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Lower Merion Community Network

Lower Merion Community Network

Category Archives: Business

Featured Business of the Day: Swirl Nut Serious Sweets

12 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by KTE in Business, Featured Business of the Day, Food, Sponsored Posts

≈ Leave a comment

Here at Swirl Nut we take a unique approach to baked goods and confections. Many of our desserts are a mixture of baked items and handmade candy. We go over the top with detail (and chocolate!) because if you are going to eat something sweet, it should really look good while you’re doing it.

We are pleased to offer these delights at a special price, exclusive to Lower Merion Community Network group members only!!

coconut_lime2 newswirl_nut_logo2puffs_winecakes newschmallow_mars newpink_velvethedgehogs

Pink, Blue, Green, Violet or Gold Velvet cupcakes – inspired by the classic red velvet this cake is just as rich and moist as its old cousin. Each cupcake is topped with a fluffy cream cheese butter cream and a  hard candy tulie. Perfect for birthday parties of all ages. You pick the color of the cake. Half dozen – $15; Full dozen $28.00. %10 off for LMCN members!! Sale price now $13.50 for Half dozen and $25.20 for Full dozen

Chocolate Dipped Homemade Marshmallows – these aren’t your regular Stay Puff Marshmallows! Once you eat one of these marshmallows, you’ll never settle for those bagged puffs again. We create the standard vanilla, but why not choose a special flavor like an Orange Almond, or a Coconut Lime. Better yet a Chili Chocolate (dark chocolate with a kick!), or the trusted combination of chocolate/chocolate chip. Each 1″ x 1 1/2″ (approximately) marshmallow is dipped into dark, white or milk chocolate and topped with colorful sprinkles. Half Dozen – $20.00; Full Dozen – $38.00. %10 off for LMCN members!! Sale price now $18.00 for Half dozen and $34.20 for Full dozen.

Chocolate Dipped Hedgehog Crispy Treats – My favorite woodland creature recreated as a rice cripsy treat. Consider the boring square treat and elevate its awesomeness. Each treat is carefully shaped into a hedgehog-like shape, dipped in chocolate, topped with chocolate sprinkles and decorated with a fondant flower in its hair. Perfect for kids parties or your favorite Hedgehog lover. Half Dozen – $20; Full Dozen – $38.00. %10 off for LMCN members!! Sale price now $18.00 for Half dozen and $34.20 for Full dozen

Email me at kristy@swirl-nut.com if you have any questions, suggestions or need a custom order. All orders are hand delivered (within a 20 mile radius of Bala Cynwyd). There is no delivery charge if your destination is within the designated delivery area. Need something outside of the radius? Just email me, delivery charge is based on mileage driven outside of our designated delivery area.

A 50% deposit holds your order. Your order is officially placed when full payment is received. We accept all forms of credit cards (Visa, Mastercard and Discover), checks and of course good old fashioned cash.

Payment must be made 5 days prior to your delivery date. We look forward to assisting your with your serious sweet needs!

This is a sponsored post.

NextFab Studio – Philly SHARK TANK CASTING CALL

11 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by KTE in Business

≈ Leave a comment

shark tank | NextFab Studio.

shark tank

SATURDAY, MAY 11TH
NEXTFAB STUDIO
2025 Washington Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19146

9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. – Numbered Wristbands Distributed

10:00 a.m. – Interviews Begin

NextFab Studio is proud to host a nationwide open talent search for the upcoming fifth season of the Emmy-nominated, entrepreneurship reality television series, Shark Tank. Do you have an idea, invention, product, service, or business model that could be the Next Big Thing? Get ready – this could be your chance to make it into a reallity!

Anyone with an idea is invited to do a 1-minute pitch to a member of the Casting Team from ABC – just like you would as if you were on the show. The best pitches will be selected for a more in-depth video interview with producers later in the day, and the chance to be on the show.

Please bring a completed application, which you can download here. Only the first 500 applicants are guaranteed to be seen, so arrive early to get your numbered wristband. A limited number of wristbands will be reserved for active  NextFab Studio members.

For more information about the show, please visit http://abc.go.com/shows/shark-tank/

(READ MORE)

Need a Job? Invent It

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by KTE in Business, Education, Inspiration, Kids, Networking

≈ Leave a comment

By  THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: March 30, 2013    80 Comments

(Reblogged from the NYT)

WHEN Tony Wagner, the Harvard education specialist, describes his job today, he says he’s “a translator between two hostile tribes” — the education world and the business world, the people who teach our kids and the people who give them jobs. Wagner’s argument in his book “Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World” is that our K-12 and college tracks are not consistently “adding the value and teaching the skills that matter most in the marketplace.”

This is dangerous at a time when there is increasingly no such thing as a high-wage, middle-skilled job — the thing that sustained the middle class in the last generation. Now there is only a high-wage, high-skilled job. Every middle-class job today is being pulled up, out or down faster than ever. That is, it either requires more skill or can be done by more people around the world or is being buried — made obsolete — faster than ever. Which is why the goal of education today, argues Wagner, should not be to make every child “college ready” but “innovation ready” — ready to add value to whatever they do.

That is a tall task. I tracked Wagner down and asked him to elaborate. “Today,” he said via e-mail, “because knowledge is available on every Internet-connected device, what you know matters far less than what you can do with what you know. The capacity to innovate — the ability to solve problems creatively or bring new possibilities to life — and skills like critical thinking, communication and collaboration are far more important than academic knowledge. As one executive told me, ‘We can teach new hires the content, and we will have to because it continues to change, but we can’t teach them how to think — to ask the right questions — and to take initiative.’ ”

 My generation had it easy. We got to “find” a job. But, more than ever, our kids will have to “invent” a job. (Fortunately, in today’s world, that’s easier and cheaper than ever before.) Sure, the lucky ones will find their first job, but, given the pace of change today, even they will have to reinvent, re-engineer and reimagine that job much more often than their parents if they want to advance in it. If that’s true, I asked Wagner, what do young people need to know today?

“Every young person will continue to need basic knowledge, of course,” he said. “But they will need skills and motivation even more. Of these three education goals, motivation is the most critical. Young people who are intrinsically motivated — curious, persistent, and willing to take risks — will learn new knowledge and skills continuously. They will be able to find new opportunities or create their own — a disposition that will be increasingly important as many traditional careers disappear.”

So what should be the focus of education reform today?

“We teach and test things most students have no interest in and will never need, and facts that they can Google and will forget as soon as the test is over,” said Wagner. “Because of this, the longer kids are in school, the less motivated they become. Gallup’s recent survey showed student engagement going from 80 percent in fifth grade to 40 percent in high school. More than a century ago, we ‘reinvented’ the one-room schoolhouse and created factory schools for the industrial economy. Reimagining schools for the 21st-century must be our highest priority. We need to focus more on teaching the skill and will to learn and to make a difference and bring the three most powerful ingredients of intrinsic motivation into the classroom: play, passion and purpose.”

What does that mean for teachers and principals?

“Teachers,” he said, “need to coach students to performance excellence, and principals must be instructional leaders who create the culture of collaboration required to innovate. But what gets tested is what gets taught, and so we need ‘Accountability 2.0.’ All students should have digital portfolios to show evidence of mastery of skills like critical thinking and communication, which they build up right through K-12 and postsecondary. Selective use of high-quality tests, like the College and Work Readiness Assessment, is important. Finally, teachers should be judged on evidence of improvement in students’ work through the year — instead of a score on a bubble test in May. We need lab schools where students earn a high school diploma by completing a series of skill-based ‘merit badges’ in things like entrepreneurship. And schools of education where all new teachers have ‘residencies’ with master teachers and performance standards — not content standards — must become the new normal throughout the system.”

Who is doing it right?

“Finland is one of the most innovative economies in the world,” he said, “and it is the only country where students leave high school ‘innovation-ready.’  They learn concepts and creativity more than facts, and have a choice of many electives — all with a shorter school day, little homework, and almost no testing. In the U.S., 500 K-12 schools affiliated with Hewlett Foundation’s Deeper Learning Initiative and a consortium of 100 school districts called EdLeader21 are developing new approaches to teaching 21st-century skills. There are also a growing number of ‘reinvented’ colleges like the Olin College of Engineering, the M.I.T. Media Lab and the ‘D-school’ at Stanford where students learn to innovate.”

What is a sponsored post?

31 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by KTE in Business, Social Media Tips

≈ 2 Comments

Posts seen in the Lower Merion Community Network Group (LMCN) are sponsored posts or promotions through this web site. The need for services and the choice of a service provider are extremely important decisions and should not be based solely upon promotional advertisements, recommendations or personal opinions made in this group. Always do your own research and check references. No representation is made that the quality of the service providers found in LMCN is greater than the quality of services performed by other service providers.

What is a sponsored post? A sponsored post is the equivalent of having a radio program or television program “Tonight’s Program Has Been Brought to you by _____________.” The advertiser does not write the posts or control their content, rather their sponsorship simply makes the piece of content possible.

If an article is provided by the sponsor, or a post is written by Lower Merion Community Network (LMCN) for the advertiser, or a business card image/logo is displayed in our sponsor gallery, it may include at least one contextual link. This is known as a sponsored post, guest post, or post with a link.

LMCN does not will never allow sponsoring businesses to control our content nor will we ever post advertisements masquerading as articles.

A business who sponsors a post will have compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

If I link to company or item, it does not necessarily mean that I have been asked to promote it. All sponsored posts will be identified as such, and disclosed in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission.

4 Tips to Connect Your Community and Grow Your Business

30 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by KTE in Business, Community Building

≈ Leave a comment

busConnections…that’s how you grow your business.  So, where do you start?  Here are 4 tips for making connections within your creative community to help grow your business:

Tip #1: Reach out and connect with one new friend this week on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest that share a common business interest as you.  Do this each week!

Tip #2: Write a blog post this week…reach out to a blogger that interests you and pitch a topic to them where you can share your experience. This is a great way to build exposure to your business while sharing your expertise with their community!

Tip #3: Share and promote others just as much as you promote yourself. Working toward building success not only for you, but for your fellow artisans as well will help you in the long run and grow your business faster than doing it alone.

Tip #4: Connect with a fellow small business owner within your community to get together and share ideas and brainstorm to help one another achieve your goals!  Do this activity on a regular basis not only helps your business…it’s fun!

What are some tips you use to connect with your creative community?

Posted by: Courtney Dirks (via mehlah.com)

Social Media and the Not-So-Sexy Business

25 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by KTE in Business, Social Media Tips

≈ Leave a comment

March 22, 2013, 7:00 am <!– — Updated: 7:00 am –> 10 Comments

Social Media and the Not-So-Sexy Business

By MELINDA F. EMERSON

socMy favorite thing about writing for this blog is when someone gives me a social media challenge. On a recent post, Where Should I Invest My Marketing Dollars? a business owner from Texas who identified himself as “PW” left the following comment:

I think the problem businesses like kitchen installers, plumbers, tree trimmers and others are having when it comes to social media is to overcome the fact that their product or service is not necessarily cool. I am one of those business owners and I always think that social media is only for the coffee shop, graphic designer or the bike shop. When you own a roofing company or a cleaning service, is there really a (useful) place for you on FB or Twitter? Let’s be realistic, no one is going to repin the picture of a concrete driveway. So how do you build a network of followers when your product is as unattractive as removing raccoons from attics?

This reader was so frustrated that he came back the next day and left a follow-up comment, “As I read my comment this morning, I realize the answer to the problem: There is no appropriate social media outlet for contractors.”

Actually, it wasn’t much of a challenge at all to find a few examples of not-so-sexy businesses that are doing great things with social media. Here are three stories that may help you see some possibilities.

“If you want it done right, you call Dynamite!” is the slogan of a Philadelphia-based exterminator, Dynamite Pest Control. Led by Rich Foreman, 34 and a second-generation exterminator, the five-person business uses social media as its only form of advertising. Every Valentine’s Day, Mr. Foreman posts a photograph with “I ♥ U” spelled out using dead cockroaches — a promotion that always drives comments to the company’s Facebook page.

Mr. Foreman, who believes that any comment is a good comment, says he is always amazed by the response his photos elicit from fans — and also from a few detractors. “Facebook is our most effective social media tool,” he said. “We post pictures of our work, and people share them, and we believe 75 percent of our new business comes from Facebook.”

He also uses Instagram and his personal LinkedIn profile to generate business. “We’ve been able to build relationships with real estate developers and property managers, which represents 10 percent of clients,” said Mr. Foreman, who also belongs to two LinkedIn groups where pest-control technicians share best practices and strategies. He does acknowledge that he gets complaints from people who are disgusted by his photos, but he says he also gets business. He said he does try not to post anything too bad around lunchtime. “The folks that complain don’t have pest issues,” he said. “The others are glad that we remind them what we do.”

Istueta Roofing is a YouTube superstar that has been putting roofs on Miami homes for more than 28 years. Three years ago, it started working with Surefire Social to update its Web site and to improve its search engine optimization. One of the first strategies it put in place was to start creating videos of the company’s work and to provide educational and how-to videos for homeowners.

One call from a customer ended up changing the business. The customer reported some bats under its roof, and armed with a video camera, Istueta went out to install a new roof. The video that resulted has received nearly two million hits on YouTube and made the company a household name in south Florida. The video sent a lot of traffic to the company’s Web site, and Ariel Istueta, the company’s marketing director, says it increased business significantly. “When we talk to prospective clients,” she said, “the bat video is often mentioned, and other contractors call our owner Batman.”

Patrick Driscoll, who owns Patrick Driscoll Residential Remodeling in Exeter, N.H., is active on many social media channels but credits writing how-to articles with generating most of his leads. For the last five months, Mr. Driscoll has written a monthly column for his local paper, The Portsmouth Herald. He makes use of the column on Facebook by sharing links from it on his fan page and in other social media accounts.

More than half of his new customers, Mr. Driscoll said, hire the four-year-old company after reading his articles. On Facebook, he posts photos of his construction projects along with tips on how to decorate and where to get materials. Being active on Facebook and Twitter, and commenting on remodeling trends for various articles, helps the company’s search ranking on Google, said his wife, Stephanie, who has her own public relations firm and handles Mr. Driscoll’s social media marketing. “This is very helpful for prospective customers, because when they go to Google him and find that he is published in several articles and takes pride in maintaining his image online,” Ms. Driscoll said, “it is often the tipping point for choosing between P.D.R.R. and other contractors.”

How about you? Do you know of a not-so-sexy business that is making the most of social media?

REBLOGGED FROM  (NYTIMES)

Melinda Emerson is founder and chief executive of Quintessence Multimedia, a social media strategy and content development company. You can follow her on Twitter.

Congratulations Are In Order!!!

14 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by KTE in Business, Community Building

≈ Leave a comment

Badge

CHECK OUT THIS EXCELLENT NOTE I WOKE UP TO!!!
———————————
“Congratulations Lower Merion Business & Community Network on winning BEST business chamber/networking group in Montco! Below is your official winners badge that we are honored to present to you. Thank you for all that you do for our community 🙂

We will be back in touch with more details about the Red Carpet Bash that we are throwing for all the finalists and winners. Thanks again!” BEST’

J.C. Sager
Editor-in-Chief
info@montcohappening.com
#215-630-4932

Happy International Women’s Day!

08 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by KTE in Business, Community Building, Crafty, Fashion

≈ Leave a comment

candHappy International Women’s Day! Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women’s craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more. So make a difference, think globally and act locally!! Make everyday International Women’s Day. Support handmade. Today I chose to buy this amazing candle/fashion cuff combo, from a company that empower women to rebuild their lives through candle making, one gift at a time. http://shop.prosperitycandle.com/love-blooms-floral-cuff-votive/

Mom-and-Pops That Don’t Invest in Social Will Miss Out | Street Fight

18 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by KTE in Business, Retail

≈ Leave a comment

Mom-and-Pops That Don’t Invest in Social Will Miss Out | Street Fight.

mompopAccording to an article by Julie Brooks published last week on Street Fight, demand for social media management among small business owners has “dropped off a cliff.”

At Main Street Hub, we know a few thousand small business owners — and a few social networks — who might disagree. In our experience, small business owners are very interested in using social media as a tool for gaining new customers and staying in touch with existing ones, and the prominent social media websites have taken notice. (READ ARTICLE)

Hamels’ Charity Store Opens in Bryn Mawr Monday – Local News – Philadelphia, PA | NBC News

03 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by KTE in Business, Good Neighbor, Retail

≈ 1 Comment

Hamels’ Charity Store Opens in Bryn Mawr Monday – Local News – Philadelphia, PA | NBC News.

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels’ education charity and signed-memorabilia gift store will open to the public on Monday.

The Hamels Foundation held their grand opening Friday night for supporters inside their new digs at 880 W. Lancaster Avenue in Bryn Mawr.

Cole and his wife, Heidi, who started their foundation in 2008 in Center City, are on a mission to help inner-city schools and establish a school in South Africa’s Malawi. The store features an array of signed memorabilia, gifts, and Phillies’ gear all donated by Cole. Items include a $100 signed copy of the Sports Illustrated published after the Phillies’ victory in the 2008 World Series and game-used Hamels’ cleats for $700, according to MainLine Media News. There are more affordable items like designed t-shirts and jewelry.

“Hopefully, this shows that we are here to stay,” Heidi Hamels told MainLine Media News. “Cole and I are honored to be part of Philadelphia and the local community.”

The office and retail shop will open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

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