I broke some rules when I chose my company’s name. First of all, I knowingly used a name that already existed. On top of that, I’m using my initials. I don’t care for two reasons; hrh media is named after its founder, Hannah Rebekah Hager, and that founder also happens to have the initials of Her Royal Highness. I’ve been playing that card my entire life and I wasn’t about to stop it because some other business also has my initials.
Don’t follow my suit. When it comes to your customer, and the likelihood of them finding you in the virtual world, you need to remove as many roadblocks as possible on their route to your website.
Your business name = Your domain name
When you meet someone you’d like to do business with, the first thing either one of you do when you return to your computer is Google one another. You might not have had a business card at the time, they might not remember your name, but hopefully they will remember your company’s name, “I Write Good.” Chances are they’ll look you up on a search engine or type the URL directly into their browser. When http://www.IWriteGood.com doesn’t automatically show up — or worse, your competitor’s website does instead — its over for you. Your business name should equal your domain name. One more thing; be a .com. No one really trusts a .biz or a .net.
One Loudoun celebrated its groundbreaking July 24.
One Loudoun Downtown, LLC, a joint venture of Miller and Smith and NORTH AMERICA SEKISUI HOUSE, together with civic and community leaders, and business representatives, today broke ground on Phase One of the new Downtown One Loudoun, a mixed-use development located within One Loudoun, a 358–acre master-planned community in Loudoun.
Phase One of Downtown One Loudoun features 210,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space including an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema scheduled to open 2013. The project is actively leasing with plans for an array of high-quality restaurants, a boutique grocer, health club, upscale shops, and offices encircling a vibrant public
plaza. More than 100,000 square feet of mixed-use space will be LEED certified. Phase Two will follow with a hotel, additional shops and offices, luxury townhomes and
multifamily residences. When complete, Downtown One Loudoun will encompass approximately one million square feet of mixed-use development.
“Downtown One Loudoun will become “the” new economic focal point for commerce in Loudoun County with a dense pedestrian-oriented mix of uses and public amenities. We have designed the downtown area with every detail in mind with superior architecture and advanced urban design principles. We are creating a unique environment that seamlessly integrates quality of life with an outstanding retail and business environment,” said Bill May, Vice President, Miller and Smith.
Technology has hampered our ability to communicate effectively with one another. One would think an infinitival amount of devices to support communication would lead to effective marketing strategies. This is not the case, especially when it comes to professional wordsmiths; newspapers.
Newspapers have an image problem — they’re viewed as the news source of yesteryear by younger generations. Local newspapers, on the other hand, are prime to make a turn around in today’s murky, print waters. Unlike their national news counterparts, such as The NY Times and The Washington Post, local newspapers aren’t losing ground with their middle-aged readership. Mothers and fathers want to know how the School Board budget will effect their kid’s classrooms. Commuters are opinionated on who and what is being decided on when it comes to their roads.
Yet local newspapers are still not monetizing on their base readership. Why is this? In our efforts to not fall behind, or fall apart, we’ve overreached and over extended our offerings. We’ve tried to be emulate craigslist. We’ve tried to mirror the popularity of Facebook and Tumblrs photo sharing in print society pages. It hasn’t worked. It’s time to get back to the basics. It’s time to be a small town, small business again.
Be honest.
It’s time to get real. With your limited staff, what can you do well? Look around you. If your online reader were standing in front of you, how would you sell your product to them? Your online business mission statement or philosophy should be no different than your “in person” philosophy. One of my clients, a local newspaper in one of the richest counties in the nation, has the philosophy that it is a family owned business covering news, sports and entertainment for the community. We are able to track our reader demographic so that we can tailor our reportage to our reader. For the client, this means writing blogs and topics that speak to men and women aged 35-44. Conversely, and down the road, we need to conduct market research on why we aren’t capturing the eyeballs of 25-34 year-olds or 45 to 60 year-olds.
Assess your competition.
If you’re a small town business or media organization, chances are your competition is not vast. That doesn’t mean your one competitor isn’t doing well. Stop beating yourselves up about how many sales they make or how much press coverage they receive. Start assessing what makes your business valuable. What product or service do you have that they don’t? Who has been around longer? Maybe you take longer to produce your work, but when you do finish up the quality of your product is bar none. When you start seeing your business for its uniqueness, there in lies its value. Slowly start posting photos of your product on social media sites. Remember to do so without being sales-y. Remind people of how you’ve been in business for 25 years and thank them for it. After all, without your customers you wouldn’t still be in business. It’s not all about you.
Make a long-term investment.
Everybody knows everybody in a small town. This means they will also know how you conduct your business. If you make a commitment to invest in your community, this will return to your bottom line 10 fold. I worked with an IT firm whose CEO spent at least one day a week volunteering for a non-profit or community-based organization. Every time he attended an event or meeting he posted about it on social media outlets and uploaded photos, even if it was just a mention of the other organization. He initially entered into these relationships because he wanted to understand the environment in which his employees lived and worked. After years of continued investments, he still picks up partnerships with other high-powered business owners simply by showing he cares.
How does a small town graduate itself into a destination? By hosting a wine and food festival.
“We wanted this to be something Purcellville can be known for,” said Jeff Sheehan, the finance manager at Purcellville’s Magnolia’s at the Mill restaurant. “Purcellville is a little off the beaten path and we wanted to make sure people know we’re here.”
By hosting its first Wine and Food Festival July 21, the town will showcase seven local wineries, four Purcellville restaurants and a host of local musicians. The outdoor event is the brainchild of Purcellville Mayor Bob Lazaro and will shut down the historic downtown area on 21st Street from 4-9 p.m. Admission is free and the event is rain or shine.
Lazaro said the festival is an extension of the popular winter event, the Loudoun Grown Expo, which this year saw 2,000 attendees. He said he hopes the festival will showcase the thriving downtown that is home to multiple small businesses. Sheehan, who helped organize the event, echoed Lazaro’s sentiment saying that the festival will be a great way for the town to publicize its eclectic mix of shops.
The participating wineries include 8 Chains North Winery & Vineyard, Fabbioli Cellars, Bogati Bodega & Vineyard, North Gate Vineyard, Otium Cellars, Twin Oaks Tavern Winery and Sunset Hills Vineyard. Magnolia’s at the Mill, Anthony’s, Lothar’s Sausages and Boodacades BBQ restaurant will vend the event. Local musicians will include Acoustic Burgoo, The Polka Dots, Andros, Andrew McKnight, Mark Cullinane and Michael & Paige. For more information, visit Purcellvillewineandfood.com.
The U.S. News & World Report today released its annual Best Hospitals rankings, citing Inova Fairfax Hospital as the top Washington, D.C. metro hospital. Inova Loudoun Hospital ranked eighth. All of Inova Health System’s five hospitals advanced to the top 20 with 4 in the top ten. This year’s Best Hospitals, the 23rd annual edition, showcases more than 720 of the nation’s roughly 5,000 hospitals. Fewer than 150 are nationally ranked in at least one of 16 medical specialties. The rest of the recognized hospitals met a standard of performance nearly as demanding in one or more specialties.
“Inova is reinventing healthcare, increasing value for our patients,” said Knox Singleton, CEO of Inova Health System. “Our care model emphasizes collaboration between physician, patient and family underscoring wellness, education, research and care management as part of our commitment to improving the health of the community we serve.”
The hospital rankings, said U.S. News Health Rankings Editor Avery Comarow, are like a GPS-type aid to help steer patients to hospitals with strong skills in the procedures and medical conditions that present the biggest challenges. “All of these hospitals are the kinds of medical centers that should be on your list when you need the best care,” said Comarow. “They are where other hospitals send the toughest cases.”
The rankings were published by U.S. News in collaboration with RTI International, a research organization based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Highlights of the 2012-13 rankings will appear in the U.S. News Best Hospitals 2013 guidebook, to go on sale in August.
The U.S. Attorney General should convene a national summit on the growing problem of the prescription drug abuse, which Center for Disease Control describes as an epidemic.
That recommendation is included in the annual spending bill approved last week in the House that funds the Department of Justice, according to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), chairman of the House Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations subcommittee.
The measure also directs U.S. Attorneys around the country to step up investigations of so-called “pill mills,” pain clinics serving as fronts for the illegal distribution of addictive pain.
“The number of Americans abusing prescription drugs today is staggering,” Wolf said, citing the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health that said more Americans abuse prescription drugs than the number of those using cocaine, heroin and hallucinogens combined. “We need to do more to shut down these centers that just hand out prescriptions and stop the practice of doctor shopping.”
The summit should focus on reducing prescription drug diversion, including the establishment of prescription drug monitoring programs, proper drug disposal and increased enforcement of “pill mills” and doctor shopping, Wolf said.
These directives are in the House version of the fiscal year 2013 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill, which is 3 percent ($1.6 billion) below the fiscal year 2012 spending level and 1.4 percent below the president’s request. The House bill also recommends terminating 37 programs, at a savings of more than $300 million. The Senate has yet to take up its version of the bill. Differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill are expected to be hammered out this summer.
Wolf has a long record of working to bring attention to the problem of prescription drug abuse, especially oxycontin. Most recently, he co-sponsored the “Stop Oxy Abuse Act” (H.R. 1316), which would change U.S. Food and Drug Administration classifications to ensure that drugs containing controlled-release oxycodone hydrochloride only be allowed to be prescribed for patients with severe pain.
Wolf also joined with House Appropriations Committee chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) to introduce legislation in March to establish a standardized system for states to share prescription data to help doctors, pharmacists and authorized law enforcement officials monitor patients seeking multiple orders for painkillers and other drugs. Wolf has emphasized that privacy and the protection of personal data would be a priority when creating a national standard.
Wolf also has worked with the DEA to coordinate a nationwide prescription drug “take-back” initiative so that people can return unwanted or unused drugs for proper disposal. This year’s Drug Take-Back Day on April 28 collected 276 tons of unwanted or expired medications for safe and proper disposal at more than 5,600 across the country, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
For more information on Wolf’s efforts to combat prescription drug abuse visit wolf.house.gov.
Commuters should swap their cars for bikes this Friday, as Loudoun will participate in the 2012 Bike to Work Day on May 18.
Loudoun County will host two Bike to Work Day “pit stops” where participants can enjoy refreshments and receive prizes and giveaways.
Bike to Work Day is coordinated locally by the Loudoun County Office of Transportation Services and is a regional effort involving the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.
Around 400 bicycle commuters visited the local pit stops in Leesburg and Sterling in 2011.
More information about Bike to Work Day, including a link to the online registration form for the event, is available at http://www.loudoun.gov/biketowork.
Get in touch with Loudoun’s rural roots during the Spring Farm Tour this weekend. The tour is self-guided down tree-lined country roads in rural, western Loudoun. Farms are open on Saturday, May 19 and Sunday, May 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“The Spring Farm Tour is an increasingly popular event, and provides a great opportunity for people to learn about how farm animals are raised, how their food is grown, and what makes Loudoun County so unique. We’ve been told time and time again what a wonderful experience the tour provides – especially for families with children of all ages,” said Agricultural Development Officer Kellie Boles with the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development.
With 36 farms/venues and 11 wineries participating this year, Loudoun is anticipating approximately 8,000 visitors during the tour weekend.
For nearly a decade, Verizon told its costumers, “we never stop working for you.” But this week, 45,000 of its employees have done so.
Caroline Greenfield and other members of the Communications Workers of America union are on strike against Verizon who is asking the workers to make compensation concessions.
Contract negotiations between the telecommunications giant and two groups representing the unionized Verizon employees, Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, fell through Aug. 7, resulting in a strike of Verizon union workers up and down the East Coast.
From Massachusetts to Virginia, workers are donning red shirts and carting placards reading, “CWA On Strike For Middle Class Jobs,” in front of Verizon stores, including its campus in Ashburn.
The workers are striking because Verizon is preparing to make wide-spread wage cuts and to increase the amount employees contribute to their health care plans and pensions, among other things.
Leesburg resident Steffan Ahalt has worked for Verizon for more than 10 years. He said he sometimes works seven days a week for the company that now wants to eliminate several of his paid holidays and sick days.
He estimates that Verizon’s new health care proposal would result in him having to meet a $7,500 annual deductible in order to provide health insurance for his family.
The concessions Verizon is currently proposing translates to a $20,000 decrease in benefits, said another Verizon worker and fellow striker, George. George wished to be identified only by his first name.
The strike only affects the company’s wireline division, which includes FIOS, its television and Internet services. Verizon’s wireless division is not, and never was, unionized.
Ahalt said he’s most frustrated that Verizon won’t meet CWA at the negotiation table. CWA represents nearly 35,000 of the workers and IBEW represents the remaining 10,000 employees. Ahalt and three other men will walk back and forth in front of Verizon’s Market Street location until CWA and Verizon can reach an agreement, they said. Their red shirts are emblazoned with cobra snakes alongside an inscription, “Will strike if provoked.”
But neither Ahalt, George nor “Faye,” who is striking with nearly 10 other workers in front of Verizon’s Ashburn campus, want to be on strike.
“With the economy the way it is, I’d rather be working,” Ahalt said. CWA pays the workers $120 per week to strike while negotiations ensue. Negotiations could continue for days, weeks or months.
George insists that if the union worker’s wages drop, so will the wages of Verizon’s contract workers.
“This is a fight for middle-class jobs in the U.S.,” he said.
Faye, who also did not wish to be named, echoed his sentiments saying that if Verizon wins, its workers – union and non-union– will suffer, and that worker’s winter holiday packages will be severance packages.
“They’re taking everything back that we’ve earned over the years,” she said.
Faye was joined by Caroline Greenfield, and the two women blocked the entrance into Verizon’s Ashburn campus Sept. 8 asking, “Do you really want to cross a picket line?”
Faye has been with Verizon for 10 years and Greenfield for nearly 30 years. Greenfield marched in front of the entrance waving at the cars who occasionally honked their horns in support of the union workers.
“They’re literally selling us off piece by piece,” Faye said.
The union workers are perplexed that Verizon, a company that is currently profitable and has a former chief executive officer, Ivan Seidenberg, who made the Forbes list of top CEO compensations at $37 million, is asking its workers to make concessions on their compensations.
Waving at the copper electrical lines above, Ahalt said Verizon has already paid for its infrastructure work throughout Loudoun, as its FIOS plan is completely built out. The company is now accruing profit on that initiative, he said.
“For someone who’s making billions of dollars a year, we just want [our wages] to stay the same,” he said.
Hannah Hager 