SoKy Local Business or "SoKybiz"

UPDATE Monday 15 Aug, 2005 7:22 am: My opinion on this has changed, I feel they have made some key mistakes both in functionality and in structure. I will publish my critical review soon.

Well, the new site is up and I'm feeling a little guilty for going off on this rant. First, let me justify myself a little bit by expressing my opinion that the local newspaper is a VALUABLE source of current information as it relates to business and marketing. (But you knew that.) Since my work and my interests are online, that is where I get my information. I've noticed many technical, editorial and interface issues with our local newspaper's website, and even written about some of them, but in all fairness think they have done a good job.

That said; let me just say that the new and improved bgdailynews.com website is much better than it was before. Oh I have my rants, but for the most part the new site is a great improvement. I posted a picture of the old site, well here's the new one!

Screen shot of the BGDailyNews.com Saturday 23 Jul, 2005 12:26 pm

Great start guys and gals. Thanks!

I did send a link to my recent blog post to the new webmaster in the hopes that he would comment or at least reply privately... he did not. Maybe he's just too busy or getting so much spam he missed it. (Well it happens) I'm sure he and the service company are busily addressing the glitches.

Now to address my predictions. I made a few observations and hopes for the new site publicly and I have to gloat about at least one. 5 Years ago, I took a major job to revamp a large static website. There were about 1200 pages written by many people in different software. I changed the whole site from HTM to ASP (Active Server Pages). I knew that would mean that every link that was made to the site (either from inside the site or from other sites) would be broken because of the extension (asp) change. Simply put, none of the pages that were there before would exist. I built in redirects, bookmark change pages and automatic scripts that would help people (and search engines) rediscover the new pages. It's important.

Well, I predicted in an earlier blog that when the new Daily News site came out, that all the links to the old stories would be broken. Unfortunately I was correct. Even on this blog, the links are now broken. I know I'm not going to change my links and suspect few people will. What worse, Google and other search engines periodically crawl and index the website, storing the address of each story in their own database. For the next 6 to 12 weeks, most search results are going to offer broken links to the daily news website.

Suggestion: fix this. Hopefully, you have the old site backed up somewhere, you can use that to build a redirect database and script in automatic redirects in your 404 error page. Just a thought.

There were a couple of others but I'm not going to rant on and on. As a matter of fact, this whole process has me feeling a little guilty, well more than a little, enough to create another "personal" blog for rants such as this. This is for business, not a place to roast the daily news.

Business focus

Lesson one: The newspaper is a valuable resource for current information that affects your business. It offers insight into your competitions marketing focus and public communications. The local paper for a small business in a small community such as ours is priceless.

Lesson two: When making big changes to your business, think ahead. My rant about broken links is just an example. But in perspective, if you're going to move your business, you sure would let people know before, during and after how to find you right? If your staff changes, your going to help people find your new staff right? That is really the same things when upgrading a site like the Daily News. Help the customer find the information they are looking for... it's a matter of pride and professionalism in my opinion.

Lesson three: David writes too much, skim his articles because he sure gets wordy. (grin)

Carrie and I are off to New Orleans for three nights. Then Cozumel after that so I might not be around for a while. Take care and keep on keeping on.

Daily News Web site gets redesigned By BGDailyNews.com, dnews[at]bgdailynews.com Thursday, July 21, 2005 The Daily News today is launching its newly revamped Web site. Bgdailynews.com first went live in early 1995 and has gone through a few revisions, but none as major as this one.

>> Whole Story

Ah-HA! The Bowling Green Daily news published a story about their new website. They are reporting that it will come out today. Now I'm not obsessing or anything, but I was a tad intrigued. The story reported that Melanie Weis of Townnews.com designed the site and that Townnews.com services 800 newspapers around the country.

"The site was designed by Melanie Weis of Townnews.com, a provider of Internet services and Web design to more than 800 newspapers across the nation. "Scott Lewis has been named to the new position of online specialist and will oversee the operation of bgdailynews.com and other sites to be developed.

I couldn't help myself, I had to poke around a little and see some of the other websites they produce. Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm a little critical so instead of me offering my opinion, I offer you links to Kentucky newspapers who use TownNews service. (see below)

Oh, and the last sentence... "and other sites to be developed" is GREAT! Welcome Scott! I'm really glad the Bowling Green Daily News is looking forward and putting resources behind the online community. I am sorry in a way because according to Mike Alexieff, their budget was 4 figures. (YIPES) I hope you can live on that. (Just kidding with ya.) Seriously, welcome and I hope to see you in the community sometime.

Just for fun, I took a picture of how the site looks today, I'll take another one tomorrow and let you decide.

Screen shot of the Daily News on 7/21/05 @ 2:30pm

Here are those links I promised, click around and decide for yourself. From http://townnews.com/members/states.php?stateabbrev=KY&state=Kentucky

• Ashland Daily Independent http://www.dailyindependent.com
• Bradstown Kentucky Standard http://www.kystandard.com
• Campbellsille Central Kentucky News Journal http://www.cknj.com
• Corbin Times Tribune http://www.corbintimes.com
• Cynthiana Democrat http://www.cynthianademocrat.com
• Elizabethtown News Enterprise http://www.thenewsenterprise.com
• Georgetown News http://www.news-graphic.com
• Glasgow Daily Times http://www.glasgowdailytimes.com
• Hazard Herald http://www.www.hazard-herald.com%20(needs%20registered)
• LaGrange Oldham Era http://www.oldhamera.com
• Landmark Communication http://www.lcni.com
• Lawrenceburg Anderson News http://www.theandersonnews.com
• Lebanon Enterprise http://www.lebanonenterprise.com
• Leitchfield Grayson County http://www.gcnewsgazette.com
• London Sentinel Echo http://www.sentinel-echo.com
• Maysville Ledger Independent http://www.maysville-online.com
• Middlesboro Daily News http://www.middlesborodailynews.com
• Murray Ledger & Times http://www.murrayledger.com
• Pikeille Appalachian News-Express http://www.news-expressky.com
• Prestonsburg Floyd County Times http://www.floydcountytimes.com
• Russellville News Democrat Leader http://www.newsdemocratleader.com
• Shelbyille Sentinel-News http://www.shelbyconnect.com
• Sheperdsville Pioneer News http://www.pioneernews.net
• Williamstown Grant County News http://www.grantky.com

CC: BGDailynews.com webmaster.

Brand Unveiled for South Central Kentucky Regional Economic Development NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release Contact: James N. Hizer, CEcD Chamber President & CEO 270-781-3200 jhizer@bgchamber.com BOWLING GREEN, KY - Regional economic development efforts were strengthened today with the announcement of a new brand aimed at marketing the entire South Central Kentucky region to prospective business and industry. The new brand--"South Central Kentucky: Central for business. Southern for living."--emphasizes the region's optimal location and first-rate quality of life. Jim Hizer, Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce president & CEO, recognized the need for such an endeavor soon after his arrival in Bowling Green last year. "As I began to look beyond Bowling Green and Warren County, I saw excellent neighboring towns and communities full of potential," Hizer stated. "It seemed like a natural solution for us to work toget her as a region. When any one of us experiences economic development success, the entire region is strengthened." The Liberty Group was selected as the lead agency for developing the South Central Kentucky brand. "Creating a brand for a geographic region is much different, and potentially more challenging, than creating a brand for a business, but after our initial research it became very clear what the brand would become." said Tim Earnhart, president & CEO of The Liberty Group, a marketing communications company. Interviews were conducted with a cross section of companies that have expanded, relocated, or started up their business in the South Central Kentucky region in the last few years. From those interviews, several recurring themes surfaced in regard to the region's location and quality of life. "In looking at what makes South Central Kentucky unique for business, we realized the region's name pretty much sums it up," explained Earnh art. "The region is located in the middle of the U.S. industrial market and at the heart of its population with a tremendous network of interstates and parkways. And finally, the southern style living and southern hospitality you'll find in the region is both practiced and genuine by all who call South Central Kentucky home." The counties of Allen, Barren, Butler, Edmonson, Logan, Metcalfe, Monroe, and Warren will all have the option to utilize the brand and logo to benefit their respective economic development efforts. "The establishment of this brand fortifies the relationship that we all share as individual counties," stated Edmonson County Judge Executive N.E. Reed. "It is now the responsibility of each county to embrace ownership of the brand. The more often we use it, the stronger it will become." "This is definitely an exciting day for economic development," Hizer added. "I, along with our partnering judge executives and economic development professionals, look forward to growing the South Central Kentucky region and furthering its establishment as a premier location for business and industry." The South Central Kentucky brand will serve as a launching pad for positive messages about the region. It will serve as the connective element of the Chamber's print and electronic media promoting South Central Kentucky. Local and neighboring organizations also wishing to utilize the brand for the promotion of South Central Kentucky are encouraged to contact the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. ### Related Link: http://www.bgchamber.com

New Daily News Web site to be unveiled

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

The Daily News will unveil a redesigned Web site Thursday with many new features.

The site, www.bgdailynews.com will have a wider page, meaning larger, easier to read print, larger pictures and more content. The redesign will also make navigating the site more convenient.

Link to whole article here (for now)

Well this is exciting! If you have read my blog, you will know that they have been working on the site for some time. (Newspaper Readers turning to Web and BG Daily News managing editor responds) From the recent announcement, they are promoting a wider page, larger pictures and more content. The "other features" noted in the story were an "Amber Crawl" (which you can see at the bottom of Soky.biz), a market watch, and "Darrell’s Daily Rant". While all of this sounds great, and I'm all for improving the site, but from my perspective there were some glaring omissions in the announcement. Just some features like RSS, article comments and ratings and other interactive features, not to mention web standard validation and accessibility mark up for handicapped visitors. I look forward to the new site and think it's wonderful that our local paper is investing in the online market. Thank you!!

(Oh, and my prediction... most all links to older news stories will be lost with a new structure. I've seen it so many times and is a mistake made by the best of webmasters. Hint to developer, write a error page script that will process the requested story and direct users to the new location.)

Many of my friends think that I got into the travel business because I can deduct all my vacations. I play along but the fact is, business travel is complicated. Now, I'm no CPA... not even CLOSE! But I read a very helpful article that those of you who do travel on business may benefit from.

IN DEPTH: TRAVEL & TOURISM From the July 15, 2005 print edition http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2005/07/18/focus3.html?from_rss=1

Know your legitimate deductions for trips that mix business with pleasure

Thomas W. Donovan

For The Business Review

Despite better communications by teleconferencing, faxes and the Internet, business travel has increased dramatically over the past several years. In addition, many businesspeople are beginning to plan trips that combine elements of both business and pleasure.

Business trips, conventions and continuing education seminars are frequently planned to incorporate exotic locations and leisure time. With proper planning, these trips can yield great personal pleasure and, at the same time, generate legitimate deductions.

Although the basic rules are relatively simple, there are a number of angles in this area that you might be interested in knowing.

Full Article @ BizJournal

Yes, I can deduct a little more than the average Joe because my business is travel, however I save all my receipts and journals and take in to my tax professional every year. I frustrate him sometimes because I'm not aggressive enough but my mantra is, if it feels wrong taking the deduction; then don't take it. It helps a guy sleep at night. Oh, a little tip for self employed consultants out there.

Expense everything you can to your client!

It makes life so much easier and you're spending house money too. That's one reason I have so few deductions at the end of the year, because I have billed the expense to the client and they are the ones who get do the accounting.

Imagine waking up one flag day and finding a small American flag stuck in your front lawn. At first glance it would seem like a very appropriate gesture, but on closer inspection you find the business card of a real estate agent you never heard of stapled to it. Is that effective marketing? Is that appropriate marketing? Or is it "litter marketing?"

I read about this on a website for web developers. Andrew Neitlich titled his blog post, "An idiotic way to market your business" and I have to agree with him. He wrote:

It happens every Flag Day, Memorial Day and July 4 in the USA in my neighborhood: Some real estate agent plants a small flag in my lawn, and the lawn of every homeowner in my area, with a business card. To me, this kind of marketing is the ultimate intrusion, not to mention a misuse of an important symbol, and I can't imagine it results in much business.

What's this have to do with you?

Litter Marketing (my term to the best of my knowledge) is marketing that could easily fall into the category of litter. While it may be effective in some strange way, it just seems wrong. One classic example of Litter Marketing is the annoying flyer under your windshield wiper. Most of us have been subject to the phenomenon of coming out of the local shopping mall and finding a bright poorly designed, photocopied piece of paper under the windshield wiper of your car, and then noticing that every other car has also received a visit from the aggressive marketer. Upon closer inspection, you would likely be able to see a number of these same pieces of paper on the ground around the parking lot, perhaps even blowing into neighboring business and residential landscapes.

I'm sorry, but to me it's just litter! My personal response to this marketing is to avoid that business just as I avoid businesses who use SPAM to reach me. I might want the product or service, but I won't support the business and their tactics. It's just me.

That said, Mr. Neitlich also commented on involvement marketing, or what many marketing and sales people know as "network marketing" as a more appropriate method of getting the word out. He wrote:

It is much more effective to get visible in your community, speak and write articles to become the go-to professional in your market, demonstrate your value without making a blatant sales pitch (e.g. with a powerful marketing message), and build relationships that result in referrals and new business.

On this I had to agree, actually I did in a comment...

Andrew - You are so RIGHT! I can tell you from personal experience that what you say is true. I've been developing websites for the past 7 years and while I made a good living, I could not seem to expand my market in the community. It wasn't until I became involved in the local business community that I saw my business start to take off. Chamber functions, community events, advertising and marketing meetings, small business networking opportunities abound. The value added benefit? (to me) My social circles have also expanded. I'm invited to more parties, gatherings and after work social hours than ever before. As the social circles grow, business opportunities grow and vice a versa. One of the key ingredients however is sincerity! Don't show up with your game face on and your fee on your sleeve. Just participate and let things happen. At least that's worked for me.

Advice to Andrews' neighborhood realtor; if you want to canvas the neighborhood with your business card, mail it to them. If you want to make a small patriotic gesture with an American flag, then send it to them or hand deliver it. This allows the residents to refuse it and allows you the opportunity to meet them. But please, don't plaster my neighborhood or my car with unsolicited litter because we have enough fast food wrappers, discarded bourbon bottles, and other trash to pick up along the roadsides of our neighborhoods, sadly enough.

Advice to the small (micro) business owner who wants to grow their business. Join all of the community clubs and associations you can, attend the public gatherings available and just meet people. The rest will fall into place nicely.

As Forest Gump would say: "And that's all I got to say about that."

• Andrews' Blog

I didn't post yesterday, thank you for the reminders. (grin) I am working on a few stories whilst I continue to develop this resource as well. Why didn't I post yesterday? Because I spent the day integrating the Google search engine into a non-profit website with more than 2000 pages. WOW! For those fellow web developers looking for the article I said I would be posting here, I changed my mind.

Stories I am working on:

• Choosing a bank in Bowling Green Kentucky
• BNI http://www.bni.com/ - a local perspective from a non-member
• The Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce
• Going from sole proprietorship to a more formal existence

Those have been the top on my list but of course there are more. One thing I am willing to burn the midnight oil on is this page and moving it to a hosted and more organized solution. I've already written 27 articles/posts and I want to offer them in a more organized format. I also want to create a few innovative features that will help my readership find resources of interest. My study of other website resources continues and if it all works out, I will be able to fit a niche for southern Kentucky.

Thank you again for your interest and if you have a story idea or a news tip that would be of interest to local area business, please write to me, or simply comment here.

Did you loose your great-great-grandfathers' hand carved perfectly sharpened and sentimentally significant pocket knife at the airport recently? Do you want it back? I just read a story on USAToday.com that Kentucky and other states are selling your beloved confiscated items on EBay!! That's right folks, your stuff is on the auction block!

Alabama, Kentucky auction items confiscated at Florida airports

MIAMI (AP) --Travelers who lose pocketknives or scissors during security checks at two Florida airports could get them back --if they make the best offers to two other state governments.

Every few weeks, state employees from Kentucky and Alabama pick up thousands of knives, scissors, box cutters, baseball bats and other prohibited items that security agents intercept at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and Miami international airports.

Kentucky's Division of Surplus Property sells the items, along with items confiscated from airports in Massachusetts and its own state, on the online auction site eBay.com. Officials said the sales net the state about $2,500 a month, or roughly $30,000 a year.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-07-11-florida-items_x.htm?csp=34

As usual, the story inspired some curiosity so I did some sleuthing. I first checked eBay and tried a keyword search of "Kentucky's Division of Surplus Property" which resulted in no hits. I then tried "confiscated" and voila, thousands of items for sale. I wanted to see who was selling this stuff and the top search results were held by "Walls4" from Liberty Kentucky. I noticed this person had hundreds of great reviews without a single complaint. Well done Walls4!

I wanted to find the official seller from the Kentucky Division of Surplus Property so I went to Kentucky.gov and searched for "Division of Surplus Property." The top result was a link to the departments web-section and they offered a link to their items for sale through eBay.

The link to eBay is the yellow box

Following the link brings you to the "only show items for sale by "kysurplus" of which there were 60 items. Some items were offered in individually, others in lots. If you happened to be looking for a pocket knife, this is the place but the only other items offered at the time of this post were Miniature Louisville Slugger bats and a few Craftsman Wre[n]ches. (See image)

The user profile on eBay writes:

Surplus Property The Division of Surplus Property for the Commonwealth of Kentucky frequently has property that is no longer of any use to the Commonwealth. The public may bid on items placed on ebay as well as bid at public auctions, which are advertised on our website. We will also receive sealed bids for certain items. Sealed bid items will be advertised on our web page as well. Our warehouse is not open to the general public. Types of Property The Division of Surplus Property for Kentucky will place items for auction ebay on a regular basis. These items will range from office furniture such as desks, filing cabinets, chairs, and shelves, to vehicles, computers, and equipment.

http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=kysurplus

From the official website, they offer allot of great information about buying surplus property directly from the state as well. If your business focus is reselling products like this, it may be a good place to get a deal and support your state at the same time.

• http://www.usatoday.com/
• http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-07-11-florida-items_x.htm?csp=34
• Kentucky.gov
• http://finance.ky.gov/internal/surplus/
• eBay link to products sold by kysurplus

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening an axe. -- Abraham Lincoln

Outstanding quote for small business owners. It's all about preparation, planning, innovating and then implementation. Your competition is sharpening their axe... are you? Although most of us are not out there whacking a large dull piece of metal on the end of a stick into a 100 foot tall tree all day agreed. But many of us do in fact use less than perfect tools, processes or resources to accomplish the tasks at hand. Or we purchased our "axe" many years ago and have neglected to give it the time it deserves sharpening it. Your business is a tool to meet your personal achievement goals and just like the lumberjacks' axe, it needs to be taken care of. Have you ever tried to use a dull axe? I have and I'll tell you there is an amazing difference between the dull axe and the sharp one. A business can also be sharpened by examining the difference aspects of its operation. From the handle to the sharpness of the blade, your axe should be well tended. It would be much more effective to use an old axe that has been well sharpened than a brand new one with no edge... the same can be said for an entrepreneurial endeavor. There are quite a few ways to look at this. A brand new business start up may seem like a great idea, but an existing business may only need a little sharpening to make it work much better. So it really pays to make an investment in the evaluation of your current or planned business and see if it needs a simple sharpening, a head replacement or outsourced to a lumberjack with a shinny new chain saw! As a business owner I continually evaluated my operation from the ways the phone works, to the accounting method, to services that I pay for and the methods in which I perform services. If I see a place I can "sharpen" then I do so. I could list dozens of areas to examine for you, but your best place to start is in your own head. It's your business after all ... right? Sure, sometimes it's a good idea to get an outside opinion but don't give up so quick. Buckle down and dream a little. Imagine your business and all the things that are involved and then start sharpening!

I use a company called "GoDaddy" for my domain registrations. I'm up to over 50 active domains with them and have enjoyed their great level of service for years. They are responsive to the needs of the registrants as well as web developers like me. (Now if I could just get them to implement a shared role account management system I'd have no complaints at all. (grin) )

I had logged on to my account manager this morning and notice the new XML RSS feed links. Following those links I lucked up on a jewel of a link. It was the personal blog of Bob Parsons, GoDaddy founder and president. There are a number of great and motivational articles for business owners and I would recommend it to anyone.

But what has me all touchy feely at this point is a blog post that was relatively hidden in the link list of the right. Listed under categories, and behind the "in the community" link was an article about an outreach to homeless young adults and his personal involvement. He writes (at length) about this important community service and how he donated large amounts of money. But then he writes about how he and his wife took a day off of the big time corporate social calendar and rode around town in the HomeBase van trying to help those who would allow it. It truly touched me.

My wife and I went with the outreach van and met these kids first hand. Both my wife and I went out on separate nights with the outreach van. Each of us witnessed HomeBase "in action." We had the opportunity to meet these trapped, homeless kids. I can tell you they are not at all what you would expect. Most are well spoken, and they look just like any other kid you might meet. It was both a surprise, and a genuine heart breaker.

So I replied to his post, (Darn it if I didn't delete my draft) and put a link up at SOKY.BIZ. Really folks, go read his blog, read about this HomeBase in Phoenix AZ and click the donate button. It's the least we can do.

I'm going to do some poking around town and try to find outreach efforts here in our small town. I am already involved in an urban outreach program in Chattanooga TN, but I really need to invest in my own back yard.

http://www.homebaseyouthservices.com/

Yesterday I wrote about my use of RSS to quickly gather headlines and stories of interest. I talked about two ways of centralizing the gathering process with RSS feed readers. I also mentioned that I had a meeting with a potential client in which we discussed the importance of integrating RSS feeds into the infrastructure of the new (political) website.

In my discussion about website updates, I stressed the importance of frequent updates. I explained that with effective marketing, we can bring traffic to your website once or twice, but if the content is not updated regularly (weekly at least), with dated indexes to the updates, then the content will appears static. This offers the visitor little or no reason to return.

The basis of this opinion is years of experience online as a publisher and a surfer. Using my own surfing habits alone, I can reflect on which sites I visit most often and why. Without exception, the sites I visit daily are the ones updated as often and the sites that are not updated are stored in bookmarks or desktop icons and eventually discarded.

As our discussion evolved, I talked about making the content available in several formats to make the clients message fresh and attractive. From email subscriptions, to blog style updates and including RSS feeds in several formats. As I was talking, I was writing the scripts that would allow the user to make the updates into a database and automatically publish in all formats selected. Last night I even thought of a way to schedule updates for post dated press releases and scheduled content updates. This would allow the client/writer the ability to write seven articles for the week but only publish one per day.

Daily updates are important for the reasons I have already mentioned but also due to the fact that the two feed readers I have experimented with display feeds ordered by date. What that means is, if you post your article on Friday morning, your content could be so far down the list that it is missed. When publicizing your product, service or in this case "self," keeping your message on top is extremely important. Many marketers call it "Top of Mind Awareness" (TOMA) and it's a useful method of name recognition.

So as I'm making mental and scribble pad notations on my ideas to "multi-publish" the content, I'm also making my daily rounds checking on websites I manage as well as news sources I consume. TechNewsWorld ran an article just this morning titled "Future of RSS Looks Rosy." As I read it, (and I didn't just skim or scan that one) I got excited because my ideas for multi-publishing serves several purposes and could be the making of a real powerful application. My ideas don't exploit or abuse the feed model, but it does take advantage of RSS and the dissemination of my customers message, my ultimate goal.

"With increasing adoption of RSS, the concept of 'subscribing' to content on the Web is becoming more prevalent," Microsoft observed at its Longhorn Web site. "As this idea continues to gain in popularity, users will be able to subscribe not only to blogs and news, but also to content feeds (audio, video, documents, photos, calendar events, and so on) and lists (play lists, book lists, link lists, blogrolls, wish lists, top-10 lists, to-do lists, and so on)."

Microsoft gave RSS a big boost when it announced last month that it would be supporting the technology in the next version of its Windows operating system, known as Longhorn.

"Microsoft's move will accelerate the process of bringing RSS into the mainstream," Paul Forster, co-founder of Indeed.com told TechNewsWorld.

So this lights a fire under my development!! But it also inspires me to make some changes in my business. For example, I've been toying with the idea to publishing daily travel related articles in a blog digest format to promote our expertise online. With the tools I will develop, I will also be able to accomplish a TOMA strategy as well. It's all good!!!

For Bowling Green KY small business owners who may be reading this, you too should consider this method of getting your message out there and leveraging RSS now. If the predictions regarding RSS are even partially correct, it could be a valuable asset and integral part of your marketing strategy. If nothing else, it will force you to consider your marketing, message and customer on a regular basis. Also, as you write you will be building depth to your website and offer your customers a peek into your insight and commitment to your business and the community.

Relevant links from TechNewsWorld

• Apple Criticized for RSS Use in iTunes (05-Jul-05)
• Longhorn To Incorporate RSS Feeds (27-Jun-05)
• Gnomedex, Longhorn Feed on Future of RSS (27-Jun-05)
• Microsoft Banking on Popularity of RSS (25-Jun-05)
• Future Windows System Will Include RSS Support (24-Jun-05)

Other Links of interest:

• How Stuff Works RSS Feeds
• Information overload and time management
• SoKy.Net
• www.CarriedAwayVacations.com

Edited Thursday 01 Feb, 2007 2:24 pm

As a small business owner, website developer and self made news aggregator, I am finding it increasingly difficult to wade through the vast amount of information available to extract the jewel I need or want. So much is available online that my bookmarks, favorites, desktop icons, explorer bar and link lists have taken over my workspace. Throw in a few million blog and RSS feeds one can get easily overwhelmed. So I have done like most people and simply visited websites as I remembered and missed some really cool stuff.

I wrote a while back about RSS feed readers and the recommended software from Blogger. I have some experience with one of the companies so I decided to try it. Actually, I tried two. http://www.newsgator.com/ which is a free online reader with some neat set ups and the windows application FeedDemon. (The latter has recently been acquired by NewsGator.)

NewsGator has a free version that I decided to sign up for and try out. I thought it was easy, especially convenient in that they have some of the most popular newsfeed already categorized and all you have to do is select it. It's completely browser based and ready to go. I like it so far however, there seems to be a lag between the time something is posted to a blog and when it showed up in the list. I also found that this blog archive doesn't show up in the older topics category.

FeedDemon is the one you have to download and install. It costs $30 but there is a 30 day free trial. This is a software company that I am familiar with because they also produce a product that I use in development of websites. It installed flawlessly and it too had some popular feeds already configured. I didn't play with it too long but I could tell it would reduce the amount of time that I spend running around reading headlines. If course, the Daily News does not have an RSS yet, but I'll be willing to bet they will soon.

I had a meeting with a potential client this morning and we discussed the ways to integrate site updates, RSS and subscription services. I really believe that new and updated websites will offer all three methods of communication and the company that develops a clean interactive user interface will capture a larger market. That is exactly what I am attempting to accomplish for all of my existing clients.

Sorry for the lack of updates. My attention has been turned to web development and some new and exciting customers. I will get caught up shortly. Read this if you missed it... Great outlook for small business Off to Louisville today... a personal trip to collect my eldest son. As you can see, this page has taken on a more plain and simple layout. This is temporary as well as I continue to write the final layout and style sheet. Pardon our dust as they say.

There's a new term in the marketing world used to describe an age old concept of inspiring your existing customers to tell their friends and family about your product or service. The new term however has never really sat well with me, I guess because it seems derogatory. The new term is "Viral Marketing."

Maybe it's just me, but the term Viral Marketing makes me feel a little achy or inspires thoughts of a computer crash. But no matter what you call it, companies are spending mountains of money on new and creative ways to spread the news. Traditional marketing methods of "Interruption" or "Disruption" marketing are expensive to develop and implement but the new viral marketing techniques are relative inexpensive in comparison.

eCommerceTimes.com reported recently that Anheuser-Busch was able to come up with a campaign that netted 30 million viewers to their website. They used an animated spoof of the presidential election called "This Land" that was so entertaining that people copied the website address and sent links to everyone they knew.

In my Internet business, I have spent little or no money on advertising because I have no need to bring in mass quantities of customers. I concentrate on a few well paying customers and take care of them very very well. However, my overhead is low and my margins are good. Alternatively, with the travel agency (which I also co-own with my wife and two friends), we have spent a great deal of money on traditional marketing. Nothing works quite as well as referral marketing though but as a start up, we had to get the word out.

The example of Viral Marketing I can readily recall in our market here in Bowling Green would be Natt's Outdoor Sports. They created a really cool front license plate that people not only wanted but from what I understand, they are willing to pay for it. Someone would see it on the front of a Jeep or SUV and "want" to get one for theirs. The result of this "virus?" Natt's has hundreds of outdoorsy vehicles running around town with their name on the front bumper. Mission accomplished I think.

I'm going to have to give this concept some more thought for travel agency! I think that because of our cool logo (removed) and the excitement usually associate with travel, there should be a way to "infect" the market and get our good message out there. It's all about brand recognition right?

However, in thinking about this for the past few days, I can say that the best thing I have done in both my business is sincerely care about my customers and provide the best service possible. That truly is something that people will talk about and share... perhaps that is our virus we are spreading.

Call it what you will but in the end it's all the same in marketing, to create the PR/Marketing/Advertising methods that instills a burning desire to purchase your product or service above all others. Referral (Viral) Marketing is an integral part of our methods.

eCommerceTimes.com article that inspired this post: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/H2saJjPklYk77N/Viral-Advertising-Growing-as-Marketing-Tool.xhtml

Edited Thursday 01 Feb, 2007 2:24 pm

The Bowling Green Daily News published this article on their website this morning and I wanted to comment on it though little comment is necessary. So instead, I edited the article to offer some relevant links. I am doing this without their permission however, I will write the editor and if he says no, then I will remove it. This article underscores the great business climate we enjoy in here in Bowling Green and SOKY.

The "Barren River Area Development District" encompasses 10 counties mostly surrounding Warren County and the "BRADD" website offers so much great information I was overwhelmed. From economic information to elected official contact information. I'm still looking for that perfect "map" of state reps jurisdictions but this site offers the names and addresses of all the politicians who influence the market strategic area. I have book marked the website and plan to write more on this later. The article also underscored the "Kentucky State Data Center" and once I found its website, I enjoyed the economic and demographic information available. I really liked their long term projects all the way to the year 2030. I read their methodology and am curious if they have added the influence of the new Kentucky Transpark and Magna. I remain convinced that the local market is going to grow much faster than predicted if their predictions did not include those influences. Time will tell.

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Trends pushing people toward BG

City's population grows by more than 1 percent, gaining on Owensboro

By Jim Gaines, {removed email address} -- 270-783-3242 Article source: Trends pushing people toward BG

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Bowling Green ^{(Link 1)} continues to grow, and does so more rapidly than similar cities in Kentucky ^{(Link 2)}, according to population projections released by the U.S. Census Bureau ^{(Link 3)}.

As of July 1, 2004, Bowling Green is estimated to have had 51,294 residents. On the same date in 2000, the city's population was estimated at 49,44[4], according to the report released Thursday. [unable to locate the report source]

That's an increase of almost 4 percent in four years, and 1.4 percent of that came in the last of those years, said Ron Crouch, director of the Kentucky State Data Center ^{(Link 4)} at the University of Louisville ^{(Link 5)}. The census bureau's annual releases always run one year behind.

The four small cities in Warren County ^{(Link 6)} – Oakland, Plum Springs, Smiths Grove ^{(Link 7)} and Woodburn – showed practically no growth, or lost a few residents over the same period.

Owensboro remained ahead of Bowling Green, with 54,900 residents – but that only amounts to 1 percent growth since 2000.

Owensboro doesn't have an interstate highway connection, which is a major factor fueling Bowling Green's growth, Crouch said.

For years, demographers have "talked a lot about what we call the 'Golden Triangle,' " he said, referring to the wealthier, more populous and developed area between Louisville, Lexington and Cincinnati's northern Kentucky suburbs.

That area is still growing, but is also spreading.

In describing state population trends, Crouch has begun referring to "the land between the 5s," he said: Interstates 65 and 75 have attracted people along their lengths, filling up the intervening area.

"That's good news, because that expands the Golden Triangle south to you-all," he said.

All of the counties between the interstates, with the exception of Monroe and Clinton, showed significant growth in the last few years, Crouch said. At the same time, counties in extreme western and eastern Kentucky have lost population.

Elizabethtown, with 23,190 residents in July 2004, marked a 3 percent increase over the four-year period.

Paducah lost almost 3 percent of its population, dropping to 25,545 residents. And Covington, which started the period with 43,406 residents, lost 9 percent of its people.

Those cities that have lost population may have kept people in their area, since sprawling suburbanization continues around larger towns, Crouch said.

"McCracken County is growing, but Paducah is losing population," he said.

A good part of Kentucky's overall growth is attributable to national trends: People are leaving the northeast for the southeast, Crouch said.

In the last few years, Ohio and Illinois have sent the most new residents to Kentucky. But next in order in contributing residents to the Bluegrass are California, Michigan and New York, he said.

The southeast part of the country will likely become America's "new economic engine," while the southwest becomes "the new Appalachia," filled with poorer and less educated residents who are largely immigrants, Crouch said.

"Kentucky's right on the edge of an area that's really booming," he said.

The segment of the population growing most rapidly is the age group over 45, Crouch said. That change may reverse the trend of suburban sprawl, where most people looked for homes on large lots in the countryside and commuted to work, he said.

As baby boomers age, they may head back to town, wanting smaller, low-maintenance houses and yards. Especially since so many older people will continue to work in coming decades, they will want to be closer to workplaces, Crouch said.

And the younger segments of the population will be more likely to be minorities, who tend to favor city living as well, he said.

"So the whole concept of high-density living ... is going to have more and more support," Crouch said.

That fits perfectly with Bowling Green's strategy for revitalizing its downtown ^{(Link 8)}, Mayor Elaine Walker said. It plans to target "empty-nesters" or retirees who want convenience in entertainment, dining and shopping instead of yard work, she said.

"If everything goes as planned, our idea is to have a downtown where you can walk everywhere," Walker said.

The city's finances are growing on pace with its population, and Bowling Green continues to attract jobs from other states and countries, she said.

"This is exactly what we need to do to be a healthy, vibrant economy," Walker said.

The city's increased revenue has been directed back into expanded city services, she said.

"Which clearly, then, is helping our growth - because people want to live here," Walker said.

End of article

Link reference numbers

1. Bowling Green official website http://www.bgky.org/
2. Kentucky official website http://www.kentucky.gov/
3. U.S. Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/
4. Kentucky State Data Center http://ksdc.louisville.edu/
5. University of Louisville http://www.louisville.edu/
6. Warren County http://www.warrencountygov.com/
7. Smiths Grove official website http://www.smithsgrove.org/
8. Downtown Redevelopment Authority (DRA) http://www.downtownbg.org

Other relevant links

1. Bowling Green Daily News http://www.bgdailynews.com/
2. Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce http://www.bgchamber.com/
3. Barren River Area Development District http://www.bradd.org/
4. Kentucky Transpark http://www.kentuckytranspark.org/

As I considered what to write yesterday, my thoughts turned to the upcoming Independence Day observance and celebration. How does this apply to local area business? I'm not sure it does, but to attempt to draw a parallel, I re-read the text of the Declaration of Independence. Other than being incredibly upset with a particular king and his prince, the declaration appears to be the result of a long suffering people. As a small business owner, I too embrace the "...unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Isn't that why I'm my own boss anyway?

I think many of us who own and operate our own business have made our own declaration of independence. Well, maybe not as formally as the official Declaration of Independence, but in theory we have made our own through action. Small business people want to be free to self govern their business and lives, to have the freedom to make decisions and even mistakes.

A slight rewrite of the statement in the last paragraph... "... have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do." As an independent business owner, I want full power to compete in my market (levy War), to capture existing and new markets (conclude peace), to create new markets through partnerships and networking (contract Alliances), and to grow my business (establish Commerce), and to be free to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT BUSINESS OWNER may of right do.

I don't mean to take away from the significance of this observance and the great wisdom and courage it took to bring the Declaration of Independence to pass. We are fortunate that our founding fathers penned these famous words. We live in the greatest country in the world in no small part, due to their decisions and actions in 1776. I will be celebrating with family and friends with the hopes that we all celebrate our independence in gratitude for those who played a role in making it possible.

FULL TEXT from Wikipedia

We, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.