Martin Brossman: Using online directories to market your business

 

When customers consider spending money in your town, they first go to their telephones and tablets – which draw from online directories – to make their decisions. Is your business ready to be found?
Since basic listings are free, online directories provide a great opportunity for small businesses to look as professional as their big competitors.
The Small Business Center at Beaufort County Community College will present a workshop, Marketing Your Business Using Free Online Directories, 2 to 5 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 4, in Room 828 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus.
Instructor Martin Brossman will give attendees valuable tips and strategies for making the most of online directors like Google Local that enable businesses to be found when shoppers are searching from their desktop computers or mobile devices.
This class will give participants the guidelines for establishing their listings in a way that improves search results and builds a stronger Internet presence.
Brossman is a success coach, speaker, trainer and author who has been mastering the art of networking since 1982. He has offered training since 2006 to Small Business Centers and Chambers of Commerce across North Carolina. His computer skills have helped him create and teach new Internet communications such as blogging, podcasting and online networking.
The workshop is co-sponsored by the Washington/Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce.
It is offered free of charge, however, to ensure the adequate preparation of materials, pre-registration is requested.
To pre-register, contact Eva Peartree at BCCC’s Business and industry Services at 940-6375 at evap@beaufortccc.edu or Lentz Stowe, director of BCCC’s Business and Industry Services, at 940-6306 or by email at lentzs@beaufortccc.edu.
For more information about other services offered by BCCC’s Business and Industry Services’ Small Business Center, including targeted seminars for business owners, visit BCCC’s Website at www.beaufortccc.edu/coned/contin.htm or contact Stowe or Lauren Dudley, customized training coordinator, at 252-940-6311or by email at laurens@beaufortccc.edu.

 

BCCC’s Small Business Center encourages “shop small” effort

The Small Business Center at Beaufort County Community College has joined the 57 other centers in the state to encourage holiday shoppers to support local small businesses this year by joining the Small Business Saturday campaign.

“Small Business Saturday speaks to the mission of the Small Business Center at Beaufort County Community College and other centers across the state,” said Director Lentz Stowe. “Small businesses are the backbone of the economy in the United States, particularly its rural areas, and our center strives to encourage entrepreneurship and small business development.”
“I am pleased to add our Small Business Center’s voice to this campaign to support this effort,” he said.
Nestled between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 29, has become a nationally recognized day to support local independent merchants.
Small Business Saturday was founded by American Express in 2010 as a day to celebrate local businesses through the launch of the holiday shopping season. The day has since grown into a powerful movement in support of local small businesses that make our community unique.
Consumer spending with independent merchants during the 2013 Small Business Saturday neared $5.7 billion according to the results of a survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business. A recent forecast by consulting and financial advising firm Deloitte, US indicates that holiday shopping sales are expected to increase by as much as 4.5 percent in the 2014 season, with sales expecting to total between $981 and $986 billion.
Sixty million workers in the United States are employed by small business, accounting for approximately, half of the private sector workforce. In North Carolina, 47 percent of the workforce is employed in a small business setting.
The mission of the NC Community Colleges Small Business Center Network is to increase the success rate and number of viable small businesses in North Carolina by providing high quality, readily accessible assistance to prospective and existing small business owners, which will lead to job creation and retention. The network helps establish more than 650 businesses each year and helps create and retain over 3,000 jobs annually.

 

BCCC to offer safe driving class

The Division of Continuing Education will offer the American Automobile Association-approved “Arrive Alive” class 6 to 9 p.m., Monday and Wednesday, Dec. 1and 3, in Room 822 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. The registration fee is $50 and is non-refundable once the class begins.

In this six-hour course, AAA-certified Instructor Doris Daniel will cover practical strategies that will help students learn to drive defensively.
The class is designed for those who have received speeding tickets, need a refresher course in safe driving, need a training course for their work or want to improve their driving skills.
BCCC can customize this class for any business or non-profit agency that would like to host training for their drivers or employees.
Students may register by calling 252-940-6375 or in person in room 802 of Building 8 on the BCCC campus. BCCC accepts Visa, MasterCard and Discover. Checks payable to Beaufort County Community College may be mailed to the attention of Eva Peartree, 5337 U.S. Highway 264 East, Washington, NC 27889.
For more information about BCCC’s Community Services Program, contact Director of Personal Enrichment Initiatives Clay Carter at 940-6357 or by email atclayc@beaufortccc.edu.
For more information about other Continuing Education classes, visit BCCC’s website at https://sites.google.com/site/conedbccc/personal-enrichment.