Loan
• Writing a Business Plan
• Submitting Your Business Planning Templates

And, we’re planning on offering more topics this fall, such as Facebook for Beginners, Grant Writing 101 and Building Better Credit.

There is no special equipment required.  All you need is an internet connection and a phone line.  It’s really that easy!

Stay tuned for more details!

Whether you are a brand-new entrepreneur who wants to learn the basics or a veteran business owner looking to acquire new skills so you can expand your business, MetroAction has a variety of training options.  Click on a link below to sign up or call (570) 341-0270 for details!

Business Basics Carbondale, 9/23

Small Business Institute Scranton, 9/30

Meet the Lender Honesdale, 10/15

Financing Your Business Carbondale, 10/26

Marketing Mastery Wilkes-Barre, 10/22 AND 10/29

This article is provided by the Greater Scranton Area SCORE chapter.

Not so long ago, millions of small business owners turned almost exclusively to the tried-and-true Yellow Pages to advertise their wares. But the Internet revolution has changed that, as small businesses have rushed to embrace new ways of attracting customers with technology.  

Internet search advertising is the hottest marketing trend to hit small business in decades. These are tiny, text-only paid ads that you create and which pop up as search engine results when potential customers type in key words and phrases related to your business.

Business owners in every industry and location are turning to these low-cost online advertising campaigns conducted through search engines to help drive business. The trend is unmistakable. According to an A.C. Nielsen survey, consumers are not letting fraud concerns stop them from shopping online. Results of this survey, commissioned by eBay, indicate that consumers are buying more each year online and that most believe the Web is becoming a safer place to shop.

Meanwhile, the spread of high-speed Web connections and hardware improvements are giving the Web advertising market a boost, and paid search engine advertising, also known as keyword advertising, is leading the way.

Small businesses are showing a marked preference for the new online marketing tools, which offer tremendous flexibility to control costs and test various marketing approaches almost instantly.  For example, florists can quickly change from prom to wedding season or an air conditioning service can exploit an early heat wave.  What’s more, results from these types of ads can be tracked, and return on investment measured in tremendous detail never available with traditional print types of advertising.

If your business uses a Web site to sell or market products and services, online marketing will be critical to your success. Targeted ads attached to keyword search results are the clear winner among Web-based marketing methods. Their simplicity, low cost and popularity among small businesses have pushed flashy banners aside as the main method for connecting buyers and merchants online. You pay only when someone clicks your ad and visits your site. A prospect that reads your brief ad but doesn’t click it costs you nothing.

Two leading search ad outlets are Google AdWords, www.google.com/ads, and Yahoo! Search Marketing, http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com. Visit the sites for complete details and to open an account.

For additional planning help for your small business, contact SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business.”  SCORE is a nonprofit organization of more than 10,500 volunteer business counselors who provide free, confidential business counseling and training workshops to small business owners.  Call (570) 851.1608 or visit www.scorescranton.org to contact the Greater Scranton Area SCORE Chapter.

You’ll also discover how to adapt Disney’s strategies and methods to your own business. Learning is enhanced by stepping into Disney’s “living laboratory” for field experiences and an exclusive “Business-Behind-The-Magic” Tour.

By starting early and extending the morning session into the early afternoon we’re utilizing your most productive hours while also providing time for Resort activities.  Play a round of golf on one of Disney’s four PGA Championship golf courses; visit the Theme Parks with your Family; or simply relax poolside in the Florida sun.  Go ahead, you’ve earned it!

Seating is LIMITED for this exceptional program. Watch a short video about the program  and visit our website for complete program and pricing details or contact Christina Hitchcock at (570) 342-7711.

This program may be a tax deductible business expense.  Check with your tax advisor.

MetroAction can help!  Today, we have unveiled our brand new webinar series designed specifically for those who want to attend seminar and training programs, but can’t make it to our “live” programs.

MetroAction has converted some of the most popular seminars to launch the webinar program.  These include:

• Business Basics
• Financing Your Business
• Marketing 101
• Applying for a Small Business Loan
• Writing a Business Plan
• Submitting Your Business Planning Templates

And, we’re planning on offering more topics this fall, such as Facebook for Beginners, Grant Writing 101 and Building Better Credit.

There is no special equipment required — all you need is an internet connection and a phone line!  It’s really that easy.

Stay tuned for more details!

First Friday Scranton

Join us this week for First Friday in downtown Scranton! For a full list of venues and a .pdf of the map, visit http://firstfridayscranton.com.

First Friday art walks are held on the first Friday of every month at galleries and businesses around Downtown Scranton. Paintings, photography, sculpture, music, performance art…you never know what you’ll find at First Friday in Scranton.

Support local artists and mingle with your Northeastern Pennsylvania neighbors, all in a casual atmosphere. Hope to see you there!