1. Everyone likes gifts and cards – especially if they’re personalized. Check out Send Out Cards for options to personalize your cards with photos and customized messages. Make this holiday the season to reconnect with customers, tap into your database and show them appreciation. This is especially important for you as you are the face of your business. Do something that will make you and your company stand out; feature a photo of a community landmark or local beauty spot. Take the time to hand-sign your cards and add a personal note. The extra thought goes a long way! Consider a mix of online and paper cards; the online message saves trees and money, and the hand-signed cards sent to a limited number of people will differentiate you and your business with your top clients and prospects.
2. When it comes to client gifts, buy items that are have lasting value. Food items are consumed, and the box with your logo quickly goes away – plus holiday snacks are largely unhealthy. Choose something enduring, and better yet, large enough to show your logo from a distance. Some examples are executive portfolios, umbrellas, backpacks, picnic baskets or briefcases. These items are durable and go out into the community with the owner, acting as a mini-billboard for your company. If you have a more limited budget, consider giving away your value in the form of a calendar that has one piece of savvy business advice for each month of the year. It’s not too late to order a calendar online to which you can add your logo, photos and wisdom (www.calendarworld.com).
3. Consider holding a drawing for a gift certificates for an hour of your consulting services either at your own holiday event or a chamber of commerce event, as they often feature raffle prizes. This allows you to collect business cards from the attendees; post one of your staff at a table in the front of your office to greet people and request their cards.
4. Make it a contest. Give away an hour of your consulting services to the person who donates the most cans of food at your holiday event food drive, or make a random selection from those who comment on your blog if you have one (and this is another reason to have one!)
5. Be a holiday charity drive collection point. If your business has a visible location, offer it as a collection location for a holiday fund, food or clothing drive. The value is enormous for your company as you’ll be mentioned in all of the event promotions, and your reputation and value will be enhanced as a strong corporate citizen through your support of a worthy cause.
6. Partner with a local nonprofit for your event. Ask guests to bring a nonperishable food item for the community food bank or a used coat in good condition for the community coat drive. Invite the local high school honor chorus to sing if you have the space; give a donation to the school music program for this service. Feature a nonprofit such as Susan G. Komen for the Cure® at your open house with a “Sip and Shop” opportunity to sell stocking stuffers. Raffle off donated gift baskets and give the proceeds to a nonprofit.
7. Leverage your social media connections for holiday public relations: post photos taken at your holiday gathering on your business Facebook page, and tag the guests. Send the photos to your local newspaper, as well, if it has a weekly business networking section. People love seeing their names and faces in the media, whether social or traditional outlets. Be sure to include the name of attendees’ businesses if you’re sending to the newspaper.
8. Start a discussion regarding holiday-related business suggestions on your LinkedIn group pages – If you’re an accountant, discuss whether client holiday gifts are tax-deductible. What’s the best small business advice to consider while planning for 2011? If you have a blog or page on your website for posting articles, do this as a Q&A and post the link to the blog/article on LinkedIn.
9. Approach holiday networking events with purpose. If you’re hosting the event provide two timed opportunities within the event for people to divide into small groups of 2-4 people, exchange cards and give 30-second elevator speeches, telling who they are, what they do and what makes them unique – and their major goal for 2011. This is the eWomenNetwork way to get to know people and their businesses, and it works. People enjoy this more organized opportunity to make new connections. If you go to holiday mixers, wear a conversation-starting accessory such as a festive piece of jewelry or scarf, or for men, a splashy holiday tie. Ask people what their biggest business or personal dream for 2011 is – you’ll get some surprising answers and attendees generally enjoy this as a way to break the ice. You may find ways to help others as well as discover new resources for your own business in the process.
10. These last few months of the year are the best time to plan your public relations initiatives for the coming year. Brainstorm all of the ways you can amplify your business brand, value and purpose through your website, blogging, social media, traditional media, special events, speaking engagements, newsletters, e-newsletters, contests, community partnerships, sponsorships, seminars, webinars and more. The opportunities are limited only by your imagination, time and budget – although many public relations initiatives are free or extremely low-cost. Build your public relations plans into your 2011 calendar now, and you’ll generate results and growth in the coming year!

Paula Fellingham, CEO, The WIN Radio

Part of a national radio network tour, The WIN Reno Girls’ Night Out is designed to build awareness of its online radio community of women helping women worldwide and to help women connect with one another. This is a free event (drinks are available at a no-host bar). Attendees will receive chocolate gifts and are eligible for prize giveaways.

The evening will be headlined by Paula Fellingham, The WIN CEO. Author of the best-selling Believe It! Become It! How to Hurdle Barriers and Excel Like Never Before, Fellingham is a former radio host and national speaker on women’s empowerment, business success and family life. The WIN Girl’s Night Out Reno is sponsored by Hidden Valley Country Club.

Additional presenters include:
• Rachel Flower, local host for The WIN’s Girl’s Night Out, and founder of Senssoma LLC, will offer tips on Living Your Brilliance
• Kymberlee Simantel, executive managing director of eWomenNetwork Reno/Carson/Tahoe chapter, will help you Connect to Success
• Schall Adams, founder of Girlfriend Mentors, will present Four Keys to an Amazing Life
• And, finally, I will be offering ideas on Amplifying Your Value through public relations.

If you’d like to learn more and meet women who are working to improve themselves, their businesses, families and communities, join us on April 7. Let’s do what women do so well: let’s connect!

Online communities are succeeding by communicating authenticity and real value in those connections, defined by University of Nevada business professor and prolific blogger Dr. Bret Simmons in his personal branding blog as “what you do uniquely to help others address an opportunity or solve a problem that matters to them.”

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn aren’t alone in this endeavor; more websites are interactively fostering communities around diverse interests. A few examples:

In a recent public social media forum organized by Dr. Simmons at the University of Nevada, panelist Carmel Papworth-Barnum discussed her women’s running website’s focus on offering information important to women runners, whether just beginning or serious competitors. Her site resonates with women because it is about women, she said, not just about champions. She said, “I want to be inclusive.” Papworth-Barnum views her community as a way to encourage and promote women running and women runners. She’s authentically addressing the opportunity to encourage more women to have confidence in their ability to become fit and find joy through running.

A community doesn’t necessarily need to save the world – some just make it tastier. Kristy Crabtree, Reno web designer, strategist and passionate outdoorswoman, recently launched a unique Nevada Foodies site. Subtitled “A collection of big game recipes,” the site uses attractive blog formating for intriguing recipes and enticing food photos that Crabtree takes using her Canon Eos or iPhone. She also includes interesting shots from Nevada wilderness hunts. Her elk sausage and carmelized root vegetables recipe begins, “Food is like a song to me… it’s always a memory of a time or a place. And in most cases, it’s a good memory.” Hunters and their families who are looking for new game recipes – as well as some inspiration – are sure to find value in this community.

Sites with commercial aspects also can be authentically supportive of community. An educator, author, speaker and coach, Meggin McIntosh, PhD, is a former college professor whose trademark as The Ph.D. of Productivity™ is well earned. Her Emphasis on Excellence website brims with free downloadable posters and postings such as “8 Signs to Remind you How to Say No,” and “15 ideas to implement immediately to overcome reading overwhelm.” Visitors may order products and services such software, timers and webinars, but the site provides plenty of no-cost solutions to the productivity barriers that can stop all of us in our tracks – as well as opportunity to join a like-minded community of people who are “seeking ways to become peacefully (and predictably) productive.”

As we blog or simply go about our business in the world, we could all be guided by purposefully communicating what we do to “uniquely help others address an opportunity or solve a problem that matters to them.” What’s your purpose — and how are you communicating it today?