Blog Index
2016 Blogs
- 1-14-16 Tis the season – Everyone is doing surveys
- 1-7-16 “Suffragette” is a movie that reminds me how far women have come
2015 Blogs
- 12-30-15 Bagels and feelings of gratitude to start the New Year
- 12-24-15 Have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas
- 12-17-15 What’s special or unique about your business?
- 12-10-15 Buy your presents locally instead of buying them on the Internet from large corporations
- 12-3-15 Collaboration is a great way for non-profits to help each other
- 11-19-15 In the aftermath of a devastating storm, the Whidbey community comes together
- 11-12-14 Langley Whale Center is helping to bring business to Langley
- 11-5-15 What you need to know about surveys
- 10-29-15 Beware of surveys that purport to tell you what's happening
- 10-22-15 News is now just another form of marketing
- 10-15-15 Double Bluff Brewing Co - Another new Langley business fills a niche and achieves a vision
- 10-8-15 Treating a patient like a customer - a Tale of two surgical procedures
- 10-1-15 The “Here for You” program in Langley is helping the town become known as a fun place to shop
- 9-24-15 Collaboration works well for Artworks Gallery in Greenbank and Whidbey Art Gallery in Langley
- 9-17-15 Create a vision to help you create your business
- 9-10-15 Happiness and a smile are good for business
- 9-2-15 It’s great to have fun with your business, even if it’s trashy
- 8-20-15 Three ideas about how to best use your marketing dollars
- 8-20-15 Three ideas about how to best use your marketing dollars
- 8-13-15 The wonderful local food products on Whidbey
- 8-6-15 Do you know where your customers live?
- 7-30-15 Bubba Burgers: Having fun is good for business
- 7-23-15 Guidelines for facilitating a productive meeting
- 7-16-15 The City of Langley launches “Here for You,” a program to encourage tourists and locals to visit Langley businesses
- 7-9-15 Fair Trade Outfitters is filling a niche on Whidbey Island
- 7-2-15 Creating key messages for your business
- 6-25-15 What’s special or unique about your business?
- 6-18-15 Changing your business model to match changing times and interests
- 6-11-15 The new tables in City Hall demonstrate a great way to support local artists
- 6-4-15 Three basic marketing ideas to help increase business
- 5-28-15 The Children’s Writing Contest involved collaboration between more organizations that NILA and WCT
- 5-20-15 Collaboration benefits non-profits just as it does for-profit businesses
- 3-12-15 Bringing kids to work is a major topic on the Internet
- 3-5-15 Guest Blogger, Mike Dalton, Dalton Realty
- 2-26-15 Bring a baby to work and build your business
- 2-19-15 Basic customer service: Eye contact and a smile
- 2-12-15 Your first job as a retail business owner is to make a person feel welcome coming into your store
- 2-5-15 Authenticity can build tourism
- 1-15-15 The value of working with a hometown bank
- 1-8-15 Starting the New Year with the three simplest marketing concepts
2014 Blogs
- 12-18-14 When it comes to business, the bottom line isn't the only line
- 12-11-14 Remember to relax and have fun during the holidays
- 12-4-14 A customer-friendly dog can be a great attraction for a retail business
- 11-27-14 Being thankful and grateful are essential elements to a successful and happy life
- 11- 20 -14 Another excellent example of collaboration: Artworks Gallery in Greenbank
- 11-13-14 Fred Lundahl offers another pearl of wisdom from a successful Langley merchant
- 11-6-14 Good suggestions from a wise, successful Langley merchant
- 10-30-14 Whidbey Art Gallery in Langley is another great example of the power of collaboration
- 10-23-14 Humans still communicate mostly non-verbally
- 10-16-14 Tell the owner or manager if anything is wrong with your experience with a business
- 10-9-14 More push to do something about Anazon.com
- 10-2-14 Support your local business and stay away from Amazon.com
9-25-14 An email may not communicate what you intended
- 8-28-14 Sweet Mona’s in Langley: It takes vision, courage and a lot of work to create a successful business
- 8-20-14 Paul Schell’s memorial on Whidbey, a uniquely Whidbey experience
- 8-14-14 What’s queer about Whidbey’s first Queer Pride Parade?
- 8-8-14 This is a great time of year to buy all of your food locally on Whidbey
- 7-31-14 Helping with a community event is good business
- 7-24-14 Take a walk through Langley, Freeland or Coupeville
- 7-17-14 Making eye contact and smiling are the first steps in providing good customer service
- 7-10-14 Langley has a lovely new public space
- 6-27-14 Honesty is the best policy
- 6-24-14 A smile is contagious and can help build your business
- 6-19-14 Why do a survey?
- 6-12-14 The Langley Merchants Survey – The biggest take-away from this survey
- 6-5-14 The Langley Merchants Survey – What are some of the other major reasons given for choosing to shop at a particular business?
- 5-29-14 The Langley Merchants Survey – What is the biggest reason someone chooses to shop at a particular business?
- 5-22-14 The Langley Merchants Survey – Who comes to Langley businesses?
- 5-15-14 It's important to ask, "How did you learn about my business?"
- 5-8-14 What is special or unique about your business?
- 5-1-14 Will someone notice your business if they’re just walking by?
- 4-24-14 The joy of telling a good story
- 4–17–14 Coupeville Chamber members become engaged in sharing ideas
- 4-10-14 Langley merchants are working together to learn more about customers and visitors coming to the community
- 4-4-14 Three basic marketing ideas to help increase business
- 3-27-14 A great example of collaboration in Coupeville: Vail Wine Shop & Tasting Room and the Oystercatcher Restaurant
- 3-20-14 What is a statistically valid survey?
- 3-13-14 Everyone is doing surveys!
- 3-6-14 Making good use of emails: The Mayor of Langley wants to send special alerts to his community
- 2-20-14 Keep checking in with your customers and potential customers
- 2-13-14 Being aware of changing times, and changing when necessary
- 2-7-14 An iconic community like South Whidbey Island can be a great draw for tourists
- 1-23-14 More about our burglary: The interconnectedness of Whidbey
- 1-16-14 Business owners want to hear from their customers when something isn’t right
- 1-9-14 New owners for the Oystercatcher Restaurant in Coupeville, and another example of being passionate about what you do
- 1-2-14 Starting the New Year with another late-in-life love story
2013 Blogs
- 12-26-13 Saying “Thank you” and meaning it: a great way to build your business
- 12-17-13 More musings on bad things that can happen, and good things that can follow
- 12-9-13 OUR HOME WAS BURGLARIZED - some musings on bad things that can happen and what’s truly important
- 12-4-13 Now that the Studio Art Hop is over, check out Inspired Arts in Freeland
- 11-26-13 Check out the Whidbey Island Art Studio Hop: Shop local for the holidays
- 11-20 –13 Being passionate about what you do – Part 2
- 11-14-13 The Paint Escape is a unique business in Freeland
- 11-7-13 Being passionate about what you do can really help your business
- 11-1-13 If a town has a special personality it is a more inviting place to shop
- 10-24-13 Three simple concepts to know about marketing your business
- 10-17-13 Freeland can promote itself as a tourist destination
- 10-10-13 The Eyes Have It
- 10-3-13 Inspired Arts in Freeland: A great example of putting together several marketing concepts
- 9-26-13 The most basic marketing research: getting a zip code and finding out how people learned about your business
- 9-19-13 Another great example of niche marketing: The Glass Alley Café in Freeland
- 9-12-13 Word-of-mouth: It costs nothing, but can be a very effective marketing tool
- 9-5-13 A customer’s first impression of your business is always the most important one
- 8-29-13 Cook on Clay: Another example of great collaboration
- 8-22-13 The value of a professional facilitator
- 8-5-13 I'd like to hear your marketing questions
- 7-25-13 How to use your marketing dollars most effectively
- 7-18-13 A smile is contagious and can help build your business
- 7-11-13 Groups seem to function better when there’s a balance of men and women participants
- 7-4-13 Do you know someone who met and married later in life?
- 6-27-13 Technology vs. intuition, Part 2: Sometimes true creativity and connections with a client happen away from technology
- 6-20-13 Technology vs. intuition
- 6-13-13 How often do you ask your customers, “How did you learn about my business?”
- 6-6-13 Getting your customer’s zip code is one of the simplest marketing research tools
- 5-30-13 Making a customer feel welcomed
- 5-23-13 Actively participating in your community is great marketing
- 5-16-13 A Focus group is more than just bringing people together to talk
- 5-9-13 How do you decide what questions to ask in a survey?
- 5-2-13 What creates a valid survey?
- 4-25-13 I am now doing stories for the Whidbey Weekly
- 4-18-13 Store Dogs of Whidbey
- 4-11-13 I'd like to hear from you
- 4-4-13 Do people know what you’re selling?
- 3-21-13 What is special or unique about a manicure business?
- 3-21-13 What if the need to make money takes the joy out of your passion?
- 3-14-13 More musings on collaboration: A good way to fire up creativity
- 3-7-13 Collaboration: A discussion with Clinton Chamber members
- 2-28-13 Being passionate about what you do makes good business sense
- 2-21-13 A celebration can provide the basis for some great PR
- 2-14-13 Making a case for your business
- 2-7-13 Creating gifts to build your business
- 1-31-13 What’s special or unique about your business?
- 1-24-13 Do you know where your customers live?
- 1-17-13 A Focus group is a valuable and reliable marketing research tool
- 1-10-13 Having a productive meeting
- 1-03-13 An email can create misunderstanding
2012 Blogs
- 12-20-12 An idea can take flight and become an action
- 12-13-12 A smile can build your business
- 12-6-12 Collaboration can be creative and fun, as well as productive
- 11-29-12 Promote what’s different about your product or business
- 11-15-12 How to have a meeting that produces results
- 11-8-12 Carolyn Tamler is now writing The Business Buzz for Whidbey Local
- 11-1-12 Tis the season for buttons
- 10-25-12 Polls, polls, polls: Do they mean anything?
- 10-18-12 I Love Staying at Bed & Breakfasts
- 10-11-12 10-11-12 Tourism is great for many businesses, but most businesses need a steady stream of local customers
- 10-4-12 A personal phone call can mean a lot
- 9-27-12 Making sense from an informal, open-end survey
- 9-20-12 Why do a survey?
- 9-13-12 Neil’s Clover Patch Café in Bayview is a great example of how selling local products builds a strong, loyal customer base
- 9-6-12 Creating a safe space for constructive ideas
- 8-30-12 Carolyn’s Marketing 101 Class is being offered in Coupeville
- 8-23-12 What business are you in?
- 8-16-12 Giving customers what they want
- 8-9-12 Why do a survey?
- 8-2-12 A great way to start a new business: Fill a need
- 7-26-12 Creativity is sometimes easier within a group
- 7-19-12 Making a good visual first impression
- 7-12-12 Creativity: Finding new ways to blend different businesses
- 7-5-12 Local Farmers are contributing to a new business model
- 6-28-12 Polling: How can there be such wide ranges of differences?
- 6-21-12 Commitment: an essential quality for a successful business
- 6-14-12 The Value of a Focus Group Discussion
- 6-7-12 Creating key messages for your business
- 5-31-12 What is special or unique about your business?
- 5-24-12 Finding a niche: the key to creating a successful business
- 5-17-12 Another great example of collaboration
- 5-10-12 Making eye contact
- 5-3-12 Three basic ideas when thinking about how to increase your business
- 4-26-12 The second simplest marketing research tool: “How did you learn about my business?”
- 4-19-12 The simplest marketing research tool
- 4-12-12 Building a community while you build a business
- 4-5-12 Collaboration is a great tool for building business
- 3-30-12 Conducting a reliable survey
- 3-22-12 Facilitating a productive meeting
- 3-15-12 The basis for a good story
- 3-6-12 The first rule in marketing
