Small Business Week 2018 in Springfield keeps us on our toes

It’s National Small Business Week and, like most small business owners around the world, no two days are the same. 

So when we got a call from the Governor’s office on Tuesday at midday to ask if we could help pull together a visit to Sangamon Reclaimed – and a roundtable with other small businesses in Springfield, Illinois, for #SmallBusinessWeek at 11am the next day - we jumped into action.

It was a rather whirlwind 24 hours, but a lot of fun. It was a great opportunity too, for Brian Frieze, Sangamon Reclaimed founder and owner, and his team, and other small local businesses such as Serious Lip Balm, Sensible Innovations, and Free Press Coffee to talk about the subject of small businesses - and their importance to the economy – and to gain exposure through local media. This was such a great public relations opportunity for our client and - as expected - everyone also shared out the occasion on social media.  

Here are some of our favorite photos from the day. You can see more on our Facebook page or Instagram.

Local First Springfield & Innovate Springfield collaborate on training for businesses

So many of our clients ask ‘what can I do to grow my business?’ We often tell them to get involved with the community and to collaborate with other businesses. There are lots of examples of organizations collaborating successfully. Only the other day I attended the first Mindful Mornings in Springfield at Engrained Brewery & Restaurant, where the room was packed with people that want to do good – and – collaborate in order to achieve this.

Local First Springfield is an organization we as a business are involved in – and so too are many of our clients because they, like us, see the benefit in supporting other like-minded, local, small and large companies and organizations that want to see our city and surrounding area prosper. We love Springfield and we want it to be the best city to live in – for all.

Our friend and master collaborator, Katie Davison, of Innovate Springfield, is leading the next Local First training session on Thursday (March 8 – funnily enough that’s International Women’s Day – go ladies!) on business collaboration: Fostering a Business Ecosystem. During the 90-minute class, Katie will explain the benefits and importance of business collaboration, as evidenced by Springfield’s growing business ecosystem. Basically, a business ecosystem is the interconnected web of business owners, innovators, and entrepreneurs that create relationships with one another to not only make their own businesses more successful but also recognize opportunities for all involved. In order to demonstrate the power of business collaboration, Katie will describe some of the great examples happening in our community right now.

There are two sessions, one at 9am (not too early and perfect timing for a mug of Custom Cup Coffee) and the other at 3.30pm (for those of us that prefer an afternoon class). This is not only an opportunity to learn to work together but to meet fellow business owners and entrepreneurs. The class, open to Local First Springfield members and nonmembers, is just $30.

This is the second class in a yearlong series organized by Local First Springfield, which is being led by a different member each month.

You can register for the class here.

How to improve your SEO

Whether you’re writing a blog, a Facebook post, or article how you write and what you include will make all the difference when it comes to online traffic.

First of all, make sure you include keywords. I’d recommend at least three. Think about the words your target audience will use to search for you on Google.

Be clever when it comes to your headline. Again, use words that will be plugged into the search engine.  

Don’t ramble. Get straight to the point.

Avoid redundant words and repetition. Keep it short. I always try to keep my blogs to around 200 words, my articles to between 300 and 450 words for Eighteen21, and my Facebook posts to one sentence (two max).

Include links to other pages, articles, and social media platforms. Backlinking helps increase your SEO.

Include a call to action; at the very least remind people where they can find out more or who to contact.

So, with the above in mind, if you’re looking for great content creation, by a professional, with more than a 15 years’ experience in the media industry, call 217-210-1589 and speak to me, Gemma, about how Gem PR & Media can help get you and your business noticed online!