GROW News
May 19, 2010
eValueWeb
The goal of the GROW Nebraska web site critique is to provide members and non-members valuable feedback regarding their web site. Since $134.9 billion dollars was created in online sales in 2009*, an effective web site will increase sales of your product(s), as well as promote your business. The jury panel will consist of several web industry experts who have backgrounds in e-business strategy, graphic design, and usability testing. The jury will rate and comment on your web site in six areas: audience/purpose, graphics, navigation, content, functionality and search engine optimization.
2010 Jurors include: Jason Berry of
Wildberry Production Group,
Kurt Guntner of
Blue Collar Design Studio,
Ryan Cole of
Three Pillars Media, John Stappert of
Power Computing, Inc., Angela Stueckrath of
Angela Stueckrath Consulting,
Lance Hedquist of
South Sioux City Economic Development,
Kelly Diekmann of
Perfect 11 Solutions,
David Hefley of
Meridian Consulting, Doris Lux of
Central Community College - Columbus and
Derek Bierman of
Shockra Multimedia and Design.
*US Department of Commerce
Sign Up Now >>
Please Help GROW Reach 5,000 Fans
GROW Nebraska needs your help reaching 5,000 Facebook fans. By getting more fans, GROW can help to spread the word about our members and how GROW Nebraska can help other entrepreneurs.
To tell your friends about GROW Nebraska, please follow the steps below. Thanks for your help!
- Visit our page at facebook.com/growneb
- Under the picture in the top left corner, click the "suggest to friends" link
- Choose the friends you would like to invite to be fans. Any friends that are already fans will be grayed out.
Food Producers: Sign Up for LocalDirt.com
If you are a food producer you should sign up for a free account with
LocalDirt.com. Local Dirt is a way for local sellers and local buyers to find each other.
Do You Not Have A Web Site?
If you don't have a web site, consider using GROW Nebraska as your web address. Please feel free to add www.grownebraska.org or www.shopgrownebraska.org (if your products are on our eCommerce site) for your labels or business cards. If you have any questions, please e-mail us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Prestigious Pages
Is your Facebook page prestigious? Do you need help promoting it? GROW Nebraska is looking for member pages that are dynamic and updated regularly to promote on their page every Wednesday for the Prestigious Pages post. We are seeking pages that set prime examples for other members on how to incorporate notes/blogs, photos, etc. If your page qualifies, we would love to have your Facebook Business page as our featured Prestigious Page for the week. Please email your page URL to
info@grownebraska.org to get your chance of becoming our featured page.
Nebraska State Fair Opportunities!
Are you interested in working in the GROW Nebraska General Store at the State Fair? It is a paid position and we are looking for all shifts. We prefer to hire members that can work three or more shifts. If you are interested in working please e-mail
info@grownebraska.org.
Foodzie.com
Are a you a food producer? If you're not on
Foodzie.com, tell them about yourself! You can suggest their food product
here or e-mail them directly at
producer@foodzie.com.
Grill Month
May is grill month and we're promoting it in our stores. Here is a picture of our grill display in the Grand Island Conestoga Mall. Do you have a grilling product? Consider doing a tasting at our Grand Island or Kearney locations. If you are interested, please contact us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Testimonials
If you have a sincere testimonial about any event or service that GROW provides, we would love to hear about your experience ... the good and the not so good. We also use many member testimonials in our publications and on our web site. That gives the potential for you and your business to receive additional free press. If you have a testimonial that you would like to share, please e-mail it to us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Items for Sale
Items from Hollmann Foods are being sold.
- Shrink Tunnel (similar to right but older model) - $1,000 or best offer
- Two 4 gallon stainless steel buckets - $40 each or best offer
- Three 5 gallon stainless steel pans - $50 each or best offer
- 4 moving racks with wheels
- Stainless steal sinks
- Stainless steal countertops
If you are interested in any of these items please contact Cheryl Hughes at
PoppinSnacks@hrpoppinsnacks.com.
CHANGE THE WORLD with GROW: Glass Reuse for Our World
We are inviting you to help us GO GREEN and make a small step in changing the world. We are piloting a glass reuse program at the Kearney store.
What is the project?
Consumers will be encouraged to bring their empty glass jars of GROW Nebraska products to the Kearney store where participating members will re-sanitize and reuse the glass containers.
Why be involved?
- FREE glass container because you will be able to reuse the returned empty jars.
- Environmentally conscientious consumers will want to buy your product because it is recyclable.
- You will get additional product promotion.
- It’s simple.
How to be involved in this project:
- Sign up here.
- Agree to put a small label on your participating products that says it is returnable for recycling.
- Pick up empty glass containers at the Kearney Store.
Re-sterilize the glass containers.
- Reuse them!
If you have any questions about this project, don't hesitate to contact us at
info@grownebraska.org.
Who Sold Online This Week?
These GROW Nebraska members sold items on the GROW Nebraska eBay and eCommerce stores this week.
New Members
MedTale Publishing - Norfolk, NE
The Secrets of Modern Medicine Revealed is a book by board certified Internal Medicine doctor Nabin Sapkota practicing in Nebraska. It reveals all the inside information, interesting and surprising facts about modern medical practice to the general population. Learn more
here.
Perfect 11 Solutions - Lincoln, NE
Perfect 11 is a web and graphic design firm located in Lincoln. Learn more
here.
Blue Collar Design Studio - Omaha, NE
Blue Collar Design Studio is a creative advertising and marketing agency in Omaha, Nebraska dedicated to providing high-quality, cost effective web design, SEO and traditional print layout and design services.
Learn more
here.
Shockra - Norfolk, NE
Shockra provides web development, flash development, .NET development, application development, web design, animation, 3D modeling and animation, audio and video services.
Learn more
here.
Member News
John Rood of Nebraska Digital was interviewed by KLKN-TV in Lincoln about Nebraska entrepreneurship and Turbine Flats. Congrats!
Sandra Hilsabeck has her monthly devotions published at
eastridge.org web site every 23rd day of the month. They have been published in their pamphlet of chosen works.
Erstwhile Farms Recipes and labels have been approved for their brats. They are excited to get their next hogs processed and use the new labels so the outside of the package looks as good as what's on the inside of the package.
Hands On Business Writing Workshop
YOU WILL LEARN:
- Why it is important to have a business plan
- What are the key elements of a business plan
- How to start writing your business plan
- How to develop the financial plan for your business
- How to successfully obtain funding your business venture
- Where to get resources and tools to develop your plan
Park in the two-hour visitor/metered parking northwest of the Culture Center.
Review the campus map at:
parking.unl.edu/maps/CityCampusParkingMap.pdf
Make your reservation by e-mail at
mrodriguez2@unlnotes.unl.edu, by phone at (402) 472-5222,
or click on the link below to register online!!
Register Now >>
Jars for Sale
Stephanie Stueckrath has a partial palate of 10 oz dodecagon jars and lids to fit (gold) for sale. If you are interested in buying them you can contact her at 402-649-8103 or
stephanie@hughes.net.
AgriMarketing Professional Development Opportunity
Do you work with agriculture producers who have entrepreneurial ideas?
Do you want to learn how to effectively create a feasibility plan?
Do you want to better understand marketing concepts?
Do you want to learn about online direct marketing?
Then you need to sign up for the AgriMarketing Professional Development opportunity created by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Entrepreneurship Work Group. This professional development training will:
- increase your entrepreneurial marketing knowledge, skills and confidence while working with agricultural producers on value added ideas
- help improve your ability to work with clientele to develop
- sustainable value added ag-business feasibility plans,
- understand general marketing concepts, and
- develop online direct marketing strategies.
The workshop series is created so you can attend one, two or all three. Cost for one workshop is $100.00 while the cost to register for all three is $240.00.
- three face-to-face market focused trainings and a series of follow-up webinars:
- Building Feasibility – June 24 and 25, 2010
- AgriMarketing Concepts – Feb. 15 and 16, 2011
- Online Direct Marketing – Nov. 9 and 10, 2011
The promotional flyer includes more detailed information on the program highlights, workshops and expected long-term outcomes. Registration and scholarship information can be found at
http://go.unl.edu/marketingforag
Space is still available but limited so sign up NOW!
The UNL Extension Entrepreneurship work group is excited to bring this opportunity to you. This professional development opportunity is funded through a USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research Education (SARE) grant.
crandall3@unl.edu, Charlotte Narjes -
cnarjes1@unl.edu, Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel -
cburkhartkriesel1@unl.edu, and
chancock1@unl.edu.
SCORE® Seminar
Monday, June 14th & Monday, June 21st @ 6:00 – 9:30 pm
Central Community College—Kearney
3519 2nd Ave, Kearney, NE—Room 143
TOPICS COVERED:
- Business Planning
- How to Plan for Success
- Financing Your Business
- Where to Find Funding
- Bookkeeping and Legal Structure
- What Accounting Skills are Needed for Your Business Form
- Business Insurance
- What Type should You Have
- E-Commerce/Social Marketing
- How can I Use the Internet in my Business?
- Sales & Use Taxes
- Do You Understand the Impact of Taxes?
- GROW Nebraska
- How can GROW Help?
- How I Started My Own Business
- A Personal Testimonial from a Local Business Owner
The cost of the workshop is only $45.00.
You can pre-register by calling (308) 338-4008 or (877) 222-0780, ext. 4008
