F R E E! SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE VALLEYCDC.COM/TRAINING VALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

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1 F R E E! VALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE T R A I N I N G F O R E A S T H A M P T O N E N T R E P R E N E U R S A P R I L J U N E VALLEYCDC.COM/TRAINING EASTHAMPTON * HADLEY AMHERST * NORTHAMPTON

2 VALLEYCDC.COM/TRAINING TO PRE-REGISTER A P R I L - J U N E W O R K S H O P S Operating a Business in Tough Economic Times p. 4 Pursuing Your Dream- Step One: Launching A Successful Business Panel: Health Insurance Considerations for Small Business Exploring Your Business Dream During Tough Economic Times: Is Starting a Business Right for You? Financial Literacy Personal Credit for Professional Prosperity 15+1 Keys to Thriving During a Recession Money Management for Business Owners Computer Applications p. 6 QuickBooks: Setting Up Your Business in QuickBooks 2007 QuickBooks Basics: Using QuickBooks 2007 Accounting Software Just for Artists p. 6 Selling Your Creative Works: Securing Art Gallery Representation Selling Your Creative Works: Wholesale/Retail Marketing for Craftspeople Selling Arts & Crafts Online with Etsy.com Online Selling Opportunities for Artists Page 2

3 FREE TRAINING FOR QUALIFIED EASTHAMPTON ENTREPRENEURS Sales & Marketing p. 8 Website Optimization for Effective Internet Marketing Online Selling Case Study: Evolution of a Retail Website New Technologies for Successful Online Marketing Writing Newsletters People Read Individual Counseling p. 10 These workshops are free to income-qualified Easthampton residents and small businesses, and are funded through a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the City of Easthampton. Income thresholds were just increased, so if you did not qualify in the fall, you may now. See page 11 to see if you qualify. All workshops at Easthampton Municipal Building, 3rd Floor, 50 Payson Ave. unless otherwise noted. Classes start April 14. Visit to preregister online. Page 3

4 VALLEYCDC.COM/TRAINING TO PRE-REGISTER All workshops at Easthampton Municipal Building, 3rd Floor, 50 Payson Ave. unless otherwise noted. OPERATING A BUSINESS IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES Pursuing Your Dream- Step One: Launching A Successful Business Have you ever thought of starting a business? Have you already done so but feel like you need a crash course in business basics? Join Valley CDC staff to talk shop, learn the nuts and bolts, and fill your business toolbox with critical tools you need to succeed. Gene Talsky, Eastworks Suite # 325 Wednesday April 15, May 20 OR June 17, 2 hours, 5:30-7:30 PM Panel: Health Insurance Considerations for Small Business Owners The MA Insurance Partnership, a business insurance specialist and representative of Commonwealth Care and other state programs give you an overview of important issues your small business or solo-preneurship must consider. Learn how to get the best rate and risk coverage for your industry. This class is ideal for existing businesses that have insurance plans in place and are looking to decrease risks and expenses further, and for those trying to determine which coverage they need. Simon Muil, ; Ed Batchelder, Batchelder Associates; and Ann Poole, Stacy Kontrabecki, moderator. Tuesday April 14, 2 hours 5:30-6:30 PM panel discussion, 6:30-7:00 PM question and answer, 7:00-7:30 PM brief 1-on-1 Q&A with individual panelists. Exploring Your Business Dream During Tough Economic Times: Is Starting a Business Right for You? Look at the risks and rewards of business ownership. Determine your business and personal goals and assess your resources for and your commitment to starting your own business. Begin exploring the market potential of your proposed venture and create an action plan for next steps. This workshop series is appropriate for anyone thinking about starting a business, whether full-time or part-time. Howard Bronstein. Tuesday April 21, 3 hours, 5:30-8:30 PM Page 4

5 Financial Literacy Learn to make your money work for you. Topics include: preparing a budget, understand services that banks offer, why your credit history is so important, introduction to savings and investments and consumer rights. Dave Plaut, Florence Savings Bank, 85 Main St., Florence, MA Please call Fern Selesnick to register for this class x 16 2 Thursdays, April 23 & 30, 6 hours, 6-9 PM Personal Credit for Professional Prosperity It takes money to make money! Access to financing begins with a sound business plan AND positive credit history. Learn what it takes to improve your credit standing. Make your application for financing the best it can be, whether it s for a business line of credit, a presentation of your business plan to investors or a capital purchase. Escape the credit card funded start-up and existing business cash-flow stopgap practices that lead to diminishing profits. Michele Morris, Tuesday May 5, 3 hours, 5:30-8:30 PM Keys to Thriving During a Recession Internationally acclaimed creative marketing guru, author and speaker Marcia Yudkin shows you how to make the most of the current economic climate. Successfully self-employed since 1981, Yudkin has gotten the best of several recessions. Discover where to tweak your promotional activities and leverage your marketing dollar. Learn to not just survive, but grow your business in this challenging marketplace. Marcia Yudkin, Thursday May 7, 3 hours, 5:30-8:30 PM Money Management for Business Owners Make your money work for you and your business. Learn how personal and business budgeting can provide a framework for profitability. Explore your personal credit history and learn how personal spending affects your ability to secure financing for your business. Learn fair debt collection practices to understand your rights as a consumer and responsibilities as a creditor. Dave Plaut, Tuesday May 26, 3 hours, 5:30-8:30 PM Page 5

6 VALLEYCDC.COM/TRAINING TO PRE-REGISTER COMPUTER APPLICATIONS QuickBooks: Setting Up Your Business in QuickBooks 2007 Accounting Software The most popular easy-to-use accounting program for small businesses. Learn what you should know as a business owner, whether you keep your own books or someone keeps them for you. Set up your company books, create accounts, product and service lists, vendor and customer lists, and commonly used reports and sales documents. PC-based. Prerequisites: General MS Windows navigation skills. Don Lesser, Monday May 4, 3 hours 5:30-8:30 PM QuickBooks Basics: Using QuickBooks 2007 Accounting Software So you ve set up your business accounts in Quick- Books, now what? Learn how to write checks, enter and pay bills, receive paymends and make deposits, sales receipts and customer statements. PC-based. Pre-requisites: Setting Up Your Business class, above, or already have your company set up in QuickBooks AND be intimately familiar with the setup. This is a fast, moving one night survey course and will not go into great detail on these subjects. Don Lesser, Monday May 11, 3 hours 5:30-8:30 PM JUST FOR ARTISTS Join us a half hour before class for informal networking with fellow artists! Using the evening s theme as a springboard, get your creative (business) juices flowing by sharing topical experiences and thoughts. Page 6

7 Selling Your Creative Works: Tips and Tools for Securing Art Gallery Representation Artists and craftspeople learn specific information about approaching working with all forms of galleries. Market trends and an introduction to the gallery business lead to personal goal setting and action plans including specific task lists necessary to present work to a gallery. Donald Clark, Tuesday April 28, 3 hours, 5:30-6:00 informal networking, 6-9 PM class Selling Your Creative Works: Wholesale/Retail Marketing for Craftspeople Take your product line to market! Learn the history and current trends in the crafts market. Compare and contrast wholesale & retail selling to determine the right marketing path, the right show and the right tools necessary for completing a competitive application. Understand differences among buyers and how to sell to each. Take away techniques for succeeding in the craft show circuit. Donald Clark, Tuesday May 12, 3 hours, 5:30-6:00 informal networking, 6-9 PM class Selling Art and Crafts Online With Etsy.com Come learn why Etsy.com is the latest rage for selling art, crafts and vintage goods online! Evaluate if Etsy is the right tool for your creative business by examining the costs and benefits. A live Etsy store will be demonstrated. Compare Etsy with other turnkey websites for selling artwork. Cassandra Holden, & Jenn Iannaconi, Monday June 1, 2 hours, 5:30 6:00 informal networking 6:00 9:00 PM class Online Selling Opportunities for Artists Augment your face-to-face and personal website sales by selling at popular consumer art websites and ready-made shopping carts for artists. Survey the turnkey websites available online to sell your creative wares. From crafts and fine art to photographs and illustrations, learn how to quickly get your original and reproductions on the market via on-demand print fulfillment, digital clip art and photo images for marketing, and virtual art galleries. Stacy Kontrabecki & Ellen Mary Hayes, Tuesday June 9, 2 hours, 5:30 6:00 informal networking 6:00 8:00 PM class Page 7

8 VALLEYCDC.COM/TRAINING TO PRE-REGISTER SALES & MARKETING Website Optimization for Effective Interenet Marketing Learn how to: plan/revise and evaluate the effectiveness of your website, analyze the visitor traffic you are receiving and be found by search engines. Discover free tools and strategies you should be using to optimize your investment in your company s online presence. Derek Allard, Tuesday May 19, 3 hours, 5:30 8:30 PM Online Selling Case Study: Evolution of a Retail Website Steve Howland, owner and developer of will share how he grew his retail web business from garage to warehouse; from one employee to five; and from $60,000 in gross sale to $750,000/year in 6 years. Topics covered: using online forums, Google services (i.e. Pay-per-click advertising, Site maps, and Google shopping (Froogle) and choosing website software appropriate to your business model. A web developer and designer in a previous life, Howland demonstrates how several of his past clients online presence s have morphed over the years to keep up with the changing web retail world. Recommended for: Retailers with a web presence and some experience with online retail but maybe stuck in old online selling software or for those having trouble driving traffic to an existing e-commerce website. Steve Howland Wednesday May 27, 3 hours, 5:30 8:30 PM New Technologies for Successful Online Marketing Extend the reach of your online presence using paid internet advertising, marketing, social media websites, blogging, podcasts and real simple syndication (RSS) on your website. Using these easy-tolearn tools, leverage your website to reach new and repeat customers cost-effectively and competitively. Derek Allard, Tuesday June 2, 3 hours, 5:30 8:30 PM Page 8

9 Writing Newsletters People Read Keeping in front of your customers is important in developing relationships that pay off over time. How much and what kind of face time you give to communicating with your business network depends on your unique business, however, periodic updates to your contacts regarding your industry and your expertise is requisite to gain repeat and even new business. Learn to craft easy, informative newsletters with minimal effort and maximum return on investment. Technologies for paper and electronic newsletter design and delivery will be discussed. Stacy Kontrabecki Tuesday June 16, 3 hours, 5:30 8:30 PM DETAILS Free classes are limited to: small businesses (5 employees or less) income-qualified (low-moderate) entrepreneurs (see p. 11 for details.) working or living in Easthampton, or considering opening a business in the city. Class size is limited. Register early. Income thresholds were just increased, so if you did not qualify in the fall, you may now. See page 11 to see if you qualify. Classes start April 14. Visit to pre-register online. Contact Stacy Kontrabecki at sk@valleycdc.com for more information. Page 9

10 Need Advice? Have a question? FREE BUSINESS COUNSELING FOR EASTHAMPTON MICRO-BUSINESSES If you are a start-up or existing micro-business (</= 5 employees) owner of modest means and live or work in Easthampton, Massachusetts, Valley CDC s Small Business Development staff can provide you with the technical assistance (TA) you need to grow your business into a viable profit center. Free. Free because your community the City of Easthampton via a Massachusetts Community Development Block Grant is investing in your future and has retained the Valley CDC to help you out. One-on-one counseling is available to help you better understand business processes and planning, step you through commercial and community financing hoops, and expand your skill set so you can most efficiently and effectively manifest your vision. Incubating an idea? Scramble things up with some fresh-hatched ideas in a brainstorm facilitated by Valle y CDC staff entrepreneurs. Page 10

11 Valley CDC can help you: Explore your business ideas Market your art, products and services Identify new markets Get more customers Write your business plan Explore financial viability Improve your business operations Seek financing Learn computer skills Find local resources Call (413) to set up your first norisk, confidential appointment with Gene R. Talsky, Director, entrepreneur. and more... DO I QUALIFY FOR FREE SERVICES? Yes, if you are: 1. small (5 employees or less) 2. working or living in Easthampton, or considering opening a business in the city. 3. income-qualified (lowmoderate) entrepreneur* *Your Gross Annual Income before taxes must not exceed: $43,450 for a 1 person household $49,700 for 2 people $55,900 for 3 people $62,100 for 4 people $67,050 for 5 people $72,050 for 6 people $77,000 for 7 people $81,950 for 8 people Page 11

12 Valley CDC 116 Pleasant St., # 325 Easthampton, MA (413) FREE! BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY TRAINING FOR EASTHAMPTON BUSINESSES Spring classes start April 14!! Pre-register online at ValleyCDC.com/training