Add-Options Blog

I had the opportunity to meet Dian Thomas over a year ago and to chat with her about her career.  She spent many years presenting ideas for camping and crafts on various TV shows, including the Today Show.  Dian is a force of nature when it comes to promotion and publicity.  And she is sharing her knowledge and experience with entrepreneurs in Utah.

She offers a day long course called “How to Get a Million Dollars’ Worth of Free Publicity” with the next course to be offered on January 31, 2008 at the Larry Miller Campus of SLCC.  The cost of the course is $169 and includes resources for helping you become a pro at public relations for your small business.  You can call 800-846-6355 or email her at dian@DianThomas.com to register for the course.   It’s well worth the money and time to learn from Dian.

For those of you who have been waiting for this, AddOptions.org has finally been updated with all the links from the various courses being taught.  Resources for marketing and market research as well as website development and many other business topics have been added for your use.  Since there is plenty of useless information on the internet, only the best resources (like always) have been chosen.  If you think we should add something, please don’t hesitate to suggest them. 

Have you ever wondered what market research was all about?  Maybe you wanted to figure out how to determine who your customers really are.  Well, have I got the answer for you.

Starting on November 6th, there will be a 4 week course on the subject of Market Research.  Each Tuesday evening from 6 to 9, you can learn from me, John Gilbert, about figuring out who your customers are, how to find them, and what it takes to find them. 

The most critical success factor for a Small Business is Market Research. You need to identify your target market and create a customer profile. This class teaches you how to conduct primary, secondary, and internet research to identify customer psychographics, demographics, and geographics.

Who should take this course? Small Business Owners, or start ups that need help with Market Research.

Course Objectives  After completion the student should be able to:

• Identify your Target Market
• Create a Customer Profile
• Conduct Primary and Secondary Research
• Use the Internet to find information

Course Details
Length: 3 hours
Format: Computer Lab
Class size: 18 students
Location: Salt Lake Community College
  9750 South 300 West, Sandy UT 84070
  Miller Free Enterprise Center 207

Here’s the link to get signed up.  Or call Barbara at (801) 957-4654 for more information.

As part of the Internet for Small Businesss Owners course at UVSC, the SEO class is Tuesday, October 16th (tonight) at 7:15pm. The owner of a SEO company will be coming to speak about what SEO is and how to do it.

The Orem address is 800 South 900 West room 106.

The more the merrier, so tell your friends and business associates that they are welcome. The evening is open to the public and is free to attend.

On Tuesday, October 9th at 7:15 pm, there will be a free lecture on Blogging and Affiliate Marketing for Small Businesses by Janet Meiners. Their lecture is filled with useful points on how to use these two marketing techniques to increase revenues. If you are interested in learning how to develop these techniques in your business, please come to this 2 hour course.

This lecture is part of the UVSC Community Education course, Internet for Small Businesses and is being offered free to the public for the first time ever. The course will be held in the UVSC Education Building (the old Vineyard Elementary at 900 West and 800 South) in room 104. Seating is limited, so show up early.

I just got a reminder in the mail about BYU’s annual Economic Self-Reliance Conference. It’s November 8 and 9, 2007. The primary focus of this conference is microeconomics around the world. Most of what they discuss has application to third-world countries, but it is applicable to economic development in the United States.

If I remember right, students can attend for free. Everyone else has to pay. It’s $125 early bird registration for those who register before October 15, 2007. If you are interested in helping others to become self-sufficient, it is well worth the price.

UVSC and the Alpine School District Community Education program are offering courses in entrepreneurship taught by John Gilbert. These include Opportunity Evaluation, Business Planning, Running a Business, and Internet in the Small Business. You can find more information about the courses at the Add-Options Small Business School webpage. If you know of an entrepreneur that could use some help getting organized or started, these are great courses. The cost of the courses is very low for those who are on a budget. The courses begin next week, so let your friends know they have to hurry and register. Thanks.

The Utah Valley Entrepreneurs Forum is offering a free registration for the September luncheon. This is a great opportunity to get to know some of the folks who are in business in Utah County.

Here is the text of their message.

It is our great pleasure to announce the “Taste of the Forum” promotion for September. If you’ve ever thought about introducing your friends, co-workers, or anyone with an interest in entrepreneurship to UVEF, now is the time! Until September 10th we will have special 30-day “trial memberships” available on our website (www.uvef.net) free of charge. These enable the trial member to RSVP for the September luncheon event as a regular member - i.e, for free! This promises to be a great luncheon, with the Utah Fund of Fund’s Jeff Curl coming to present. Trial members will also be able to access our members-only download section and sample many months worth of previous of UVEF events. Trial memberships are found on the “Memberships” page of our website. Pass the word along!

I highly recommend this organization to anyone interested in business in the Utah Valley.

Today was a luncheon sponsored by the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum, Utah Technology Council, MountainWest Capital Network, and the Wayne Brown Institute. The topic of this joint meeting was the Utah Fund of Funds and the impact it has had on entrepreneurship in the State of Utah. It consisted of presentations by the fund manager and several of the venture capital organizations that have invested in Utah because of the fund.

It is a great thing that this fund exists in Utah because it creates the possiblity of future angel investors for entrepreneurs in Utah. The fund itself won’t help most small businesses to acquire funding, but for larger, fast growing businesses it is wonderful to see. Utah has a great entrepreneurial base and can provide a well-trained workforce. But funding for many early stage businesses have few resources. If you need less than $250,000 then you will have a tough road to hoe. Maybe someday there will be a greater level of support for the early stage entrepreneur. Until the influence of the Utah Fund of Funds filters down to the angels, we will need to keep being creative in funding our businesses.

Tonight we had Ryan Mendenhall and Boyd Norwood from ioVentures, a Utah SEO company discuss Search Engine Optimization.  They had so much valuable information and the questions just kept coming.  Even after the class ended, the students stayed around for almost an hour asking questions.  It was such a great learning experience for everyone.  There is nothing like the excited energy and enthusiasm of students as they see how the pieces fit together.  I wish them all the success in the world.