San Pedro Marketing's Posts - San Pedro News Pilot2024-03-29T14:35:17ZSan Pedro Marketinghttps://sanpedronewspilot.com/profile/Chrishttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2211962452?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://sanpedronewspilot.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=01s0ij41elmgl&xn_auth=noEasy Marketing Ideas for a Small Businesstag:sanpedronewspilot.com,2014-02-17:6389356:BlogPost:611912014-02-17T15:44:54.000ZSan Pedro Marketinghttps://sanpedronewspilot.com/profile/Chris
<p>Just keeping up with social media and staying in touch with your customers can consume precious time for a small business owner. If you are a one-person business owner you are probably busy full-time just doing the actual work of your business. Whether it's styling hair, teaching yoga or giving facials, the majority of your time is spent serving each customer in the moment. <br></br>As we know small business owners tend to "do it all", but when it comes to marketing, a little planning and…</p>
<p>Just keeping up with social media and staying in touch with your customers can consume precious time for a small business owner. If you are a one-person business owner you are probably busy full-time just doing the actual work of your business. Whether it's styling hair, teaching yoga or giving facials, the majority of your time is spent serving each customer in the moment. <br/>As we know small business owners tend to "do it all", but when it comes to marketing, a little planning and expertise can go a long way to help a business or service stand out. Not knowing where to start and developing an actionable plan can seem overwhelming. But starting from scratch does not have to be complicated, expensive or intimidating. <br/>Here's an example of what you can do to get started. These three action items will get you on your way to keeping in touch with your current customer base and cultivating new referral business:<br/><strong>Social Media:</strong> Create a Facebook or LinkedIn page, if you don't already have one already, and update, refresh or post something new just once a month. Do it on the same date each month to make it a habit. Whether you choose FaceBook or LinkedIn will depend on the kind of business you have. Remember this exposure is free so there is no excuse not to take advantage of it.<br/><strong>Email: </strong> Send three emails a year to your current and prospective customers. You can let your customers know when you will be out of town or inform them of a new service or product. The message is up to you. Choose the three months that you will send these emails and write it down. Make sure your subject line is short and compelling or your email may never get opened. Always respect customers who do not want to receive emails and take them off your mailing list. Sending emails is free and an easy way to reach out to your customers.<br/><strong>Postcards:</strong> Send three postcards a year to your mailing list. Choose three months when you think a postcard would be most effective. Select from the months you do not have an email scheduled. Postcards hang around longer than an email and they are not as easily deleted. You can ask for a friend referral or offer a special discount during your slowest month. There are out-of-pocket costs for printing and postage but you can find some very reasonable printing solutions online.<br/>When crafting your postcard or email messages, focus on your objective and always include your social media page address and the other ways in which you want to be contacted.<br/>Plan and track your marketing activities on an inexpensive calendar. Be sure to start by writing in your plan for the year. Which day each month will you refresh your social media presence? In which months will you send a postcard or an email? It's ok to modify the plan as you go in order to take advantage of opportunities or react to changes in your marketplace. Always work on the next month's activity two weeks before it's due. This will give you time to think clearly about your objective and proofread your messages carefully. <br/>Just by establishing a simple social media presence and reaching out to your customers with postcards and emails six times a year you will already have a simple marketing plan that is manageable. For many small businesses this is a great start.</p>Hike the Canyon Behind Peck Parktag:sanpedronewspilot.com,2014-02-12:6389356:BlogPost:611542014-02-12T15:25:16.000ZSan Pedro Marketinghttps://sanpedronewspilot.com/profile/Chris
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234960900?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234960900?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350"></img></a> Tucked in the canyon behind Peck Pack is a great little hiking trail that snakes around the neighborhood. It's quite beautiful, actually, and you can get close to nature even though you are never far from houses and streets.<br></br><br></br>I've hiked this trail off and on for over 10 years and if you live in the vicinity of Peck Park you don't have to drive to get there. Just…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234960900?profile=original"><img width="350" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234960900?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350"/></a>Tucked in the canyon behind Peck Pack is a great little hiking trail that snakes around the neighborhood. It's quite beautiful, actually, and you can get close to nature even though you are never far from houses and streets.<br/><br/>I've hiked this trail off and on for over 10 years and if you live in the vicinity of Peck Park you don't have to drive to get there. Just walk out of your house and in a couple of blocks you'll be on the trail.<br/><br/>You can enter the trail from Bandini, Western, Walker and a few other streets as well. Occasionally you might have to walk a few blocks of sidewalk to link up with a trail segment but no worries.<br/><br/>The trail winds around the canyon with a decent amount of inclines and declines to get the heart pumping. You could jog, if that's your thing, and get a cardio workout.<br/><br/>You can get some great views of downtown Los Angeles from some of the higher points and the foliage and colors change nicely with the seasons. The photo shown here was taken one year ago when we had more rain and the canyon looks like some luscious hiking trail you might find in Hawaii.</p>
<p>Check it out and enjoy!</p>Los Angeles: Where did our city name originate?tag:sanpedronewspilot.com,2014-01-21:6389356:BlogPost:601892014-01-21T13:30:00.000ZSan Pedro Marketinghttps://sanpedronewspilot.com/profile/Chris
<p>"El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula" (Yes, that's the original.) I've lived here almost half my life and I did not know. I never took the time to investigate until now.<br></br> In 1769, a Franciscan friar who was exploring California named a river "Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de la Porciúncula". In English it means "Our Lady of the Angels of Porciúncula". That was just the name of the river.<br></br> Now for the city. As a settlement was established,…</p>
<p>"El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula" (Yes, that's the original.) I've lived here almost half my life and I did not know. I never took the time to investigate until now.<br/> In 1769, a Franciscan friar who was exploring California named a river "Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de la Porciúncula". In English it means "Our Lady of the Angels of Porciúncula". That was just the name of the river.<br/> Now for the city. As a settlement was established, along the banks of this river with the long name, it came to be known as (brace yourself) "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula", or "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Porciúncula River". A very small town with a very long name! And, in the naming of the town, the Virgin Mary went from "Our Lady of the Angels" to "Queen of Angels".<br/> Here is the cool historical part. Porciúncula is the most sacred place of the Franciscan Order of the Roman Catholic Church. Actually, it is still a small church in Italy which is now located inside of a larger church called the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The basilica is located near Assisi, Italy in Umbria (central Italy) and it is the place where the Franciscan movement originated. "Porciúncula" actually means "small portion of land" and the humble church, of the same name, is where St. Francis of Assisi died. <br/> Needless to say, this lengthy and descriptive name for our city was obviously, and officially, shortened to just "Los Angeles". Sometimes I wonder why certain words remained over time and others just dropped away. Why did they not retain "our lady" (Nuestra Señora) or "our queen" (Nuestra Reina) to whom the angels actually belong? I imagine "Porciúncula" was jettisoned early on (sorry Saint Francis). I can't even fake pronounce it in my head.<br/> In spite of the reduced word count, our city name remains in Spanish and it means "The Angels". As you know, we don't even say "Los Angeles" very much anymore. We just say "L.A.". Maybe in the future it will morph again into a short grunt or quick hand gesture to save time. In any case, now we know the origins. I feel better.<br/></p>Santa Barbara Island...a rare sight!tag:sanpedronewspilot.com,2014-01-12:6389356:BlogPost:604232014-01-12T15:05:09.000ZSan Pedro Marketinghttps://sanpedronewspilot.com/profile/Chris
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234957157?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234957157?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"></img></a> The visibility was so fantastic on Monday, January 6 that I saw a "new" island. New for me at least! It was clearly visible from 38 miles off the coast of Palos Verdes. <br></br>At first I thought it was a ship but it did not move. Then I thought it might be a Google barge but I had not heard anything about that in the news. Plus it was fairly large-ish for a ship.<br></br>Turns out,…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234957157?profile=original"><img width="250" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234957157?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="250"/></a>The visibility was so fantastic on Monday, January 6 that I saw a "new" island. New for me at least! It was clearly visible from 38 miles off the coast of Palos Verdes. <br/>At first I thought it was a ship but it did not move. Then I thought it might be a Google barge but I had not heard anything about that in the news. Plus it was fairly large-ish for a ship.<br/>Turns out, it is the smallest island of the eight Channel Islands and it's called Santa Barbara. It is the southernmost island in the Channel Islands National Park.<br/>Needless to say I took a bunch of photos as the sun went down.<br/><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234957157?profile=original"></a></p>Why Ban Free Plastic Bags?tag:sanpedronewspilot.com,2014-01-08:6389356:BlogPost:602232014-01-08T17:30:24.000ZSan Pedro Marketinghttps://sanpedronewspilot.com/profile/Chris
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2153307206?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2153307206?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"></img></a> Unbeknownst to many of us, there is a swirling stew of plastic trash between our beautiful California coast and Hawaii. It was discovered in the late 90’s and it contains pretty much every type of plastic item you can imagine. It’s all there including, cigarette lighters, pens, water bottles, flip-flops, razors, tooth brushes and, of course, the ubiquitous plastic bag.…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2153307206?profile=original"><img width="300" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2153307206?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"/></a>Unbeknownst to many of us, there is a swirling stew of plastic trash between our beautiful California coast and Hawaii. It was discovered in the late 90’s and it contains pretty much every type of plastic item you can imagine. It’s all there including, cigarette lighters, pens, water bottles, flip-flops, razors, tooth brushes and, of course, the ubiquitous plastic bag. <br/>You can’t see where all this plastic trash collects from our coast. You’d have to sail hundreds of miles to the North Pacific Gyre and even then you would only see a portion of it because, in addition to being hundreds of miles wide, it is also deep. <br/>In fact, there is so much plastic debris in all of the world’s oceans that plastic can be found in most of the fish that we eat. Scientists who study the effect of plastic particles on marine life call this new, man-made, ecosystem the “plastisphere”. Sounds sci-fi but it is a very real and relatively new phenomenon.<br/>Most of the plastic pollution in the ocean finds it’s way there from the land. In other words, it comes from us guys. (A good reason to pick up a piece of trash once in a while instead of walking by it.)<br/>On January 1, 2014, Los Angeles became one of the biggest cities in the country to ban free plastic bags in our stores. Estimates indicate that we, just here in LA, were deploying over 200,000 bags per hour. Now we must bring our own bags when we shop or pay ten cents per bag to purchase them. <br/>This new ban does not fix the plastic pollution crisis but it is a small victory for the ocean. Yay ocean! So when you forget your reusable bags in the car, like I constantly do, think about going back to get them. If each of us can reduce our use of plastic just a little, it’s a start.<br/>I understand how hard it is to kick the plastic bag habit from personal experience. They are SO perfect for carrying the groceries but once discarded they take years to biodegrade. Use for 10 minutes, biodegrade for 10 years…you get the point.<br/>Overall, I think this new ban will help us use fewer plastic bags. As a result fewer plastic bags will find their way into the ocean. My plan is to REDUCE usage, REUSE whenever possible and then properly RECYCLE the rest.<br/><br/><br/><br/></p>Yoga is Amazing at the San Pedro YMCAtag:sanpedronewspilot.com,2013-12-30:6389356:BlogPost:601052013-12-30T21:00:00.000ZSan Pedro Marketinghttps://sanpedronewspilot.com/profile/Chris
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234956673?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234956673?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"></img></a> Yoga does not come to mind when one thinks of San Pedro. At least for me it never did. The harbor area is just not your typical LA yoga scene. We have fruit stands but not wheat grass juicers. Great dive bars and donuts, not organic food outlets. But I’m here to tell you that the quality of the yoga classes at the San Pedro YMCA is amazing!<br></br> <br></br> Before you assume I’m…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234956673?profile=original"><img width="200" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2234956673?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"/></a>Yoga does not come to mind when one thinks of San Pedro. At least for me it never did. The harbor area is just not your typical LA yoga scene. We have fruit stands but not wheat grass juicers. Great dive bars and donuts, not organic food outlets. But I’m here to tell you that the quality of the yoga classes at the San Pedro YMCA is amazing!<br/> <br/> Before you assume I’m a thin, chanting, vegan, let me put this in perspective. I eat almost everything including meat, ice cream, french fries and burgers. (Yum.) I’m a classic gym avoider. I hate working out. I would rather clean out my closet and sip wine. But, yoga is different and ya’ll don’t know what you are missing!.<br/> <br/> It’s a kind-to-your-body type of workout for humans of all ages. Plus it’s totally non-competitive. It’s a fantastic way to take a body and soul break. And, you will see and feel the positive results if you make it a habit. <br/> <br/> Each yoga teacher at the San Pedro Y has a unique style of practice. All good, as far as I am concerned. They don’t know it but I secretly consider them my personal trainers and my guides to good health and well being. <br/> <br/> Oy! Why am I preaching to you about this really!? I know you are busy with the holidays and everything. <br/> <br/> Well, I’m telling you this because I wish I had discovered and appreciated these local yoga teachers, and the benefits of yoga, long ago. This treasure was literally under my nose for many years before I realized it. I also just want to say “Thank You” and show appreciation to all of my teachers.<br/> <br/> Namaste</p>