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Middle Tennessee knitters and crocheters will gather onSaturday, October 24th at FiftyForward Knowles to participatein the 4th BIG STITCH, an event to support the currentproject of Knit and Crochet TN: The Hat Project. The goalis to make 3033 hats by October 24th and distribute them toindividuals in need in our community. This event supports USAWeekend’s National Make a Difference Day when individualsdo volunteer projects to improve their communities and help

By Councilman-at-Large Charlie Tygard

As Harpeth Valley Elementary Schoolwelcomed students back this fall to its’ newwing and expanded cafeteria, it bid adieu tothe portable classrooms that had graced thefront lawn for the past year. This left a gapinghole at the front of the school just beggingfor attention.As a result, the Bellevue Exchange Clubhas announced that it will be sponsoringa landscaping project honoring deceasedmember Don Johnson in front of the school.

BIG STITCH: knittin’ andneedle-in’ to help others

a part of National MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY

Bellevue Exchange Club Plans Harpeth ValleyElementary School Landscaping Project

middletennpaper.com

The Sales Coach 2Councilman’s Corner 3

Charlie Tygard

Calendar of Events 4Tech Talk 5

Non-Prot of the Week 5Volunteer of the Week 6Help! I’m Shrinking 6

Dr. Steve Olivas

Fifty Forward 7

Senior Calendar

Contents

October 2009

BellevueExchange ClubAnnouncesCommunityCleanup Day

The Bellevue ExchangeClub has announced that the nextcommunity-wide cleanup day will be held onSaturday, October 24th from 8:00 – 12:00 in theparking lot at Bellevue Center between the Searsstore and former Macy’s store.See Page 4 for more information.

By Tim Davis

How are yoursales? How is yourbusiness? Is yourmarketing bringingyou the customersyou expect or couldyour marketing use amajor overhaul? Our new column is goingto address sales, marketing, and motivationfor the entrepreneur and small businessowner.In my experience as a business coach,consultant, and speaker I have found thatsmall business owners are usually reallygreat at their craft. They may be good atmaking widgets, mowing grass, or cuttinghair; however when it comes to sales andmarketing most owners say they coulduse some help. Knowing your product orservice is critical to your success, but if you can’t bring in the customers and thenconvert them to sales, then you have nothingmore than an expensive hobby. I want to seethat change for you.The first area that really needs to beaddresses is the economy. How has itaffected your business? Many people saythat there is a recession going on, so lets just say that there is for arguments sake.What, if anything can you do to surviveand even thrive in tough times? That seemsto be the question on many peoples mindsthese days and I know that you can thrivein tough times if you follow some basicbusiness principles.Tough Economy Success Principle #1:Get Back to the Basics!Over the past several years, manybusinesses have become fat and happywith customers breaking down the doorsto buy. Quite frankly, sales and marketingskills were put on the back burner and now

The Sales Coach

How to Make Your Small BusinessSuccessful in a Tough Economy!

most businesses have no sales process toconvert clients. Business basically boilsdown to three areas…1. Attract customers2. Convert them to sales3. Stay in touch for repeat and referralbusinessAs an owner you need to take a look at allthree of these areas. Do you have a plan toattract clients? Are you and your sales teamprepared to convert them to buyers and thenwhat is your process to stay in contact withthem to get repeat and referral business?Tough Economy Success Principle #2:Realize That Not Everyone is Broke!Not everyone is unemployed, broke,or destitute; however, many people areworried and that is your challenge. Worriedconsumers have money to spend, but theyare concerned about making a bad decision.Your job is to make them feel good aboutyour product or service. People willbegrudgingly buy what they need, howeverthey will happily buy what they want. Youneed to make sure thatyou and your team are prepared to sharewith your prospects why they want yourproduct or service. The simple rule here isthat no one wants to be sold, but everyonewants to buy. Why do they want to buyfrom you?Tough Economy Success Principle #3:Bring Added Value to Your Product andService.Everyone talks about adding value, buttoo many people miss the boat in this area.What you think is added value may not bewhat the customer thinks is added value.You need to reach out to your clients andlisten to what they want from you. Maybeyou need to have a 2 for 1 sale, or throw inextra services for the same price, but you

need to nd that added value that will get

your prospect from no to yes.I recently met a home inspector who hasteamed up with a home warranty companyso that he can offer a warranty with everyinspection. What used to be two separatesells, have now been combined in to oneoffer. This is a perfect example of addingvalue to your business.Tough Economy Success Principle #4:Form Strategic Business Partnerships.Many businesses fail during tough times,

Continued on page 3

BIG STITCH: knittin’ andneedle-in’ to help others

a part of National MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY

neighbors in need. The day is the largestcommunity service effort in the nation,rallying corporations, government leaders,charitable organizations and everydayAmericans into action on one day.This event is the fourth organized by Knitand Crochet TN, a group of needle workerswho are dedicated to providing knitters andcrocheters of Tennessee with informationon area groups, special events, educationalopportunities and charitable needs in our

community. The rst three BIG STITCH

events, held in January, April, and Julywere a tremendous success; almost 300individuals attended and over 1000 blanketswere donated to the babies born at NashvilleGeneral Hospital at Meharry, the previousproject.The day will begin at 9:00 am and end at3:00 pm with knitting and crocheting all dayand a break for lunch at noon. Participantsare asked to bring their own needles and yarnand a sack lunch, drinks will be provided.Door prizes will be given throughout theday, and several seminars are planned. TheBIG STITCH Boutique will sell yarn for $1and original patterns for 25¢.If you cannot attend, but want to participatein this project, contact us. We have severaldrop-off points for completed hats.For those individuals who would liketo learn to knit or crochet, there will beFREE instruction available throughoutthe day. Instruction space is limited, soreservations are recommended and can bemade calling Deborah Stillwell at 615/579-1857. Reservations are needed only forthose who desire instruction.

Area knitting shops sponsoring this event include Bliss Yarns, Falcon Feather Fibers, Haus of Yarn, Knit Happy, Neighborhood Knit Shop, The Knaughty Knitter,The Busy Needle, Textile Fabrics, Imagiknit Yarns & More and The Stitchin’ Post. For

additional details about the day, hat requirements, beneciaries and patterns, visit www.knitandcrochettn.com or call Deborah Stillwell at 615/579-1857. FiftyForward Knowlesis located at 174 Rains Avenue in Nashville.

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With today’s fast pace life mostAmericans are not putting the rightnutrition in their bodies.Our bodies were designed to healthemselves, but in order to heal, weneed a proper variety of the rightfoods on a regular basis.Get your complete daily servingsof fruits and vegetables/nutritional

benets for all ages in one nutritional

drink. This product includes thesuperfood acai from the amazon rainforest. by the way, the rain forest isresponsible for 20% of the oxygen webreath for information on this greatproduct, visit www.tacwellness.com

Fast Food or Fast Fruit?

By Charlie Tygard

Nashville, and Bellevue, is a greatplace to live, work & play. I amreminded of this fact every timeI sit in front of my computer toprepare to write this column. Thereare just so many special things andevents occurring that allow residentsto participate in improving ourcommunity.One of the featured articles inthis week’s edition is a story onthe Bellevue Exchange Club andBellevue Chamber collaboratingat Harpeth Valley ElementarySchool to plan, build and dedicate alandscaping project in Don Johnson’shonor. I hope you will read the articlecarefully and prayerfully considerparticipating in a community projectthat will both beautify the school’sexterior, but also provide a functionalamphitheater-like setting for thisschool to teach children. Needs

include nancial donations (100%

tax deductible) and assistance on

planting day (November 7th).

In addition, the wildly successfuland popular Bellevue ExchangeClub’s community cleanup daywill return on Saturday, October24th at Bellevue Center. Not onlywill volunteers branch out alongHighway 70S and other majorarteries to pickup trash, eliminategrass in sidewalks, etc, but otheropportunities exist for residentsexist to:

• Shredding of confidential

documents by Knight HorstShredding

• Recycle gently-used items to

Goodwill

• Dispose of bulk items in Metro

Public Works roll-off bins

Councilman’s Corner

As always, pleasefeel free to contactme at P. O. Box210945, Nashville37221 or 256-7146

(work) or 243-3295(cell) if I can be of

service.

• Safely recycle and/or dispose

of electronic items to avoid

landlling• On-site automobile emissions

testingAnd as always, the ExchangeClub will reward our volunteerswith “Chef” Lou Farringer’s grilledhamburgers and hot dogs with all

the xings at noon to conclude the

day.A friend and former neighbor, PatSkow, with Fridrich & Clark Realty,has contacted me and asked me tosolicit Bellevue neighborhoods whomight be interested in participatingin the “Seedlings in the City” treeplanting project this fall. Stites and

Harbison Law rm underwrites this

event where community volunteerswill plant American Elm seedlingsin neighborhood yards. Last year,126 trees were planted in EastNashville to commemorate the 10thyear anniversary of the tornadoes.Information has already been sent to

Traceside, Shefeld on the Harpeth,

and Riverwalk subdivisions aboutpossible participation. If yourneighborhood might be interested,contact me as soon as possible andI will forward information to youabout this intriguing project.As always, please feel free tocontact me at P. O. Box 210945,Nashville 37221 or 256-7146

(work) or 243-3295 (cell) if I can

be of service.

Tim Davis, America’s Small Business Marketing Coachtimdavis@timdavisonline.comhttp://www.timdavisonline.comhttp://www.theoriginatorsmarketingcoach.com Have You Listened to Our 5 Star Rated Podcast,The Small Business Success Hour?

because they try and go it alone. You need

help and you need to nd other businesses

that cater to your clients. A CPA could

partner with a nancial planner, or a loanofcer can partner with a Realtor, but you

need to look around and see what noncompeting businesses have the same clientsas you and see about forming a strategicpartnership.This could include a mail campaign,conducting a seminar, or an e-mail campaignwhere each one of you cross promote theothers product or service. People love toget referrals to people they can trust andyou can double your reach overnight by tagteaming with businesses they have the samecustomer base.Tough Economy Success Principle #5:Don’t Forsake the One’s Who Brought Youto the Dance!I am never amazed by sales people andbusiness owners who say that they need tokeep a database of clients but they do not.What is even worse is when they have adatabase but do not keep in touch with them!Your database is your lifeline to success intough times. I have a simple approach tomanaging a database effectively…1. Keep in touch with your database 8-12times per year!2. Send them regular e-mails, cards, and

Continued from page 2

phone calls!3. RepeatYour database is like your commissionfree sales force. They will send you referralsand come back, but they need to know youcare. Stay in touch with them and you willbe amazed at how your sales will soar!I will be back soon with more sales,marketing, and motivational tips. In themeantime, if you have a question, e-mail meat timdavis@timdavisonline.comTim Davis is America’s Small BusinessSuccess and Marketing Evangelist.Inaddition to hosting the weekly podcast,The Small Business Success Hour, he justreleased his new book, Dude Seriously!41 Ways You Are Sabotaging Your SalesCareer and How to Fix Them Before YouGo Broke! He lives in Nashville withhis wife Angie and 2 dogs, Fudge and

Petey. You can nd him online at www.

themarketingevangelist.com or by phoneat 615-364-9039.