Marketing, Strategic Business Growth Workshops Offered
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Aug. 11, 2011 -- The Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Southeast Missouri State University (CIE) has three small business workshops in August and September which will be open to the public at no charge, with advance registration.
Two marketing workshops will be available via live webinar, delivered directly to the registrant’s computer, and the third program is a popular one-night workshop, ‘Listening To Your Business,’ which will be hosted at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Cape Girardeau on the evening of Aug. 18. Due to grant support from the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Small Business Administration, normal registration fees will be waived for these workshops, however advance registration is required.
“We were pleased to be able to develop this series of workshops and webinars as part of our Operation Main Street: Business Success partnership with Old Town Cape, the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Southeast Missourian newspaper,” said Dr. James Stapleton, executive director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and associate professor of management at Southeast. “This programming will provide a wealth of techniques and strategies for businesses seeking to improve their bottom line and plan for growth.”
From 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 18, an exciting and introspective one-night workshop called "Listening to Your Business” will be offered at the Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The program, a component of the Kauffman Foundation curriculum delivered in a small group setting, will guide business owners through visioning exercises and activities to help them set strategic business growth goals and develop their plan of action. The instructor for the “Listening to Your Business” workshop will be Buz Sutherland.
"The ‘Listening to Your Business’ material supports those who need to work on their business, not just in their business," Sutherland said. “In my experience as a former business owner, and as a counselor for small businesses, it is a rare day that owners step back to take a hard look at where the business is today and set their goals for what they want the business to look like in three years. Of course they want it to grow, but how do you develop the plan to get it there?”
In addition to developing a three-year vision, other topics in the one-night workshop include: “The Business Life Cycle and Transitions,” “Planning Tools and Competencies,” and “Transition Tactics for Small Business.”
On Aug. 30 from 8 to 9 a.m., the CIE will host a live marketing webinar entitled “Gotta’ Google!” designed to help business owners better understand how to utilize Google Tools for measuring and improving internet marketing efforts. The Center has invited Elizabeth Shelton, owner of Write Results Marketing in Cape Girardeau, to be the guest presenter for this webinar.
“Google offers many free applications that are extremely helpful and also provide hard data,” Shelton said. “Many people are too busy to take the time to explore them, so this webinar will highlight in one hour the most valuable Google Tools for business.”
Topics to be covered will include Google Alerts, Places, AdWords, KeyWords and Analytics.
The second marketing webinar, “Spin a Sticky Web,” will address easy website changes to help businesses increase website visits and improve search engine rankings. Scheduled for 8-9 a.m. Sept. 1, this information-packed webinar will review what search engines, as well as customers, search for on a website, while offering simple techniques for improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and creating compelling website content. The Center has invited Shelton to be the guest presenter for this webinar as well.
“While the intricacies of search engines can seem intimidating, there are some basic guidelines businesses can follow to improve rankings and make the site more compelling to the ‘spiderbots’ and, more importantly, to human visitors,” she said.
To register, please contact Glenna Ervin at gervin@semo.edu or (573) 651-2929. Due to grant support from the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Small Business Administration, there is no cost to register; however, pre-registration is required. Participants are encouraged to register as soon as possible.
The Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Southeast Missouri State University is one of the most comprehensive entrepreneurship-focused university centers in the Midwest, offering a wide array of academic and outreach programs and services, including: innovation development and research; entrepreneurship education, training and mentorship; and business incubation and development services. The CIE, led by executive director Dr. James Stapleton, supports Southeast Missouri State University's strategic priority to advance the region's economic appeal and strength by accelerating local and regional economic growth and development that improves the quality of lives, communities and businesses in southeast Missouri and the surrounding region.
For more information about the CIE and the entrepreneurial support services it offers, contact (573) 651-2929 or visit www.semo.edu/cie.