Rochester, Illinois, February 19, 2009 – Communications Made EasyTM, a 4-in-1 broadcast communications service based in Rochester, Illinois, is the recipient of a $5,000 grant from the Milliken Regional Entrepreneur Network (MREN) and a $5,000 Challenge Grant from the Illinois Homeland Security Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (HSIEC).
Communications Made EasyTM (CME) allows customers to send immediate, simultaneous messages via e-mail, text message, phone voice message, or Web site postings all from one central point of access. The company’s founding partners, Michelle Tjelmeland and Mark Roberts, developed the propriety software independently and launched the service in August of 2008.
“We are thrilled to receive the grant money and will use it to further develop our strategic business plans for CME,” said Tjelmeland. “These awards will allow us to expedite our marketing efforts and target specific customers who can really benefit from CME’s services.”
MREN and HSIEC award grant money to businesses with high growth potential to help with comprehensive business planning, evaluating a proposed start-up or expansion, or other accelerated support services. Through their respective grant programs, MREN and HSIEC help award recipients achieve significant milestones to take their businesses to the next level. HSIEC gives preference to companies demonstrating the pursuit of products or services that clearly meet a published request by the Department of Homeland Security.
By 2013, Homeland Security has set a goal to have at least 75 percent of all jurisdictions possess the ability to send out emergency communications within three hours of any significant event. Helping jurisdictions meet this goal is one of the original motivations for developing CME.
“We created CME to specifically meet the needs of the many rural state and local agencies that respond to emergencies and disasters,” said Roberts. “These responders either lack the strategic tools to efficiently communicate with each other, or depend on a communication system that can easily be damaged and disabled during an emergency.”
CME gives emergency management officials the ability to send news, updates, evacuation instructions, and AMBER alerts, as well as coordinate a quick and adequate response to help people affected by natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and other dangerous situations.
In addition, CME is an ideal solution for university and college officials who need to establish a written emergency broadcast communications plan under the provisions in the Clery Act.
“CME provides the service they need to immediately warn students, parents, and staff of a potential danger to the campus or emergencies that require quick action,” explained Tjelmeland.
The application process for the grant awards is selective and awards are based on project viability, growth potential, public purpose, need and merit-based factors. The maximum funding available for each individual award is $5,000. Recipients are required to provide a cash match of 100 percent of the award amount.
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity provides financial support to fund both the MREN grant program and the HSIEC Challenge grant. By working with entrepreneurs and businesses that demonstrate the ability to achieve growth through revenue generation and job creation, the Department promotes economic development in Illinois.
About Communications Made Easy
Communications Made EasyTM is communication tool that broadcasts any message in a matter of seconds to a mass mailing list using a proprietary 4-in-1 system. This innovative and user-friendly service makes it easy to use one access point to send messages simultaneously, via the Web, e-mail, text message, and phone. CME offers monthly messaging subscriptions, premium service add-ons that enable customers to enhance their package as needed, concierge service to ensure customer messages are dispatched immediately in times of crisis, and a reseller program to allow organizations to brand and sell the product as their own. Communications Made EasyTM is a subsidiary of The Easy Life, LLC, headquartered in Rochester, IL. Visit www.communicationsmadeeasy.com to learn more.
About MREN
MREN works with entrepreneurs and businesses (regardless of industry or stage) that demonstrate the ability to achieve growth through revenue generation and job creation and to contribute to the economic development of Illinois. MREN is a network of organizations and individuals throughout the region and state that are collaborating together and strive to become the driving force for exciting entrepreneurial activities and initiatives throughout the Central Region. For more information, visit www.millikinren.com.
About HSIEC
HSIEC delivers specialized business development assistance in homeland security to entrepreneurs and small businesses as part of the Illinois Entrepreneurship Network through a joint effort between the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Northwestern University. The Center launched in October 2005 and has made over 20 challenge grants to fund strategic business projects. For more information, visit http://www.hsiec.org.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Do The Research for your Readers
One thing your blog readers will appreciate is your ability to direct them towards helpful resources, ones that you trust and find accurate and informative. A blog that is continually posting links to meaningful articles and business tools is not only valuable to the reader, but also shows your readers that you are on top of things and willing to investigate trends and learn more about your industry.
It's no small task to find resources worth posting. You could do a Google search, obviously, but the top search results don't always mean the site is worth referring. so stick to researching topics that are relevant to your industry and that you know a little something about so you can judge a site's credibility and worthiness.
But don't think that you can only refer people to online tools. Whenever you consult a book that relates to your business or industry, whether you read it from cover to cover or just pick a chapter or two, offer your 2-cents. Feel free to quote the book (with the correct citations of course) and tell your blog readers how it applies to you or your industry. Your readers will appreciate your honesty, so don't sugar coat it.
And now, I'd be remiss if I didn't conclude this post with a few blogging resources of my own:
Blogging Tips for Beginners a blog post by Darren Rowse with tons of links to help you better understand the world of blogging.
Business Blog Consulting demonstrates how business owners can effectively use their blogs to communicate with customers and market to new customer prospects. Lots of examples of business and corporate blogs, as well as resources to help you learn more.
The Blog Herald is another blog that mostly posts about blogs, blog authors, and other social marketing topics.
And finally, a list of the "top 50" female bloggers. These aren't necessarily blogs about business blogging, but they are well-known and well-respected authors. You can follow a few of your favorites by topic and learn by their examples.
It's no small task to find resources worth posting. You could do a Google search, obviously, but the top search results don't always mean the site is worth referring. so stick to researching topics that are relevant to your industry and that you know a little something about so you can judge a site's credibility and worthiness.
But don't think that you can only refer people to online tools. Whenever you consult a book that relates to your business or industry, whether you read it from cover to cover or just pick a chapter or two, offer your 2-cents. Feel free to quote the book (with the correct citations of course) and tell your blog readers how it applies to you or your industry. Your readers will appreciate your honesty, so don't sugar coat it.
And now, I'd be remiss if I didn't conclude this post with a few blogging resources of my own:
Blogging Tips for Beginners a blog post by Darren Rowse with tons of links to help you better understand the world of blogging.
Business Blog Consulting demonstrates how business owners can effectively use their blogs to communicate with customers and market to new customer prospects. Lots of examples of business and corporate blogs, as well as resources to help you learn more.
The Blog Herald is another blog that mostly posts about blogs, blog authors, and other social marketing topics.
And finally, a list of the "top 50" female bloggers. These aren't necessarily blogs about business blogging, but they are well-known and well-respected authors. You can follow a few of your favorites by topic and learn by their examples.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Blogging - Let the "You" Come Through
Blogs are useful for establishing your company or personal identity. If you're writing for business reasons, you can give clients and customers a feel for who you are. They can see a little bit of your expertise and get a glimpse of who your other clients are and where you go for reliable information. This is important because how you write and what you write about will give them a preview of your personality and work philosophies before they decide to contact you.
Now, some of you might be afraid that this could mean that you'll lose out on opportunities because some people might not contact you. To the contrary, the contacts that you do make from your blog will be more likely to be the ideal client. One that already likes your personality type and has a good feel for the services you can provide. And let's face it, these are the clients that will be the most profitable for you.
So remember that your blog is always a subtle marketing tool. Even if you don't expressly marketing your products and services in every post, you are always selling yourself. Don't be afraid to let your personality shine through and offer your opinions, recommendations, and experiences.
Now, some of you might be afraid that this could mean that you'll lose out on opportunities because some people might not contact you. To the contrary, the contacts that you do make from your blog will be more likely to be the ideal client. One that already likes your personality type and has a good feel for the services you can provide. And let's face it, these are the clients that will be the most profitable for you.
So remember that your blog is always a subtle marketing tool. Even if you don't expressly marketing your products and services in every post, you are always selling yourself. Don't be afraid to let your personality shine through and offer your opinions, recommendations, and experiences.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Blogs - A Valuable Online Marketing Tool
These days, many small businesses have some type of Web presence. Many business coaches and consultants will tell you that it's essential to be online in someway, shape, or form if you want to grow and attract new clients and customers. And with the advent and explosion of the social networking craze, small businesses that are unsure about being online can take small steps to establishing their Web presence.
One of the best ways to get started is by blogging. Barely even 5 years ago, very few people understood what a "blog" is, but now, it's becoming a common concept and many people are at least familiar with the term. A blog is simply a Web site that contains entries written by a specific author or group of authors with a common interest. The entries can be personal accounts of thoughts, activities, discussions, and opinions, or they can be business-oriented and offer tips, advice, suggestions, articles, and other resources for readers.
One of the great things about blogs is that they are easy to start, maintain, and update, even if you don't have a background in Web design, CSS, or HTML. Most blog services start users out with a simple template that can be customized with color and logo preferences. To add entries, the user simply clicks a link and writes an entry is a small text editor window. The simplicity of this process makes establishing a blog attractive to those who want to have a Web presence but don't know where to start.
Blogs are also important to businesses for other reasons, not the least of which is the opportunity to connect with consumers to help them get to know your business, your staff, and your products and services. Blogs give you a chance to provide updates, post announcements and educate consumers. Blogs are a valuable marketing tool because they can quickly distribute targeted messages and receive immediate feedback through the comment process.
eWebsmart uses this blog to keep you updated on the latest news related to our business and the Web design industry. We also want to keep you up-to-date on the latest technology and online marketing tools. So, during the month of February, we will be blogging about blogging! We invite you to offer your own blogging tips and suggestions as you read ours. And if you're ready to start blogging, give us a call!
One of the best ways to get started is by blogging. Barely even 5 years ago, very few people understood what a "blog" is, but now, it's becoming a common concept and many people are at least familiar with the term. A blog is simply a Web site that contains entries written by a specific author or group of authors with a common interest. The entries can be personal accounts of thoughts, activities, discussions, and opinions, or they can be business-oriented and offer tips, advice, suggestions, articles, and other resources for readers.
One of the great things about blogs is that they are easy to start, maintain, and update, even if you don't have a background in Web design, CSS, or HTML. Most blog services start users out with a simple template that can be customized with color and logo preferences. To add entries, the user simply clicks a link and writes an entry is a small text editor window. The simplicity of this process makes establishing a blog attractive to those who want to have a Web presence but don't know where to start.
Blogs are also important to businesses for other reasons, not the least of which is the opportunity to connect with consumers to help them get to know your business, your staff, and your products and services. Blogs give you a chance to provide updates, post announcements and educate consumers. Blogs are a valuable marketing tool because they can quickly distribute targeted messages and receive immediate feedback through the comment process.
eWebsmart uses this blog to keep you updated on the latest news related to our business and the Web design industry. We also want to keep you up-to-date on the latest technology and online marketing tools. So, during the month of February, we will be blogging about blogging! We invite you to offer your own blogging tips and suggestions as you read ours. And if you're ready to start blogging, give us a call!
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