Specializing in:

• Wedding
• Newborn
• Family
• Sports

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Hours:

Mon-Thurs 5:30am-6pm

Fridays – 5:30am-7pm

Saturdays – 5:30am-6pm

Sunday’s – CLOSED

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Lea McLeod, a Portland-based “Job Therapist,” was the speaker at our April Brown Bag Lunch & Learn at the Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce. Lea’s topic was Bossonomics and she gave us 10 ways to improve office productivity and relationships between managers and employees. These tips are also very useful for small business owners and solo-entrepreneurs working with clients.

1. Build a good relationship from the start. When you begin to work with someone new, find out how they like to communicate, what they expect for keeping in touch, etc. Don’t make assumptions!

2. Have a regular conversation. This is so important. Don’t think that emails or texts can take the place of a good, regular conversation with your boss.

3. Clarify goals. What’s most important to work on? What’s the focus–for the year, for the week, etc.? How are you going to quantify it? It’s amazing how many people work without having clear goals to aim for.

4. Know your manager’s goals. Chances are, your manager has different goals than you do. And you only do better if you help them reach their goals–in addition to focusing on your own.

5. Hold up your end of the bargain. One of the things that Lea highlighted was the rule of “no surprises.” Don’t ever let your boss get blindsided by something you knew was coming. Own your mistakes, take responsibility, offer solutions instead of just complaining about problems.

6. Assume good intentions. People do say things like, “My manager is trying to make my life miserable.” But chances are, that’s not true. Your manager probably doesn’t get up in the morning thinking of ways to screw up your day. Most people are just trying to get through the week, have a good life, take care of their family, etc.

7. Assume imperfection. We’re all human. Go easy on your manager. If they do something you really don’t like or that interferes with your ability to get your job done, point it out. No one has classes in how to be a manager, so give them some help in learning how to do their job better.

8. Give feedback. It’s ok to tell your manager how they’re doing. It’s great to let them know when something they did really worked or didn’t work. Learn to ask great questions and not make assumptions for how you’re supposed to do your work. If there’s something you need, tell them.

9. Give recognition. The most successful people celebrate the successes of others. They don’t throw their manager (or the employees) under the bus. Managers are very often unsung heroes, so doing a little shout-out at a meeting or on your Facebook page–or letting their boss know something positive is a great practice.

10. Be kind. Again. We’re all human. Life isn’t easy. We’re all trying our best so no matter which of the above you’re tackling, talk to your manager in the way you’d like someone to talk to you. Be kind.

And the one thing you can say that will instantly change the course of any “Bad Manager” day?

How can I help you?

Find out more about Lea’s work at www.leamcleod.com.

And be sure to sign up for our May Brown Bag Lunch and Learn on May 23rd.
Matt Wilson tells us everything smart business owners need to learn about the Cloud.

The post 10 Ways to Repair, Restore & Redirect Your Relationship with Your Boss appeared first on Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce.

It’s a Very Good Time to be an SACC Member…

It’s been a full and busy late winter and spring at the Chamber… We’re taking a breather this week just to look back at what we’ve accomplished in the first quarter of 2013—and take a peek at what lies ahead.

Special thanks to Karey, Krhys and Andy in the office who have done a stellar job with day-to-day operations.

Our #1 goal is to provide you the tools, connections and education to help you do what you most want to do—make more money and experience more success in your business.

So… this spring we’ve offered a host of educational opportunities from impressive area experts to more than 100 Chamber and community members.   

Here are some of the topics we’ve covered…

Board Members and Legal Experts Jay McRostie & Rod Barker shared the 5 Biggest Legal Issues Affecting Business Owners at two of our luncheons. 

Feng Shui Expert Paula Springer gave us 10 Ways to Ignite Workspace Mojo by making changes in our office space. People brought in photos for some one-on-one advice from Paula.

Promotions & Marketing Expert Eric Torgerson shared some cool promotional products along with teaching us how strategically using these products is a powerful tool for connecting with existing and potential clients.

“Job Therapist” Lea McLeod taught a great Brown Bag on “Bossonomics”—and gave us several very good ways to improve the relationship between employees and bosses for a much more productive workplace.

We’ve held Good Morning and Good Evening Sandy at the following locations:

Peak Trophy & Engraving

Kiwanis

Party Lite

Antfarm

HoodView Academy
Dita’s Chocolates

SHS Health Clinic

Take Shape for Life

Island Oasis

In March, we worked with Antfarm to host a special Chamber After Hours and Board Q&A Session.

We’ve reinstituted our great Ambassador program and, headed by Lisa Foster, they held a successful first Cash Mob at the very charming Gifts of Past to Present, where more than 20 people shopped local and picked up wonderful items. (If you haven’t been in for a while, you’ve got to check out all the beautiful gifts.) The next one happens this Saturday, May 18^th. Location TBA on Wednesday!

We’re also in the middle of a Chamber Mini-Mob campaign, encouraging both Chamber and community members to shop local and leave a special card that enters the business they’ve visited and themselves in a June drawing.

With our partner Like That Productions, we’re gearing up for a better-than-ever Music Fair and Feast from July 11-14. We’re working with generous local businesses bring this popular annual event to the Sandy Mountain Days—with more for kids, and a special Sunday celebration.

We welcomed First Friday visitors to the Visitor Center in April and May—with art exhibits by local painter Clair Harrison and photographer Rod Stroh. Come see Rod’s beautiful photographs on display until June.

Thanks to the generosity and expertise of the Small Business Development Council at MHCC, we’re very excited to announce a series of Summer Business-Building Classes. We’ll be offering six (free or low-cost) workshops this summer on topics of great value of business owners—from Bookkeeping and Insurance, to Social Media and Website basics. Keep an eye out for more on these upcoming classes.

Chamber Member Cherokee Designs has been busy creating a very clean and user-friendly new website, www.sandyareachamber.org—we now offer a full community calendar and online payment option for your convenience.

We’ve welcomed many renewing Chamber Members (thank you for continued support of your chamber!) and brand-new members. We’re so glad you’re here and have made the decision to invest in your community and your business by joining the SACC.

New Members:

Rose Country Realty

L’BRI

The Local Buzz

Peak Trophy & Engraving

Douglas Ridge Rifle Club

Buddha Kat Winery

Coming up on June 12, we’re welcoming the CEO of Your Marketing University, Ely Delaney, as a very special guest speaker at the Chamber Luncheon. Marketing is the #1 most important thing we can do as small business owners, but as we all know, it’s often the thing that slips to the bottom of the to-do list. Don’t miss Ely’s presentation,“Discover the 5 Steps to Becoming a Marketing Rockstar in Your Industry.”

It’s a great time to be a Chamber member and we’re here to work for you.

Please let us know how we can serve you and help you to be as successful as you can be in your business. Thanks for your continued membership in and support of the Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce.

On behalf of the SACC Board,

Madeleine Eno

President

The post SACC Chamber News appeared first on Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce.

Here are a few tips as you work on your social media marketing.

• Position yourself as an expert in your field. Provide valuable information about your industry. Give Top 10 lists of tips and advice. Share how-to information for some of the common problems your customers or clients face. Think of the questions customers ask you most often and post the answers. Post pictures of your business or people enjoying your business.
• Keep the pitches in balance. Don’t make all your social media posts pitches for your business–people will stop reading your posts fast. Ask questions. Start a dialogue. Share pictures or stories. Think of being a resource for your community, rather than just selling to them.
• Ensure people can find you on the web. Make sure your posts lead people back to your website–and that your website is accurate, attractive and current.
• Interact often with your online community. Send birthday wishes to your customers and people who’ve liked your page. Comment on others’ blogs or posts. Share others’ posts of blogs on your page.

Need more ideas as you’re getting started or doing more with social media?

Here are a few online resources that provide a ton of information and ideas:

www.forbes.com

www.mashable.com

www.socialmediatips.com

And don’t forget…..

Your Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce can help. We offer several low-cost and free marketing opportunities for members, along with classes and trainings in social media and marketing. And we love sharing your news on our Facebook page. Make sure you post any news or specials on our page and we’ll spread the word.

The post How to Use Social Media to Market Your Small Business appeared first on Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce.

Got Any Upcoming Events or Specials? Let Us Help You Promote Them!

Looking for additional ways to help promote/advertise your upcoming events and/or specials? Have you tried social media? The Chamber can help you with that! Please send us your information and we will help promote it! Please visit and “Like” ourFacebook page, and follow us on Twitter.

We also have these low cost monthly advertising opportunities for our members.

Website Banner Ad space:  We have low cost ad space available on our website. Give us a call for more information, 503.668.4006.

Cinema Advertisement: The Sandy Cinema offers us a monthly slide for our members to share ad space at a reduced cost. You would be sharing ad space with other members. If this is of interest to you please contact our office at 503.668.4006.

First Friday’s: If you would like to have a table space at the SACC office during First Friday’s give Karey a call at the office.  May 3rd is the next First Friday 5-8pm.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Chamber Mob Squad Off and Running
The Chamber has launched the SACC Mob Squad’s Mini Mob Program
If you have seen it, heard of it or are just not quite sure what it is all about, here is the Who, What, Where, When and How!
WHO? You, or your employees if you are a chamber member! Don’t be afraid to get your employees involved in shopping local and showing it!
WHAT? The mini-mob is a way for biz owners to connect with each other and a way to build community and chamber membership.  It’s a great opportunity to visit a business you have never been to, but have been meaning to stop in and check out.
WHERE? Any business in the Sandy Area (does not have to be a storefront or a Chamber member)
WHEN? Kick off was April 3rd at Good Morning Sandy and it will end June 30th.
HOW? Follow these 3 super-simple, easy steps!

1. Make sure you have plenty of cards on you. Keep them in your car. (Pick them up at the Chamber office if you need some)
2. Fill our your name (and you can put a postage stamp on the card, to make it easy for them to return.)
3. Whenever you visit a business, bring a card. Make sure the person you are handing it to knows what to do with it.

You the mobber and the business the mobbee, will be entered in to a drawing at the end of June.  Prizes include a $100.00 gift card from Fred Meyer for the mobber and a $150.00 gas card for the mobbee, plus the winning business (mobbee) gets a free banner at Music Fair and Feast.
We now have  cards returned and out of those 34, 23 different businesses have been mini mobbed by 13 mobbers!
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Networking Events

Good Morning Sandy
May 1, 2013
Dita’s Chocolates
38915 Proctor Blvd

Meet new people and support
your local businesses. It is a great
time for networking, door prizes and refreshments.
Remember to bring a dollar for the 50/50 raffle!

Cash Mob
May 18th
11am-12pm
Location will be announced May 15th
Brown Bag Lunch & Learn
Thursday May 23rd
SACC Office
12-1pm
Everything smart business owners need to know about the Cloud
It seems that all the time we’re hearing about the cloud, that something is in the cloud, or is cloud-enabled? But what does that mean? What is the cloud? Do you need the cloud for your business or personal life? How do you use the cloud?
At this brown bag lunch we’ll answer those questions and more, and try to dispel some of the anxiety that all this talk of the cloud can induce.

HINT #1: If you use a computer the odds are that you’re already using the cloud whether you know it or not.
HINT #2: While you have to pay for many cloud services, many of them are free and available to your business today.
HINT #3: You can use the cloud a little piece at a time, and only need to use as little or as much as you want to.

Bring your lunch and questions and listen to one of our members, Matt Wilson of Brightstar Consulting, tell us all about the cloud. Matt is an IT professional with 20 years of experience with computers and networks in business, govt and military settings, and for the past 11 years has owned and Brightstar Consulting, focused on providing the technology services that small and micro businesses need to operate in our ever more connected and complicated world.

Free to our Members
$5.00 non Members

Luncheon
June 12th, 2013
11:45am-1:00pm
Sandy Fire Department Annex Building.
Presentation: “Marketing With A Vision”

Description:
In this presentation you will learn how to simplify all of the “Marketing Voodoo” into an easy to follow, step-by-step roadmap for you & your team to explode your sales and build the business you
dreamed about when you started.

In this powerful program you will discover:
* The one question which lays the foundation for all of your marketing?
* The Three “E’s” to creating raving fans
* How to create “Infectious Drive” and create an army of motivated sales people
* How speed creates momentum in your marketing

Bio:
Ely Delaney is the co-founder and lead trainer of YourMarketingUniversity.com, a marketing education company designed specifically to teach you how to take control of your marketing, online and offline. Ely simplifies the complex when it comes to marketing your business and becoming THE expert in your industry.

Having trained hundreds of entrepreneurs and professionals all around the globe, Ely has been a speaker and trainer for groups such as S.C.O.R.E., David Fagan’s Icon Builder Bootcamp, National
Association Of Women Business Owners, Arizona Small Business Association, Arizona Holistic Chamber of Commerce, American Business Women’s Conference and many more.

Seating is limited so RSVP today! 503.668.4006

________________________________________________________________________________

New Members
Support our new members.

Small Business
Development Center

Learn Great Ways To Grow
Your Business

Check out our lineup of information-packed classes by visiting our website.

The post SACC at Work 4.30.13 appeared first on Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce.

Sandy Cash Mob April 20, 2013
Kudos to our Ambassador Committee, we had a lot of fun Mobbing Gifts of Past to Present on Saturday!
Join us next time, keep your eyes open for the next Cash Mob in Sandy!
Follow us on Facebook  

Chamber Mob Squad Off and Running
The Chamber has launched the SACC Mob Squad’s Mini Mob Program
If you have seen it, heard of it or are just not quite sure what it is all about, here is the Who, What, Where, When and How!
WHO? You, or your employees if you are a chamber member! Don’t be afraid to get your employees involved in shopping local and showing it!
WHAT? The mini-mob is a way for biz owners to connect with each other and a way to build community and chamber membership.  It’s a great opportunity to visit a business you have never been to, but have been meaning to stop in and check out.
WHERE? Any business in the Sandy Area (does not have to be a storefront or a Chamber member)
WHEN? Kick off was April 3rd at Good Morning Sandy and it will end June 30th.
HOW? Follow these 3 super-simple, easy steps!

1. Make sure you have plenty of cards on you. Keep them in your car. (Pick them up at the Chamber office if you need some)
2. Fill our your name (and you can put a postage stamp on the card, to make it easy for them to return.)
3. Whenever you visit a business, bring a card. Make sure the person you are handing it to knows what to do with it.

You the mobber and the business the mobbee, will be entered in to a drawing at the end of June.  Prizes include a $100.00 gift card from Fred Meyer for the mobber and a $150.00 gas card for the mobbee, plus the winning business (mobbee) gets a free banner at Music Fair and Feast.
We now have 27 cards returned and out of those 27, 18 different businesses have been mini mobbed by 10 mobbers!

Networking Events
Good Morning Sandy
May 1, 2013
Dita’s Chocolates
38915 Proctor Blvd

Meet new people and support
your local businesses. It is a great
time for networking, door prizes and refreshments.
Remember to bring a dollar for the 50/50 raffle!
Brown Bag Lunch & Learn
Thursday April 25th
SACC Office
12-1pm
Boss-onomics 101
10 Ways to Repair, Restore, and Redirect
Your Relationship with your Manager (For Both Bosses & Employees)

New Members
Support our new members.

Sandy Fire Department

Vote for Sandy High School Artist Sierra Martz
You can stop in to our local Safeway and see the actual live size cow she
has painted! It is amazing, so vote it up! Unlimited voting!

Small Business
Development Center

Learn Great Ways To Grow
Your Business

Check out our lineup of information-packed classes by visiting our website.

The post SACC at Work 4.23.13 appeared first on Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce.

Earth Day FUN FACTS…

Did you know that in some elementary schools, after Halloween and Christmas, Earth Day is the third largest celebrated holiday? Or how about that it is now observed in 175 countries and is the largest secular modern day holiday in the world?

• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to watch a TV for three hours – it’s equivalent to half a gallon of gasoline.

• Earth Day is a relatively new holiday and was first celebrated on April 22 in 1970. More than 20 million Americans participated in this first Earth Day celebration

• Earth Day was founded by a senator of Wisconsin and the day is credited for creating the environmentalism movement.

•April 22 is the first official day of Spring in the Northern hemisphere and of Fall in the Southern hemisphere and was chosen to be Earth Day for this reason.

• Never underestimate the importance of recycling: if every newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year. Unfortunately only 27% of all American newspapers are recycled.

• More than 20,000,000 Hershey’s Kisses are wrapped each day, using 133 square miles of tinfoil. All that foil is recyclable, but not many people realize it.

• Only 11% of the earth’s surface is used to grow food.

•The world’s first national park was started in 1872 at Yellowstone National Park in the US.

• The first major international conference on environmental issues was held in Sweden in 1972 and was sponsored by the United Nations.

• The first wildlife refuge was formed on Pelican Island Florida in 1903.

• The patron Saint of ecologists is St. Francis and the first proclamation of Earth Day was made by the mayor of San Francisco in 1970.

• A highlight of the annual Earth Day ceremony at the United Nations is the ringing of the Peace Bell that was given to the UN by Japan. It is made from coins given by school children to further peace on our planet

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