Everything You Wanted Know About Email Marketing: A Star is Coming to Palm Coast

When it comes to email marketing there are many choices, platforms, and service providers.  Certainly Constant Contact is a household-brand-name among the small business owners, where the company's name is synonymous with email marketing.

One of the rising stars at Constant Contact is Pamela Starr. As Regional Development Director for Constant Contact, Pamela speaks to groups of Florida Business Owners about Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing and Engagement Marketing.  Pamela's seminars help people learn now to maximize the power of Relationship Marketing.

And now, Pamela Starr is coming to Flagler County...

Constant Contact's Pamela Starr will present two back to back sessions at the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, October 19th:

The Power of Email Marketing (2:00 - 3:30 pm)

• How email marketing can help your business grow
• How to target prospects and customers
• How to avoid being seen as a “spammer”
• The best ways to build your email list
• How to come up with effective content for your emails
• How to help ensure your emails are opened and forwarded
• How to incorporate Social Media into your Email Marketing Campaign

...bonus session!
Getting Started with Constant Contact (3:30 - 5:00 pm)

• How to find the best email template for your needs
• How to include links, pictures and logos into your emails
• How to include video in your newsletters 
• How customize your emails in accordance to your company brand
• How to integrate links to your Social Media platforms (Facebook, etc.)
• How to use the newest Constant Contact features including “text to join our mailing list”

The cost is $10 for Flagler County Chamber of Commerce members; and $15 for non members.  The back-to-back sessions will take place at the Flagler Room located at the Flagler Chamber of Commerce. 

Space is limited.
Please call 386.437.0106 to reserve your space.

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Additional Bonus Sessions: 

Office Divvy ™ as a Constant Contact Business Partner in Flagler County, is also offering two action-oriented FREE Clinics following week to help you get started with Constant Contact.  They will at no cost setup your account, help you import your database, design your template, and send out your first email free of charge along with a FREE 60-Day subscription depending on the size of your database.

The FREE CLINICs will take place at Office Divvy on Thursday, October 27th (5:30-7PM); and Saturday, October 29th (1 - 2:30PM).  To reserve your space in bonus free clinics, call 386.445.4153

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3 Great Entrepreneur Events in Palm Coast this Fall

Palm Coast and Flagler County entrepreneur community has much luck this Fall with three great events lined up in late September and early October:

Entrepreneur Night at The Humidor, European Village
This free event features premium cigars, $2 drafts, a selection of red, white, and port wine, complimentary food and a bunch of fellow Flagler County business owners to chat, network, and relax with.

The event will take place at the Humidor Cigar Lounge on Tuesday, September 27th from 5:30 to 8:00 PM.  This is a free event.  You can just come by, or feel free to RSVP on Meetup.com or on Facebook

Dave Ramsey Live: Entreleadership
Join Dave Ramsey live, as he shares how to grow your business and lead your team from a biblical perspective. EntreLeadership is Dave Ramsey’s premier leadership training program where he personally teaches individuals, teams, and businesses how to grow.

Whether you’re an individual who wants to develop your leadership abilities, a business or organizational leader who wants to develop your team, or an entrepreneur who wants to build a business on solid, proven principles, EntreLeadership is for you.  The event will take place at the Parkview Baptist Church on Friday, September 30, 2011 from 9:45am-5:00pm.  Tickets are $39.  More info here.

Inaugural Business2Business Expo at Hammock Beach Resort
This all-day event includes vendor booths, keynote speech by Dr. Ted Anders, lunch and cocktail party, and multiple workshops.  If you are looking to take a positive step to grow your business, this is the event for you. The event is organized The Palm Coast Business Assistance Center in partnership with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UCF on October 7th at Hammock Beach Resort from 9:00AM to 5:00PM.  Participation is $100 which includes vendor booth, lunch, cocktail party, and entry to keynote speech session and workshops.  More info here.

On a side note, Palm Coast's entrepreneur-hub, Office Divvy ™ is sponsoring 3 lucky participants through a raffle. It includes your tradeshow-booth, lunch, cocktail and keynote and educational sessions.  Enter here to win a full package: Palm Coast B2B Expo Raffle.

Palm Coast Small Business Assistance Center Grand Opening

Palm Coast Small Business Assistance Staff

City of Palm Coast established a Business Assistance Center, soft launched in May 2011, celebrated its grand opening today with many of the Palm Coast and Flagler County government officials, economic development folks, and business leaders present.

The new Business Assistance Center is affiliated with the University of Central Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) network, and it will operate as a UCF SBDC sub-center, under the umbrella of City of Palm Coast, and will be managed by a Palm Coast resident, a retired executive and entrepreneur, Joe Roy.



The new space for Palm Coast Business Assistance Center does not resemble the typical government office you may have gotten used to. It's presented as a professional space with soft-colors, where the staff will meet you with smiling faces and a helpful attitude towards the business owners.

The physical location is at the City of Palm Coast offices, at Suite 105 located in City Marketplace (previously referred to as City Walk). It houses the offices of the previous Business License department staff, the Palm Coast Economic Development Team-leader Beau Falgout's office, as well the new SBDC area manager Joe Roy's office.

In today's short ceremony Palm Coast mayor Jon Netts said:

" We're going to solve our problems ourselves. We're going to do it ourselves. We're going to work hard. We understand local businesses, entrepreneurial startup businesses, and businesses that can grow to so called second stage businesses...that's our future. That's what this is all about!"

Here's the full contacts of the new Business Assistance Center if you have any questions, have a business need or dilemma, or would like to extend a warm welcome to Joe Roy:

    Joseph Roy, Area Manager
    Palm Coast Business Assistance Center
    UCF Small Business Development Center
    At the City of Palm Coast
    386-986-4765

SBDC Seeks Manager for their new office located in Palm Coast, Flagler County

Reporting to the Director of the Small Business Development Center based in Daytona State College in Daytona Beach, candidates are sought to fill an Area Manager position serving the small business community in Palm Coast and Flagler County.

Ned Harper, director, SBDC at Daytona State College says:

“ Ideally, we’re looking for someone who is experienced in owning and operating a small to medium sized business. The successful candidate should be able to demonstrate that they can advise businesses on business planning and development.”

The new Flagler/Palm Coast Area Manager will be responsible for the development and production of programs for the small business community. The SBDC programs provide small business owners with up-to-date and relevant information concerning the well-being of their businesses. They will also be responsible for communicating and attaining program goals and objectives.

Candidates should have Master’s Degree in an appropriate area of specialization and two years of appropriate experience, or a Bachelor’s Degree in an appropriate area of specialization and four years of appropriate experience; as well as excellent verbal and written communication skills.  Periodic evening and weekend work may be required, as well as moderate travelling.

The Area Manager for the Palm Coast Small Business Development Center will be based at the City of Palm Coast offices currently located on Cypress Pointe Parkway.

To apply, submit a resume with a cover letter to Ned Harper via email to harpern@DaytonaState.edu by April 22, 2011.

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A Chance for Palm Coast's Entrepreneurial Men...

...okay not exactly for all Palm Coast Men, but all men (nationally) who wanted to be an entrepreneur and are looking for that break:  Dockers is running a contest to encourage men to realize their entrepreneurial dreams!  One winner will receive $100,000 cash —generally enough (and sometimes more than enough) to start a business plus one year's worth of dockers khakis!

Here's the Docker's video announcing the contest and the rules:



Entries must be in by March 15th, and here's what you do to enter:

Intracoastal Bank of Palm Coast to extend SBA Loans

Jacksonville Business Journal reported that six area banks had a total of $11.3 million in SBA loan approvals as of May 31, nearly the triple the amount compared to last year.

Among the six banks is Palm Coast's Intracoastal Bank.

Bruce Page, president and CEO of Intracoastal Bank in Palm Coast, said his bank is "putting a greater emphasis on SBA loan programs and is looking for prospective projects that might be eligible." Intracoastal is particularly interested in making 504 loans, and has made two this year.

How does the 504 loan work? The bank puts up 50 percent of the loan amount, a certified development company puts up 30 percent to 40 percent and the borrower is responsible for the remaining 10 percent to 20 percent of the balance.

Certified development companies are private, nonprofit corporations that act as intermediaries between the bank and the borrower, and they process and administer the 504 loans.

The 504 loan is made specifically for fixed assets, which are usually real estate-related costs such as acquiring land or buildings, expanding or renovating existing buildings and buying equipment.

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Small Business Resources in Palm Coast:

• Flagler County Chamber of Commerce
• SCORE® Volusia Flagler County
• Small Business Administration (SBA) 
• Office Divvy

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