Constant Contact has recently opened a Small Business Field Development Office in partnership with the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce. Beginning in July, Constant Contact Authorized Local Experts will offer two free marketing workshops a month. Additionally, the Constant Contact Small Business Think Tank has been created to offer a more intimate setting for small businesses and nonprofits to receive face-to-face marketing support. Twice a month, “Think Tanks” will be held with Constant Contact Authorized Local Experts. A maximum of 10 attendees will receive group coaching on marketing challenges as well as hands-on support with Constant Contact.

Think Tanks: A unique opportunity for Small Business and Non Profits to gather with Constant Contact Local Authorized Experts for an intimate and lively discussion and instruction on all things to do with online marketing. Meet and greet area businesses and share in conversation around marketing challenges. Additionally, receive hands on Constant Contact support as needed during Think Tank. If you are a New York City or New Jersey based business and are looking for one-on-one live Constant coaching, please email Kim Mitchell. We will arrange for live “Office Hour” one-on-one coaching as well!

November 18th, 10:00am - 12:00pm: Think Tank, Conference Room, Bonnie Kantor
Thursday, December 11th, 10:00am - 12:00pm: Think Thank, Conference Room, Susana Fonticoba
Thursday, December 18th, 10:00am - 12:00pm: Think Thank, Conference Room, Susana Fonticoba

Build Your Marketing Toolkit

Many small businesses and organizations find themselves seeking the right strategies to make their marketing efforts as effective as possible. But with so many different marketing activities that they could focus on, they often miss some of the important marketing concepts that will help them understand why those activities are so important. This presentation is designed to uncover some of those core concepts and show that a little bit of marketing knowledge can go a long way.

Attendees of this presentation will learn:

• What marketing really is (and isn’t).
• How marketing has changed in ways that benefit small businesses.
• The importance of setting goals and objectives for their marketing efforts.
• The 4 Pillars or Marketing Success – a framework that shows how different marketing activities all fit together, and will help small businesses reflect on their own marketing program.
• It’s ok to start small, to start where you already are.

Join us and start to build a foundation marketing knowledge, from which you can build more and more effective campaigns to help your business or organization grow.

Campaigns That Drive Action – Newsletters & Announcements

At the heart of small business marketing are the campaigns that drive action – collections of marketing activities that help a small business or organization to achieve its goals and objectives. Newsletters and Announcements have become a core component of those campaign choices. Email is more important than ever – to the communication efforts of businesses and nonprofits everywhere; and to the customer, donor, client or supporter of those organizations. This session will reveal some simple but effective best practices and considerations for the small business or nonprofit seeking to make their email newsletters more effective.

Attendees of this presentation will learn:

• The different types of newsletters
• What to write about in your newsletter or announcement and how to consider using images
• Subject line best practices, and when to send your newsletter
• The importance of understanding how connected email and social media are…they have to be done together.
• What types of additional tools might be useful

Join us and learn some great new strategies to help your email and social media efforts be more effective components of one of the core campaign types, newsletters and announcements.

You’re Social, Now What? Making Social Media Work for You

You’ve thought about what social networks to use for your business or nonprofit, and you’re ready to take the next step. Where do you go from there? This seminar will give you a closer look at the popular social media networks – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. We’ll show you the benefits of using each, how other organizations are marketing with them, and some dos and don’ts of each channel. You’ll also get tips on how to tell if your social media activity is working.

Rock Your Holidays with a Great Promotion

It’s that time of year – the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is upon us. There is no better time to reach out to your customers, bring new clients in, and  boost repeat and referral business! Whether you have a retail shop, provide a specialized service or work business-to-business, or have a nonprofit in need out outreach, this workshop will provide simple, practical tips for closing out 2014 on a high note.

Participants will learn:

• How to leverage social media to engage new and existing customers
• Which  promotions and special offers work for your business right now
• Best ways to drive response from your emails and social posts
• Easy strategies to keep your offers looking good on a cell phone or tablet
• How to create and manage a campaign for the holidays (it’s easier than you might think!)
• Create a simple playbook to plan your marketing activities all season long
• Most importantly, how to measure your results to get more out of your effort along the way

Please come ready to meet other small business owners and nonprofit professionals. We are all wearing many hats, and we can all share and learn from each other. This session is best suited for beginners in online marketing but all skill levels are welcome. The subject matter is less about technology and more about how to grow your business or organization. Join us – and rock your holidays this year!