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Register for SCORE’s free biz seminars, meet lenders and yes, lunch!

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I don’t know of any business-oriented organization that offers such great quality content and advice for free better than SCORE does.

I’ve been a member of the Greater Rochester Chapter of SCORE for about two years and the level of expertise of our volunteers is amazing.  They are men and women with impressive careers with both big name companies and smaller enterprises.

The “Gear up to Grow Your Business” event on Wednesday, May 3, will put that business expertise on full display. Attendees can choose from two of four seminars to attend in the morning:

  • Growth Through Leaps and Bounds: Joint Venture, Merger, Acquisition

  • Business Protection and Continuity.

  • Be Prepared: The Changing Landscape of Government Regulations, Policies and Procedures.

  • Personality Profiles: It’s No Longer About You. It’s About the Person You’re Selling To. 

Descriptions of each session are here.

Then there will be lunch at which two local business people will be honored as “Client of the Year.”

In the afternoon, from 1:30 to 4 p.m. there will be a “bank matchmaker” event, which will give business owners and entrepreneurs the opportunity to meet one-on-one with local lenders — banks, Kiva, credit unions, etc.

And in case you missed the word “free” in the headline, this event is all free on May 3. It starts with registration, networking and continental breakfast from 8:15 a.m. to 9 a.m. The workshops start at 9. The event will be at Oak Hill Country Club, 145 Kilbourn Road, in Pittsford.

When you register here, you can let us know which workshops you want to attend. And you don’t need to attend the entire day. Our registration form allows for you to check off whether you plan to attend just some or all events.

I’ll be there helping with registration, and then attending two sessions so I, too, can keep learning. Questions? Let me know.

Free SCORE seminars to grow your small biz

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Great group that helps small biz owners
Great group that helps small biz owners

To be a successful small biz owner, you have to keep on top of myriad subjects and trends. That’s why the upcoming “Learn to Soar 2.0” should be at the top of a small biz owner’s “to do” list.

The Greater Rochester Chapter of SCORE is offering “Learn to Soar 2.0,” a free seminar and networking event for new and existing small biz owners and entrepreneurs on Wednesday, Sept. 28. The event begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. at Monroe Golf Club, 155 Golf Ave., Pittsford. ESL Federal Credit Union is co-sponsoring the event.

Did you say free?

I’m a member of SCORE, which is a volunteer organization with more than 80 experienced business professionals serving Monroe and surrounding counties. These professionals offer free one-on-one business advice and mentoring for new and existing businesses, in addition to SCORE providing a robust schedule of workshops at low cost. SCORE is also part of a national network of 11,500-plus volunteers in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

As a SCORE volunteer, not only do I help advise entrepreneurs, but also my communications business has benefited greatly from attending some of the SCORE workshops. I had a great foundation in business from my many years as an editor and general manager of publications. Once I went out on my own, I needed to expand my skill set, and SCORE has helped me do that. I’ve learned more about social media strategy, tax issues, marketing and selling, and so on.

That’s why I’m so excited about the line-up for this year’s event.  Here’s the list of workshops to be taught by super knowledgeable SCORE volunteers who have an impressive track record as professionals:

 

  • 8 Ways to Use Video to Grow Your Business
  • Panel Discussion on Alternatives for Financing Your Business (such as Kiva, Kickstarter, etc.)
  • Promoting Your Business on a Zero Budget
  • Grow Your Business with Email and Social Media
  • Sales Process and Closing Techniques
  • Successful Negotiating Techniques
  • Back2Biz: 30 Ways to Grow Your List
  • The Power of the Inbox
  • Social Media Explained
  • What is a Balance Sheet?

 

It’s free!

It’s unheard of for this type of event to be free! Normally you could expect to pay at least $100 and often much more in the Rochester area for this kind of helpful training. “Learn to Soar 2.0” builds on the success of a 2015 “Learn to Soar” event, for which I was a volunteer. It was a stimulating day, with about 200 people attending a variety of seminars. Our SCORE chapter received such a positive response from participants that we decided to offer a full slate of new seminars in 2016.

Attendees can choose three workshops to attend. The event includes morning pastries and coffee, a free box lunch, and plenty of time for networking. The program will end with a reception and cash bar. “Learn to Soar 2.0” is open to business owners and new entrepreneurs in the Rochester area and surrounding counties.

Pre-registration is required for this event and can be done at https://greaterrochester.score.org/.  For more information, call (585) 263-6473.

I hope you can attend!

 

What’s truly essential? 3 steps to Essentialism

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I'm highlighting key take-aways from this book.
I’m highlighting key take-aways from this book.

I’m always trying to cram more into my day. Who isn’t? But I’m reading a fascinating book called Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and trying to discern what’s really essential to me and where can I make the greatest contribution.

Greg McKeown is the author of Essentialism, and I heard him discuss this form of “systematic discipline” on this podcast with Michael Hyatt.

McKeown makes the point that we live in a world where “the preponderance of choice has overwhelmed our ability to manage it. We have lost our ability to filter what is important and what isn’t.”

He uses the analogy of our clothing closet — just like it gets cluttered, so do our lives as we make commitments and the list of things we are doing keeps growing.  So the Essentialist way of approaching life, like his or her closet, is three-fold:

1. Explore and evaluate. Take a look at everything you’re doing and determine what you really love or what pertains to your goals.

2. Eliminate. Get rid of the nonessential activities.

3. Execute. Develop a process so you have a method, a systematic discipline, for making these decisions on an ongoing basis. As McKeown states, “It’s about learning how to do less but better so you can achieve the highest possible return on every precious moment in your life.”

I actually read a library copy of this book while on vacation about two months ago, and I liked it so much, I purchased my own copy. Now I’m re-reading it, highlighting key points. From there, I plan to do some discernment as I look at all the activities I have in my life. Now is a good time for me to do this, as it’s been two years since I left daily journalism to “rewire.”

As part of this exercise, I’m going to look back at my journal from 2013-14 where I wrote about what I imagined my life would be like when I left 33 years of full-time journalism. I know I’ve accomplished a lot, but am I achieving what I dreamed? Have those dreams and goals changed?

How about you? What changes have you made in your life to be an Essentialist? Or are you, like me, in need of some soul-searching discernment?