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Rolf Wilkin of Eureka Pizza is finding yet another way to cut operational costs and be able to pass on those savings to his customers. The following press release details how Wilkin is having solar panels installed on one of his stores in Fayetteville, which should cut his energy costs by at least 30 percent (probably more).

Check out this press release and stop by the store once the system is up and running to see how much electricity the solar panels are saving the store!

Solar Powered Pizza Coming to Arkansas Press Release (2)

Have you ever sat through a seminar or conference and either been so rapt with attention at all the new knowledge or frustrated because you keep thinking “I already knew that!”?

There are several things I’ve learned over the years about how I best process information that I thought I would share. A lot of this will be somewhat of a “duh” factor for you, or it might help you think of your own processing technique!

Taking notes

I plan on attending Captivating Heart in October. This is a faith-based event for women that talks about our identity in Christ. For more information visit captivatingheart.com

I’ve learned that I have to take notes. Profound, I know. This means not recording or just going off of a handout, no matter how thorough the handout might be. I need to make notes of what a given topic means for me or added thoughts that the speaker might say or questions that get asked. I’ve also learned that when I record something, I don’t usually listen to it again. If I take written notes, I can easily go find the one or two pieces of information I need in a given moment. I’ve tried typing notes into my phone or a laptop and I just focus better if I take good old-fashioned, hand-written notes. 

How I take notes (the format) varies on why I am there, interestingly enough. I fill notes for news stories with sound bites and summarized thoughts. Notes for personal gain are filled with trying to capture the presentation with personal reflections written off to the side that indicate what it means for me. 

Digesting the information

I attended SoFabCon in May, which was a great conference for bloggers and brands to learn together.

After I attend a conference or session, and even throughout the event, I usually categorize information in my head in four ways:

Information I already knew
I’ve heard people make comments that hearing information they already knew or believed was a waste of time but I respectfully disagree. I like hearing information repeated, especially at a professional conference, because it validates my knowledge and tells me that it still rings true. It also makes me feel less overwhelmed to know that I’m not having to absorb all new information. This happens a lot to me in regards to learning about basic SEO or about blog writing techniques. 

Information I already knew but heard a new way to think about it or explain it

WordCamp Fayetteville is a great event for bloggers, developers and businesses. It’s all about WordPress.

Ever hear information that you technically knew, but the way the speaker phrased enhanced your understanding or somehow made you think differently? I usually find this true in personal development conferences, especially when it comes to talking about setting priorities and boundaries.

Brand-new information that I need to apply 

I’m attending Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged this September. It’s a conference for women bloggers who live in Arkansas.

Most the time we attend conferences to learn something new, right? I love it when I learn something new, especially if it solves a problem I’ve been having. I don’t know about you, but sometimes implementing the changes once I get home is the toughest part. This is true for me right now when it comes to incorporating more videos in my personal and professional blogs. I try to set goals for implementing the new knowledge and when I hope to see some kind of results. Otherwise it will never get off the back burner.

Brand-new information that does not apply to me at this time

Sometimes we hear something new but it just doesn’t mean much. I don’t discount the information, I just mentally file it under “might help a client or me in the future.”

What ways do you process conference information? Share in the comments! 

In recent weeks the United States has faced several sudden, tragic events that lit up social media channels. The Boston Marathon Bombings and the Moore tornadoes are just two examples that come immediately to mind.

Many of us turned to Facebook and Twitter to catch the latest updates on the initial events and everything that transpired afterwards. As we skimmed through our feeds, remember when all the sudden a random sales pitch would come up in the middle of news about death and tragedy? Even though I fully understand why it happened-in most cases, it was probably a scheduled post that didn’t get deleted because you scheduled it a month ago and moved on to other activities.

In the moment, understanding how it could happen doesn’t make those sudden, out-of-place updates any less annoying and even jarring. This is not a feeling you want people to have when they think of your brand.  

When tragedy strikes, one of the first thoughts on a business owner’s mind should be making sure they are not broadcasting messages that would be inappropriate in the given space and time. Many of us schedule our social media updates and then think “oh, that’s done.” Those posts can and should be deleted in the time of a national or local emergency. This includes blog posts the day of the event and perhaps even the day after a major tragedy.

Don’t manage your own social media? Don’t panic, just communicate. If you have someone else managing your social media such as a marketing agency, I advise you to discuss this with them. Find out what arrangements can and should be made to delete scheduled posts in the event of an emergency. This should be part of the initial negotiations and a service that is offered, in my opinion. It may cost a small amount beyond your monthly contract for the extra time it will require, but it is well worth it to protect your brand from creating negative feelings in the social media world.

The NWA StartUp Cup is an entrepreneurial competition that features startup companies of all types competing with their business model.

Check the link for the launch press release.
2013 StartUp Cup launch Press Release

Paying attention to your website’s words is just as important as the design. The website copy affects your search-engine optimization (SEO) as well as your overall branding.

Here are a few scenarios where I tell clients they need to re-examine their website copy: Read More…