Vol. 22 No. 3 Celebrating 56 years of service to our community! March 2013

ChamberLine The

In N.Y.S. small business represent 99% of all businesses and employ 51.7% of the private workforce. In fact,

firms with <500 employees accounted for 64% of net new jobs between 1993 and the 3rd quarter of 2008.

WEDC recognizes this important role of small businesses as job creators. The Satellite will promote entrepre-

neurships as a viable means of economic livelihood. It will provide dislocated workers, entrepreneurs, and

business owners with the skills, tools and resources they need to start their own businesses, expand existing

ones, and achieve economic self –sufficiency.

The Satellite is a unique business organization in the Hudson Valley with a different structure, source of fi-

nancing and resources. Linking business and technology, our programs are affordable and open to both men

and women throughout the 7 counties of the Hudson Valley, in all stages of business development and across

all industries. Our clients will have access not only to the broad array of WEDC training programs but also to

the technology at the Hancock Center at Marist College.

WEDC programs are very affordable and include business training programs, direct loans, networking events,

workshops, 1-on-1 counseling, special events, newsletters and a social media presence. Our First Steps Pro-

gram, which was offered on February 19th and 26th, introduces participants to the world of business owner-

ship. Our 60-Hour Business Training Program, offers a more in-depth study of accounting, marketing, social

media, cash flow analysis, business plans, government programs, access to capital, and free post-program sup-

port. The 60-Hour Business Training Program will be held from 6:00pm-9:00pm once or twice a week be-

tween March 4, 2013 to June 24, 2013. Two Saturday classes are also scheduled. The cost to attend the entire

60-Hour Program is $150 and includes materials.

Women’s Enterprise Development Center Mid-Hudson Satellite

Room 0022 Hancock Center, Marist College

845-575-3438

Lea Bishop, Director

2 RHINEBECK AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers President Vicki Haak, CFP® Ameriprise Financial Services 1st Vice President Sean Kemp McCabe & Mack LLP 2nd Vice President Marybeth Cale Cale Consulting LLC Treasurer Robert Babirad Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union Secretary Josh Burckhard, D.C. Rhinebeck Chiropractic Directors James Chapman The Rhinecliff Charles Derbyshire Old Mill Wine & Spirits Kyle Eighmy NDP EMS Suzanna Hermans Oblong Books & Music Jesse Hewitt Northern Dutchess Hospital Kristin Hutchins Ruge’s Automotive, Inc. Tom Jozefowicz Williams Lumber Tina Keil Bella Fiori Philip Meltzer, CFP® Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Looking Glass B&B Kevin O’Connor The UPS Store Chamber Staff Colleen Cruikshank, Ex. Director Chamber Office Information: 23F East Market Street 876-5904 fax 876-8624 Mailing address: PO Box 42, Rhinebeck, NY 12572 info@rhinebeckchamber.com RhinebeckChamber.com

The ChamberLine

2013 CHAMBERLINE ADVERTISING RATES: 1/2 page—$75 per month or 12 months for $750

Business Card —$25 per month or 12 months for $250 Single page inserts $100 (must be provided pre-printed for insertion)

1/4 page —$50 per month or 12 months for $500 For more information on advertising, please call 876.5904.

Young Entrepreneurs Academy

Karen Spencer from Karen Spencer Design works with students to create logos.

Megan Martino from La Tua Bella Beauty Bar shares her story.

Pat Phelan, SUNY Ulster Business Department Adjunct,

advises on writing effective business plans.

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A Message from the President!

Dear Members:

When a message is good, I believe in sharing it. Thank you to Pat McGaughey for

giving us permission to print this.

Smart Businesses Don't Join Chambers; they retain them

In reality, smart businesses don't join the local chamber of commerce, they pay the chamber’s membership fee

for the chamber to join them. What they really do is look at chamber membership fees as a retainer for consult-

ing services at a fraction of the going rate for consultants like me.

Smart businesses have business plans and those plans usually include research, data development, business insur-

ances, HR training and of course marketing. The intelligent strategy here is to contract with an organization that

can support those strategies efficiently and at an amazingly low cost compared to private consulting firms, like

mine.

Smart businesses know that data is king and the local chamber of commerce is the first resource for the demo-

graphics and other numbers needed to update our business plans and have a pulse of the numbers that feed our

plans. For example, the chamber compiles key numbers like housing and unemployment updating them for an

efficient look at our local community as we prepare to recruit new employees. It’s amazing how major employers

like hospitals are often the first to utilize the local chamber for recruiting physicians and highly sought after

technical employees by using the data available and the community marketing material provided by the local

chamber.

When we hear, “The Chamber doesn’t do anything for me” smart businesses understand that this is actually a

good thing. What this really means is that we haven’t had to call the chamber for help. It’s similar to buying I

nsurance. We all buy insurance hoping we never use it. If things are running smooth, we don’t need the local

chamber to “do anything” for us. But, if there is an issue such as an unfriendly local government regulation, edu-

cation improvement or a need to improve our local transportation infrastructure, the chamber staff serves as your

“member agents” to address the issues and they usually can’t wait to help and prove the chamber’s value to you.

As for Human Resource training, smart businesses include the local chamber of commerce as a key part of their

training strategy. Chambers historically contract with speakers and consultants to address leadership, manage-

ment, marketing, sales and customer service courses for a fraction of the price a business would have to pay I

ndividually. Working cooperatively with the chamber’s training agenda in these areas leaves thousands of dollars

available for the technical trainers we must hire within our respective industries. (continued on page 6)

4 The Chamber Line

UPCOMING CHAMBER EVENTS Monthly Business Breakfasts

Wednesday, March 20, 7:30 - 9:00 a.m. The Rhinecliff.

Lea Bishop from the Women’s Enterprise Development Center will talk about what a great resource the

center is to all small businesses in our area. We will also hear from the Rhinebeck Rotary Interact Club

on their recent trip to Nicaragua.

Wednesday, April 24, 7:30 - 9:00 a.m., The Rhinecliff.

Sponsors NDP EMS will tell us about their organization and how we can all benefit from their help.

Ken Migliorelli will also bring us up to date on the Rhinebeck Farmers Market.

Wednesday, May 22, 7:30 - 9:00 a.m., Arbor Ridge.

Lou Paradise from Topical Biomedics will share his story and Omega will tell us about their upcoming

season.

Business After Hours

Thursday, March 14, CruClub Winebar, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 11, On-site sales office & models at The Gardens, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

MEMBER ORIENTATION LUNCH - Thursday, March 14, 2013, Chamber office

PLEASE CHECK THE CALENDAR OF EVENTS ON

WWW.RHINEBECKCHAMBER.COM FOR ALL THE GREAT MEMBER EVENTS

THAT ARE TAKING PLACE!!

5 The Chamber Line

Want to get noticed?

Recently I posted a blog about the frustration experienced by my nine-year-old son when his breaking news was

overlooked by the New York Times. (You can check it out by visiting calecommunications.com – go to “Our

Blog” to get the skinny on exactly what happened).

His legitimate frustration with the media is something felt by many of my clients who are working tirelessly to

get their story covered. So, this month I want to give you all some scoop on how to maximize success with your

media advisory/press release.

Make it easy on the publication/blogger/reporter/network. Let’s face it. These people get a

seemingly infinite number of media advisories and phone calls throughout the day from peo-

ple who believe that their story matters to the masses. You need to make yours easy to read

and impossible to ignore. Give them the angle and give them what they need on a fabulous

silver platter.

Titles are important. Go ahead – pretend to be a journalist for the day. Think of the headliner

and put it right at the top of your release (after you provide the contact information of

course).

Content matters. Keep your content relevant to the who, what, when, where, how, and why –

and create a context for it that might help the reader with a real storyline. Include quotes

from trusted sources.

Have a media kit ready to go when the press decides they want to share your story. Be prepared

to get this to them quickly over email; they are always on very tight deadlines and cannot be

kept waiting for information.

Include high-resolution photos (but not too many). Be sure to properly credit your photographer

on the release. Even if your story is not covered, there is every chance that the image could

be used as a “filler” with a brief statement underneath. Well worth the mention to provide

them with this simple option for covering your news through a picture (literally worth a thou-

sand words sometimes!).

Check your facts. Inaccuracies will immediately discredit you.

Make it social media-friendly. Include links to websites, social media, youtube channel informa-

tion, and anything that might help your news go big /viral in the digital world.

Remember that advertising is advertising, and PR is PR. They are both important, but they are vastly different. They coexist beautifully when you have a comprehensive communications strategy in place – but you will quickly have your releases coded “SPAM” if you send out me dia advisories that are simply descriptions of your amazing product or service. Create a

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Tuesday-Thursday 5-10 PM

Friday-Saturday 5-2AM

Come check us out!

47 East Market Street

Entrance between FACE

and Bumble & Hive

(continued from page 5)

story around your product and you will have the platform

for successful PR.

Make sure your media contacts are up to date. Cultivate each

relationship over time and be patient (but a little persistent,

just not overly so). It will happen.

Consider launching a blog. There is a wonderful sense of fulfill-

ment which comes from writing, and a blog gives you a

chance to share your story while the media smarten up to

your news.

Marybeth Cale, Cale Communications 18 East Market Street, Suite 1

PO Box 409

Rhinebeck, New York 12572

845.876.2220

calecommunications.com

public relations to put the wind in your sail.

(continued from page 3) President’s Message

Credibility and character is another reason why smart businesses have the local chamber join their business

plan. For many businesses, 90% of their customers are out of town so they don’t see the values listed above

because they think it’s just about doing business with each other on the local level. Smart businesses are sure

to include their local memberships when marketing the credibility and character of their organization. It speaks

volumes to a potential client when they see a corporation not only invests in their own business, but in their

home community as well. A smart account representative will always include this in her or his presentation.

This is a peek at why smart businesses don’t join the chamber but why they have the chamber join their busi-

ness plan. As for the bottom line, an average $500 annual (not monthly) retainer is a no brainer.

Patrick H. McGaughey, CPF is an international business consultant, speaker and certified professional

facilitator headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. For more about Pat, go to www.activatingpeople.com

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Remember

A Member

First!

Member

Orientation

Lunch

3/14/2013

Join us to learn how

the Chamber can

help you, even if

you’ve been a

member for a while!

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The ChamberLine

Rhinebeck Area Chamber of Commerce

PO Box 42

Rhinebeck NY 12572