Help CISD Education Foundation Raise Funds for Students

Now there are two exciting new programs for you to help the CISD Education Foundation earn extra money for the Community Independent School District - simply by shopping at Tom Thumb or Albertsons. When you shop at either location, 1% of your purchase total is donated at no cost to you to the CISD Education Foundation.

Signup is simple and only takes a few minutes. For Albertson's Community Partners Programj just go by any campus and pick up your Key Tag and scan it at the checkout anytime you shop at Albertsons. Each time this key tag is scanned 1% of the purchase total is automatically donated to the foundation.

Similarly, Tom Thumb's Good Neighbor Program links their Remarkable/Reward Card to the CISD Education Foundations account. The next time you shop simply go to the Courtesy Booth at your local Tom Thumb and ask the attendant for an application for the Good Neighbor Program. Fill out the form with the information from your Remarkable/Reward Card and remember to write down the Good Neighbor Number: 12593. Once you have finished hand it back to the clerk and they will take care of getting the Good Neighbor account number activated to your Tom Thumb Remarkable/Reward Card.

There is no cost to get involved and the Community ISD will benefit greatly with your help.

The non-profit CISD Education Foundation supports CISD students by empowering teachers with the additional tools necessary to create exemplary learning experiences. For additional information, please CLICK HERE.

ACD Learning Solutions Offers Web Series - "Developing a Learning Environment at Your Organization"

Business owners of all sized companies - small, medium and large, understand the need for employee training to help them achieve their business goals. Few owners or executives, however understand the process that it intails to develop a culture of learning within their company so that employee training is embedded into the daily operational procedures of not only the line employee but management as well.

Allen Krom of ACD Learning Solutions will be providing a series of monthly seminars that will discuss potential solutions to achieving your learning initatives leading to the completion of your 2012 business goals..

You will want to join us for a Free Webinar Series over the next seven months.

Titled "Developing a Strategic Learning Plan for Small and Medium Sized Businesses"

Thursday, March 1, 2012, 2 PM - 3 PM (Eastern Time)

To Register and review all the courses in the series CLICK HERE

Nevada Economic Development Corp Seeking Board Members

The Nevada Economic Development Corp. is currently looking for members to serve on the Board of Directors. If you are interested you can contact City Hall at 972 853-0027 or find additional information HERE.

March 2012 Monthly Chamber Luncheon

Lavon Area Chamber of Commerce
All Chamber Meeting - Thursday March 1, 2012 at 11:30 a.m.

Location: Pizza Getti, 708 N. Hwy 78 Nevada, TX 75173

Save the Date!

NTMWD Initiates Stage 3 (Severe) Water Conservation

Effective 1 November 2011, NTMWD initiated Stage 3 of the NTMWD Water Conservation and Drought Contingency and Water Emergency Response Plan, as a result of the lack of rainfall bringing all supply lakes to a seriously low level. Stage 3 of the Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan limits all outside watering to one time every two weeks and no watering between 10 am and 6 pm with an overall reduction of 10% in usage by all users.

Please do your part and help conserve water now. For more information, contact Denise Hickey, NTMWD Public Relations Coordinator, (972)442-5405, or visit www.wateriq.org.

If the Lavon Lake level reaches 475 feet (less than 35% of the total conservation pool capacity), Stage 4 of the conservation plan will be initiated. Monitor current lake levels HERE.

NTMWD directly serves the following cities and/or water supply agencies: Allen, Farmersville, Forney, Frisco,Garland, Mesquite, McKinney, Plano, Princeton, Richardson, Royse City, Rockwall, Wylie, Bonham, Caddo Basin S.U.D., Cash W.S.C., College Mound W.S.C., Copeville S.U.D., East Fork S.U.D., Fairview, Fate, Forney Lake W.S.C., Gastonia-Scurry S.U.D., Greater Texoma Utility Authority, Josephine, Kaufman, Kaufman Four-One, Lavon W.S.C., Little Elm, Lucas, Melissa, Milligan W.S.C., Mt. Zion W.S.C., Murphy, Nevada W.S.C., North Collin W.S.C., Parker, Prosper, Rose Hill S.U.D., Rowlett, Sachse, Seis Lagos M.U.D., Sunnyvale, Terrell and Wylie Northeast S.U.D.

How To Set Up a Home-based Business

Home-based businesses are fast becoming a popular way to operate your small company, while reducing expensive start-up costs such as leasing space, lease hold improvements, utility and phone deposits and major office equipment. Thousands of people across the country are finding that working from home provides them with the advantages of earning an income with the flexibility to work when it is best for them and take care of family and other responsibilities that often arise throughout the work day. However, before starting your home-based business, consider the following advice:

• Determine local and state requirements for licensing and zoning regulations. Be sure to check with your local zoning office to find out how the zoning regulations in your area may affect your business plans. Determine if your business requires any licenses and file the necessary forms.

• Rent a post office box and use that address on your promotional mail and stationery, doing this will make it less obvious that you are working from home. The professional image you portray is very important to your clientele.

• Install a phone line in your home dedicated to your business.

• Use an answering machine for incoming business calls.

• Organize your work space with great care. Make sure that you have sufficient space to meet your needs.

• When scheduling appointments with clients, consider meeting at your client's office or renting a conference room to maintain a professional image.

• Establish contacts with your competitors and join associations pertinent to your business. Have your clients suggest possible new clients and ask if they will recommend you.

• Keep excellent records of entertainment and travel expenses. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tends to audit home-based businesses more frequently—especially when they are writing off a variety of expenses, including the percentage of the mortgage or rent for your office space. There are several good record keepers such as Day Timer®, Franklin Quest® and Day Planner that will help you keep track of your expenses. Your accountant, a CPA is recommended, can advise you on deductions you can take and records you must keep for the IRS.

• And above all, put some of your earnings into a savings account for those times when your business is in a slump . . . and it will happen.

• Discipline yourself. You must be a self-starter and follow a routine, just as if you were working for any other business. In many cases, you are the only person you can rely on to get the job done. Unless it's an emergency, do not baby-sit or chat with your neighbors.

• Don't procrastinate. It may not be the fun part, but doing the paperwork (accounting, legal, forecasts, etc.) after hours or on weekends if necessary, is mandatory to managing a successful business.

Top 10 Reasons for a Business Website

1. Your Business is Open to the World 24/7, 365 Days a Year
Unlike your company's office that may be open from 8-5, Monday thru Friday, your company 's website is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There are many different time zones that may affect your business, which is why being on the web makes it time convenient for everyone.

2. It's Your Online Brochure / Catalog That Can Be Changed at Anytime
A website is easier, cheaper and quicker to update than print material. Its' capacities are almost limitless which allow you to provide users with more comprehensive information. This will save you money on printing and distribution costs as well.

3. Reach New Markets with a Global Audience
On the Internet, you aren't that local little business anymore. You have the potential to be seen by millions across the globe. Did you ever think your company would have the possibility of doing business around the world? Well, now you can. Without a doubt, the Internet is the most cost effective way to trade nationally and internationally.

4. Improved Customer Service
By providing answers to questions on your website, sales and information requests can be processed automatically and immediately, whether someone is in the office or not. Online forms can be used to allow customers to request quotations or ask further information. Save costs by allowing users to download invoices, proposals and important documents.

5. Present a Professional Image
For a small business, a well-designed web site is a great way of instilling confidence and looking bigger than you actually are. In this day in age, customers assume that you already have a website. By now, your primary competitors probably already have a presence on the Internet. If they do, keep up with them and find ways to make yours better.

6. Sell Your Products
Why pay expensive rent, overhead, electric bills, and all the other costs that go along with owning a bricks-n-mortar business? Selling in cyberspace is much cheaper and a good way to supplement your offline business. Providing secure online ordering is very affordable for even the smallest businesses.

7. Promote Your Services
Lawyers, doctors, financial consultants, entertainers, realtors and all service oriented businesses should let customers know that they have a choice. Millions of users are referring to the web and are using company's websites to make major decisions when they need a specialized service.

8. Gather Information and Generate Valuable Leads
You can gather information about your customers and potential customers by using forms and surveys. Rather than going out and getting leads, let them come to you. This is a great tool for prospecting targeted customers looking to use your products and services.

9. Provides Instant Gratification
People are busy and don't like to wait for information. Give them what they want, when they want it. If your product is suitable, offer them free samples or trials to download. This includes pictures, brochures, software, videos, Power Point slides, music and more.

10. Great Recruiting Tool
Whether you are looking for talent or posting job opportunities with your company, your website is a great recruiting tool for building your business.

Do's & Don'ts For Website Success!

• Do invest in a secure online ordering system.
• Do keep your audience in mind and create copy that personally speaks to them.
• Do create a clear and compelling sales message.
• Do update your site content and keep it fresh and current.
• Do anticipate and answer your visitor's questions.
• Do check your site to ensure all forms and links are working.
• Do include a call to action on each page. You won't get business if you don't ask for it.
• Do include your contact information.
• Do offer links to programs like Acrobat Reader needed to view your site information.
• Do choose a Web host that provides exceptional service, minimal down time, and consistent site backups.
• Do carefully check your content for spelling and grammar mistakes. Errors are unprofessional and show a lack of attention to detail.
• Do title each page to be search engine (and bookmark) friendly.
• Do use a URL and domain name that accurately reflects your business or company name and is easy to remember.

...and

• Don't confuse your visitor with too many topics on one page. Organize information logically.
• Don't let your site become outdated. Your credibility will disappear if you offer Mother 's Day specials just in time for Father's Day.
• Don't include too many colors, fonts, or font sizes that distracts your visitor.
• Don't yell at your visitor by using all capital letters.
• Don't take your customer's privacy for granted. Create a privacy policy and stick to it.
• Don't insult your customer by selling his information to third parties.
• Don't ignore or delay customer requests. Return all customer inquiries promptly because you never know whom they may recommend you to even if they don't buy from you.
• Don't add a “visitor count” to your site. No need to brag how many or show how few visit.
• Don't include graphics that fail to add importance to your site.
• Don't use silly clip art unless absolutely necessary.
• Don't add unnecessary "extras" that will take a particularly long time to load.
• Don't ignore customer complaints, just because you're on the Web doesn't mean your business won't be affected by dissatisfied customers sharing their experience with others.

by Kelley Rao, Webeze, Creating Professional Websites since 1999.

Do I really need a website?

My business is very small, just me and two employees, and our product really can't be sold online. Do I really need a website?

That's a good question. In fact, it's one of the most important and most frequently asked questions of the digital business age. Since a large portion of business revenues are and will continue to be derived from ONLINE transactions or from OFFLINE transactions resultlng from online marketing efforts, my answer is definitely YES! If you have a business, you should have a website. Period. No question. Without a doubt.

Also, don't be so quick to dismiss your product as one that can't be sold online. Nowadays, there's very little that can't be sold over the internet. More than 20 million shoppers are now online, purchasing everything from books to computers to cars to real estate to jet airplanes to natural gas to you name it. If you can imagine it, someone will figure out how to sell it online.

Let me clarify one point: I'm not saying you should put all your efforts into selling your wares over the internet, though if your product lends itself to easy online sales, you should certainly be considering it. The point to be made here is that you should at the very least have a presence on the web so that customers, potential employees, business partners and perhaps even investors can quickly and easily find out more about your business and the products or services you have to offer.

That said, it's not enough that you just have a website. You must have a professional-looking site if you want to be taken seriously. Since many consumers now search for information online prior to making a purchase at a brick-and-mortar store, your site may be the first chance you have at making a good impression on a potential buyer. If your site looks like it was designed by a barrel of colorblind monkeys, your chance at making a good first impression will be lost.

One of the great things about the internet is that it has leveled the playing field when it comes to competing with the big boys. As mentioned, you have one shot at making a good first impression. With a well-designed site, your little operation can project the image and professionalism of a much larger company. The inverse is also true. I've seen many big company websites that were so badly designed and hard to navigate that they completely lacked professionalism and credibility. Good for you, too bad for them.

You also mention that yours is a small operation, but when it comes to benefiting from a website, size does not matter. I don't care if you're a one-man show or a 10,000-employee corporate giant; if you don't have a website, you're losing business to other companies that do.

Here's the exception to my rule: It's actually better to have no website at all than to have one that makes your business look bad. Your site speaks volumes about your business. It either says, "Hey, look, we take our business so seriously that we have created this wonderful site for our customers!" or it screams, "Hey, look, I let my 10-year-old nephew design my site. Good luck finding anything!"

Your website is an important part of your business. Make sure you treat it as such.

by Tim W. Knox Founder, president and CEO of four successful technology companies: B2Secure Inc., Web-based hiring management software company; Digital Graphiti Inc., software development company; Sidebar Systems, cutting edge convergence software for broadcast media outlets; and Online Profits 4U, e-business dedicated to helping online entrepreneurs start and prosper an online business.

SCORE - FREE Business Counseling and Advice

How would you like to take advantage of a resource that can provide you unbiased, confidential and FREE business advice?

SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" is an excellent source of free confidential small business advice for entrepreneurs. They are a 501c(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the formation, growth and success of small businesses nationwide. They are affiliated with corporate sponsors like American Express, American Management Association, aol for Small Business, Bank of America, Federal Express, Microsoft, to name a few.

SCORE will provide online, phone or face to face FREE counseling.

Go to www.score.org to ask a question of a volunteer counselor. These volunteers are working or retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders who share their wisdom and lessons learned in business.

Take advantage of this free confidential resource now and explore their website for additional on line training, and for templates that can make you more successful.

Also, be sure to visit these resources for additional information and advice:

US Small Business Administration
SCORE Dallas Chapter
SCORE Fort Worth Chapter
Best Southwest Chamber of Commerce
Leadership Southwest
Texas Workforce Commission (job/employee search)

Lavon Area Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Program

The Lavon Area Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Program was established to provide financial assistance to eligible CISD graduating high school seniors in the chamber’s service area. The program was established to assist CISD students who plan to continue their education at an accredited post-secondary educational institution following graduation. Selection criteria includes academic achievement, financial need related to school expenses, volunteer service and career plans. The program affirms the chamber’s mission of service for the enhancement of the community and each year the scholarship program awards multiple awards to qualifying CISD students.

LACOC Scholarship Process

APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Beginning in March of each year, students complete and submit a scholarship application (example) and a qualification essay to the Lavon Area Chamber of Commerce in the form of a scanned attachment via email to scholarship@lavonareachamber.org or via fax @ 972 534-1621, or via the United States Postal Service in the form of an electronic media (CD) to P.O. Box 356. Lavon, TX 75166. All essays must be received by the end of April to qualify.

AWARD PROCEDURE: The LACOC Scholorship Committee reviews the students application and essay for completeness and qualifications, interviews the applicant's references and makes the final award selections based on merit. The scholarship recipient(s) are then awarded a Scholarship Certificate at a Senior Awards Ceremony.

Scholarship Funds are paid to the student(s) upon presentation of enrollment receipt(s) from an accredited institution. Awards must be used within one year of graduation.

LACOC 2012 Board of Directors

PRESIDENT
Deborah Berrier-Nabors
Owner, Nabors Consulting
Website

VICE-PRESIDENT
David Williams
Owner, L & D Automotive
Website

DIRECTOR, EVENTS COORDINATOR
Eric Austin
Farmers Electric Cooperative
Website

DIRECTOR
Micki Hollien
Owner, Keep n Touch Marketing & Design
Website

DIRECTOR
Janice Martz
Advertising Sales, C&S Media, Inc.
Website

DIRECTOR
Connie Richey
Owner, Education Station Academy
Website

DIRECTOR
Jose Santamaria
Owner, Santamaria’s Karate
Website

Join the Lavon Area Chamber of Commerce

If you would like to join the Lavon Area Chamber of Commerce, simply submit the Lavon Area Chamber of Commerce Membership Application. Upon payment of the membership fee, one of our staff members will contact you to confirm your membership and welcome you to the Lavon Area Chamber of Commerce.

The membership fee and subsequent yearly dues are $35.00 per year for an individual and $100.00 per year for a business. Membership is continuous unless canceled in writing. Membership dues are not tax deductible as a charitable contribution. However, they are deductible for most members as an ordinary and necessary business expense.

By clicking "Join the Chamber" below, you agree that;

• the applicant subscribes to the objectives, purposes and programs of the Lavon Chamber of Commerce
• the information provided on the application is true and correct as of the date of the application
• dues are refundable only if the applicant is denied membership
• once approved, the designated voting member may be changed only by the Owner or Chief Executive Officer of the business/organization by written notice
• a member may resign membership on written notice only, and shall be removed from membership if annual dues are over 90 days in arrears

Join the Chamber

Schedule of Fees

New Membership (Valid for one year) : Individual - $35.00, Business - $100.00

Membership Dues (Recurring per year) : Individual - $35.00, Business - $100.00

Christmas Festival Car Show Registration: $10.00
(Under Other Miscellaneous Payments enter "Car Show Registration")

Christmas Festival Booth Registration: Members - $30.00, Non-Members - $50.00
(Under Other Miscellaneous Payments enter "Booth Registration")

Event Sponsorship: Gold - $350, Silver - $250, Bronze - $150
(Under Other Miscellaneous Payments enter "Event Sponsorship" and level)

Other Payments: Enter description of payment below. In the PayPal window enter the payment amount and select "update" to refresh the payment total.