GROW News
May 16, 2012
Below is this week's news from GROW Nebraska. If you have questions, ideas or comments please e-mail
info@grownebraska.org. We LOVE hearing from our members.
Celebrate American Express Small Business Week with GROW
In 2008 American Express launched a national week to shine a spotlight on small businesses in the US. This year the week runs from May 20-26 and GROW is getting in the swing of celebration! We are looking for members who are willing to sample at any of our three stores at any time during that week. We anticipate the busiest days at Kearney and Grand Island will be Sunday the 20th and Saturday the 26th. At this time we are limiting samplers in Omaha to weekdays. The Omaha location has limited space so we will contact you for approval to sample in that location.
Current suggestions include sampling products, letting store staff wear the hat of their choice, additional displays in front of the store to generate interest, balloons, signage. If you have an idea please share it by emailing
info@grownebraska.org. The planning committee appreciates all brainstorms!
To sign up for sampling please fill out the form below. To learn more about Small Business Week and how others are observing it, please visit
www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com.
Sign Up To Sample >>
Member Tip of the Week: Utilize Facebook
Social Media is where it’s at! GROW Nebraska is hitting several social media channels to promote member businesses. Does your business have a Facebook page? We collect this information with our renewals and new memberships – if you have added a business page since you signed up, just let us know and we will link to it! If you are new to social media and need some guidance, we can walk you through the process of setting up a page. Facebook stock goes public this week with a lot of anticipation. This is just one more way to get the most from your membership, and Facebook pages themselves don’t cost a penny!
Visit Our Facebook Page >>
Please Give Us a Heads Up
We would like to remind members that if they are stopping by any of our retail locations or our Lincoln office to please call us before coming so we know to expect you. We want to make sure to review your inventory before you come and also make sure that someone will be there to assist you. Please remember that stopping by our stores during the week will allow us more time to assist you. If you have any questions e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org. To get the phone numbers for all of the locations please visit the link below.
View Contact Information >>
Nebraska Days At Johnson and Harlan County Lakes
GROW Nebraska has been approached by a couple of very successful Marinas in central Nebraska located at Johnson Lake and Harlan County Lake to provide a Nebraska Day. GROW Nebraska would be able to set up and enjoy a Farmer’s Market type atmosphere. This is a pilot project so we are looking for members that are interested in participating in the opportunity and also serving on a steering committee to make this opportunity possible.
Sign Up to Participate >>
New Texting Service
GROW Nebraska members have been asking how they can stay up-to-date on upcoming GROW Nebraska opportunities and events. GROW Nebraska is now offering a texting service! Simply text growneb to 96362 and get signed up to receive information about upcoming opportunities. Message and data rates may apply. What are you waiting for? Get notified right on your phone so you don't miss out on the next big thing!
If you have any questions at all regarding this service, please contact us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Proven Sampling Success
Thank you to Cooper's Best for having fresh pancakes at our Kearney store on Saturday from 10am-1pm. In that time they sold 25 packages of their mix. Sampling at GROW Nebraska stores is a wonderful opportunity to tell people about your products. GROW Nebraska will promote your event on our Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages to help drive traffic. If you are interested in sampling, please fill out the form below.
Sign Up to Sample >>
Author Signings in June
GROW Nebraska is supporting our authors in June by holding book signings in our stores. So far Annette Snyder is visiting Kearney and Grand Island on June 2 and 23, and Thresa Chamberlain is attending Kearney on June 9 and 30. Would you like to join them? We have room for more! This is a great way to talk to people about your books. If you are interested in coming, please fill out the form below.
Sign Up to Attend >>
Upcoming Grand Island Events
There are a few events going on in the Grand Island mall including the GI Cruiser on May 19th (expecting 30–50 people) and A Day of Tribute for Veterans on May 26 (expecting 50-70 people). These would both be good days to come into the Grand Island store and sample your product or have a trunk show. If you are interested in coming one of these days please fill out the form below.
Sign Up to Sample >>
Thanks for the Guest Blogs
Thank you to
Annette Snyder for submitting a guest blog this week about her new book. This is a great way to promote your business. Would you like to supply a blog? E-mail it to us at at
info@grownebraska.org. We will post up to one blog per member per month.
Do You Need Software Training?
We recently had a member inquire about how to use QuickBooks. Did you know that there are several Nebraska organizations that can assist you with software training on things like QuickBooks and Microsoft Excel? GROW Members and partners
Small Business Association of the Midlands,
AIM Institute,
SCORE as well as several
local community colleges offer classes and training for things technology and software related. For more information on any of these organizations, please e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Do You Have Items That Need To Go East?
We have a GROW Nebraska member from Overton going to Lincoln and Omaha weekly to deliver product to wholesalers who is willing to transport some other members products if needed. If you are interested in this please let us know at
info@grownebraska.org and we will notify them.
GROW Nebraska Gift Basket Opportunity
GROW Nebraska is considering having a "gift basket of the month" promotion where people can purchase one gift basket a month as a gift or for themselves. We are looking for vendors who are interested in having their products in the baskets. If you are interested please fill out the form below. We will see how many people are interested to see if we should move forward with this idea.
Additionally, if your business offers a similar program and you would be interested in GROW Nebraska promoting it, please e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Sign Up Now >>
Member Appreciation Day
The next Member Appreciation Day is June 14. On that day you can receive 25% off items at any GROW Nebraska retail location. You can also receive the discount online by calling (402)742-3121 and placing an order. For all of the member appreciation dates please visit our
online events calendar.
Send Us Items for Pinterest
Did you know GROW has 100 followers and 238 pins on
Pinterest? We are looking for new items to add, so if you have items on our eCommerce site that you would like added please let us know. We can also post a few items from your web site if the photos are big enough. If you have items you would like added e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Link Back to GROW
Do you have a link to GROW Nebraska from your web site? If not, download a logo using the link below and link back to help improve your search engine ranking. If you questions e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Download GROW Logo >>
Promote your Products to Benefactors of Kearney Area Children’s Museum
We have been approached by the
Kearney Area Children’s Museum for donations to their Treasure Chest Auction. This annual event will be held on June 15 to raise funds for educational programming at the museum and their Sharing & Caring Program. The event will be held June 15 this year at the Kearney Area Children's Museum.
The Treasure Chest Auction includes silent auction items, and they would like to showcase items from GROW Nebraska members. While the auction benefits children, the bidders will mostly be adults, so all products are appropriate.
If you would like to make a donation, the GROW Staff at the Kearney store will assemble gift baskets of member products to be donated. We may take items out of inventory in Kearney or you may ship them to our Kearney store at:
GROW Nebraska
c/o Sara Stevens-Stehl
5019 2nd Avenue, #20
Kearney, NE 68847
Sign Up To Donate >>
Retail Store and State Fair Workers Needed
GROW Nebraska is in need of part-time help in our Kearney store. We are also looking for help for our 2012 State Fair Store August 24-September 3 in Grand Island.
The Omaha Eppley GROW Store is also now hiring staff for part-time positions. We are looking to fill these positions soon. Initial store hours will be 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday through Saturday and Sunday 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. One weekend a month is required for this position. These are paid positions.
We value your connections, so if you have anyone who is interested you can have them fill out the form below or you may have them e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Work In Our Store >>
Member News
Congrats to
Master Hand Candle Co. for a recent story about their business on KETV. You can view the interview
here.
GROW Member Trista Koch with
Empowered Practice is hosting an event for ladies called Flourish on Monday, May 21 from 5:30-6:30pm at the Eustis Fairgrounds. For more information contact her at 308-325-3552.
Do you have news about your business? Please let us know at
info@grownebraska.org.
New Members
BBG Artistry (Omaha, NE) - BBG Artistry is a home-based art business that specializes in fused glass art of all kinds. It specializes in one-of-a- kind home decor, Judiaica (Jewish Art), multi-purpose jewelry (combination pendant/brooch), magnetic jewelry, earrings, unique accessories and wall art. Learn more and see her art at
www.bbgartistry.etsy.com.
Do you have someone that you would like to refer to GROW Nebraska? Just e-mail their information to
info@grownebraska.org and if they join we'll give you a $25 referral check!
Do You Have Recipes for Pinterest?
GROW Nebraska is looking for recipes to be used with your food products to place on Pinterest. If you have recipes, please submit them with the form below. We are looking at utilizing these recipes on our eCommerce site, web site and Pinterest page. Teri with Ricky and Lucy's Greenhouse submitted one and within 12 hours it was repinned once and liked once. Only recipes submitted with photos can be used on Pinterest. Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity!
Submit Recipe >>
June Membership Call
GROW Nebraska has scheduled monthly membership calls for 2012. These calls are a great way for you to get questions answered about your membership or anything GROW related.
The next call is set for Tuesday, June 5 at 12pm CT. GROW Nebraska staff will be available on each call to answer your questions and concerns. The calls will be held the first Tuesday of every month. Please be sure to sign up for the call so that you receive the call-in phone number.
Sign Up Now >>
Join GROW Nebraska on Google+ and Pinterest
GROW Nebraska recently added Google+ and Pinterest pages to our social media endeavors. Be sure to join our circle and follow us by visiting our pages.
Join GROW Nebraska's Google+ Circle >>
Follow GROW Nebraska on Pinterest >>
Google AdWords
GROW Nebraska received a Google Grant which allows us to use up to $330 per day in Google AdWord advertising. As of now, we are not using up our total daily budget, so we need your help. If you have products available on
ShopGrowNebraska.org and would like FREE AdWords for them, please fill out the form
here. This is a great opportunity to try Google AdWords for free before investing in them yourself.
