You can find them in Belmond, Iowa.

You know there’s a story there somewhere.  Yet, I can’t find it online anywhere.

It’s a time to look at what stories of yours are not being told to a larger population.

Get these stories in writing, before there’s no one left who remembers the stories.

Start right now.  

If you’re smart (and I think you are) you’ll subscribe to the Tourism Currents Newsletter.  Find that link just by clicking right here.  It comes out once a month and it’s free.  It is geared towards tourism, but any good small business will know they need to get people in their doors – and tourism smarts will help with that.

Here’s a snippet from their February newsletter.

See Your Place Through Fresh Eyes, Like a Visitor

To improve your visitor or guest experience, it’s important to be able to see your destination, attraction or lodging with fresh eyes.

Want to know how they experience your town with a mobile device, for example?  BE the visitor. Load up a vehicle with 3 staffers, each carrying a different type of smartphone or tablet, and drive into your town from the outside as though you’ve never been there.

Start with the basics.  Do the highway signs make sense? Is it clear how to get downtown, to your attractions and to your Visitor Center?

Then, have everyone pull out his or her phone or tablet.  Do simple local searches on each device’s browser, for the information that visitors want  -  ”restaurants in XYZ,” “places to eat in XYZ,” “hotels in XYZ,” “things to do in XYZ.”  What comes up?  Do the results make sense? Local search is changing the travel game, but you have to see what the traveler sees to know what needs to be done to improve the information they get.

There are many other ways to see things anew.

Try the Kansas Sampler Foundation 8 Rural Culture Elements  –  Architecture, Art, Commerce, Cuisine, Customs, Geography, History, People  -  as a guideline for discovering your town as a visitor might discover it.

Read this excellent post by S. Anthony Iannarino, on how to keep the beginner’s mind and why it will keep you (and your visitor/guest experience) from getting stale and ineffective.

We still have room for some speakers: http://desmoines2012.140conf.com/call-for-speakers

We will have some interesting projects going on throughout the day involving books, food and music.  What successful event doesn’t have food, books and music?  None we think!

It will be a day of enjoyment, amazement, new connections and ah-ha moments.  It’s not to be missed.

Early bird tickets are $40 and you can get them at the box office or online at Ticketmaster. http://www.ticketmaster.com/State-Of-Now-Iowa-tickets/artist/1686445

Me on a rock at the Parthenon in Greece

I often get asked “what should I blog about?”

The answer is easier than you think.

Everything.

What?  Yes, everything.  If you are blogging as a business owner, the idea is to share not only what it is your business does, but what it is you do.  People want to get to know you.  They want to see how you live.  They want to know your kids are smart, or normal, or average.  They want you to tell them these things, in a nice way.

The idea is you are building a relationship with your readers.  It’s not a contract you are writing.  It’s a story you are telling.  

Here’s some ideas:

Small business owners -

1. why you chose the color of paint for your walls
2. how the last customer of the day is as important as the first
3. why your location is good for business
4. why your son-in-law does NOT work in your store
5. why the regular Friday night band concert is important to you
6. How you support your local schools
7. why you spend money in your local community versus going to Walmart
8. what thought process you use to decide which products you are going to carry
9. how to sell an item to a young person, old person, single woman, married man
10. why you belong to the Kiwanis (or any organization)
11. things visitors can do when they visit your town
12. what other kind of shops are in town
13. how weather affects where you live
14. how to use a product bought at your store (google Kreg tools, it’s amazing how they built their business around this question)
15. why you like facebook (or don’t like it)
16. things kids could learn that will make them better business people

That’s 16 quick ideas for a business owner.  Tell us your story.  We want to get to know you.  Show us why you are the expert in your field (and it’s not because you know everything – it’s because you know how to tell us what we want to hear.)

The picture is me on a rock at the Parthenon in Greece.  I’ll be writing about how Greece changed my life, and how that affects my small business next week. 

Thanks to Wikimedia for the picture of a friend, a mistress and Picasso!

How much is your time worth?  

It’s a question many freelancers (1099ers) are asked.

I charge $40 an hour or will negotiate a total project price.  WHOA!! Forty bucks! Geez, that’s a lot of money.

Well, no – not really.  When you consider the amount of experience I have, it’s frankly not enough.  However, my rate is comparable for the area I live in.

We are often asked to give of our time and expertise – for a good cause, for a non-profit, for a friend – and it puts us in a touchy place.  It’s hard to say “I charge for that” to a friend.  However, in order to become the smart businessperson you are destined to be, you’ll need to get better at sharing your worth.

I started out by saying “Let me take a look at my calendar, I’m pretty busy.” However, that never stops anyone!  You’ll get a response like “Great! We are so happy you’ll do it!”

Next I tried saying “We could probably work something out.”  Turns out, that doesn’t work either.  To me, it sounds like I’ll adjust my rate.  To the other person, it sounds like I’ll do it for free.

Finally, with the coaching of Becky McCray I now say “I’d love to help you.  My rates are $40 an hour.  Would you like me to find some time to work you in?”  That works well.  And you know what? I’m often surprised when I hear “Great, we really want your help.”

There’s a story that illustrates my point very well.

A woman in Paris spots Picasso in a cafe. She begs and pleads him to sketch her…he finally relents, whips out his pad and draws a sketch of her.

She’s delighted. “How much do I owe you?” she asks.

“$5,000,” he replies.

“$5,000!” she exclaims. “But it only took you 2 minutes!”

“No madam,” he replies. “It took me my life”

There will be speakers that talk in ten minute increments and the day flies by.  We’ll talk about agriculture, education, serendipity, business, media, reflections, music and more.  There will be lunch, live music at noon time by Adam Lee of Adam Lee Music and some of the most passionate, phenomenal people you’d ever want to meet.

People like:

Scott Kubie who will tell how creating his resume in a Tumblr format got him a job.

Mark Cuddy who shares the story of how funeral homes use the internet for good.

Liz Nead will talk about how her grandfather did business in the last century and how she shares a passion with him that helps her do business today.

Jennifer Wilson will tell us how she used social media to publicize her book.

And that’s just a few of the presenters.  Wait until you see the rest!  If you think you’d like to spend 10 minutes telling us how the technology of now has made a difference in your life, we’d like to hear more.  Please fill out the form at http://desmoines2012.140conf.com/call-for-speakers    Calls for speakers end March 1 – so you still have time.  You don’t have to be a professional speaker.  We only want you to have a desire to share your story with us.

Tickets are on sale for $40 until April 1, when they will go to $70.  Students will always pay $14.  Anyone can attend – and we welcome you!

Saturday a group of us (gypsy chics) traveled to Randall, Story City and Gilbert to visit various resale shops and have lunch.  I took my phone camera and many pictures were taken.  I found some marvelous ideas for decorating.  If I had my own shop, I would use some of these ideas in my shop.

Please enjoy the photos!  You can view them here

I’ve been working through the blog post by Julien Smith and the first assignment involves doing the hardest thing first.  I’ve decided that was taking care of my health.  One of the steps for that goal is to drink more water.  So I have this perfectly lovely blue container that  I fill at least 3 times a day with water — and drink.

I keep it in this spot so that I see the quote “I am and always will be the optimist.  The hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams.”

For without dreams and hopes, what do we have?  Building something great in your life requires you hope and dream improbable dreams.  Then you get to work and make them come true.

(I’ve also missed the last two weeks, so I’m down to Project 50)

I receive a brief enewsletter from Iowa Tourism.  They always send things most people and businesses around the state can use.  

WINE AND BEER VALENTINE’S DAY PROMOTION 

The Iowa Tourism Office and the Wine & Beer Promotion Board have launched a Valentine’s Day promotion encouraging travelers to visit Iowa wineries and restaurants. The “Iowa Wine & Dine Giveaway” offers a chance to win an iPad2, along with $50 gift certificates to an Iowa winery and Iowa restaurant. Enter here. (http://bit.ly/z3U1Gw )

DOES YOUR FARM OR AG OPERATION GIVE TOURS?
Iowa is known for agri-tourism, and the Tourism Office would like to update its resources for farm and ag tours. Colleen Murphy is collecting information on Iowa farms and agricultural operations that offer tours for groups or individuals.  Complete a questionnaire with the details of your facility and tours, and we’ll keep your information on file for tour requests. Contact Colleen Murphy (colleen.murphy@iowa.gov) for a form and more information.

SHOULD YOU BE A MEMBER OF IOWA TOURISM? 

The Iowa Tourism Office staff will be traveling around the state to attend a general membership meeting in each of the three tourism regions this winter and spring. These “Tourism Town Meetings” offer you a chance to find out more about the work of the Tourism Office and how you can take advantage of partnership opportunities. If you aren’t a member of your region, this is a good time to attend a meeting and find out more about the benefits of region membership. Visit the Central Iowa Tourism Region (www.iowatourism.com) , Western Iowa Tourism Region (www.visitwesterniowa.com ) or Eastern Iowa Tourism Association (www.easterniowatourism.org) websites to fin d out more.

The Central Iowa Tourism Region is home to the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism – and that meeting location has not yet been decided (it’s out for bid) but will occur March 28th somewhere in the Central Region of Iowa.  Why not join us and see if this is something you might consider being a part of? 

The Cedar Valley had it’s first Bar Camp this weekend.  I stumbled across it on facebook.  $5 got you a tshirt, 1/2 day of presentations/discussions and lunch.

There were 80 people registered, and there were about 50 people there.  They had a good sponsor base too.  Most of the time slots were filled up and divided between, Creative-Technology and Entrepreneur.  I spent most of my time in the Creative room.  I did attend one Tech preso – and found it quite interesting to be in a room full of people who spoke another language than I did (programming and more).  I also led a conversation about the 140 Character Conference, now known as The State of Now, along with the talented creative Megan Pralle.

Scott Kubie talked about how he used storify to create his resume, and how it got a lot of traction.  http://storify.com/scottrocketship/hire-scott-rocketship

A group of Cedar Valley creatives talked about how they join together at http://cvcreatives.us/ and make things happen.  They were also open to suggestions.  I spoke up and said what about those of us close to you?  They said I was welcome to join them.  I’m checking the site out — we will see.  I know they are a creative group of young people.  

One session was What is your favorite book?  I wondered what that would be about – and it turned out to be pretty interesting.  I got some new titles I want to check out.  They had not heard of Chris Brogan and Julien Smith (imagine?) so I suggested Trust Agents and Flinch.

10% Solution, The War of Art, The Book of Tea, The Little Book, ReWork, Don’t Make Me Think (this one will be first), The Glass Castle, Deep Survival, The Rise of the Creative Class, Self Deception in Leaderships and UnMarketing.

One gentleman suggested we try MarkDown, which is simple text to html program.  I kinda let my brain wander in this preso – and checked my email, facebook and twitter.  Ahh — it happens.

Somewhere during the day I heard PechaKucha — and find that quite fascinating.  http://www.pecha-kucha.org/  I think I’m going to need to visit http://www.pecha-kucha.org/night/des-moines/ and check it out further.

I give the day a thumbs up.  It was also great preparation for the State of Now — I met some new connections!