Good evening.

Wow, what a day… what a morning! We had a full house today with everyone present, plus two guests. Karen from KidSpirit started us off today by letting us know that there’s still time to sign up for gymnastics and archery {thank you Hunger Games for bringing that back into fashion}. Our first guest, Tammy, is joining us from the University Honda Dealership. Did you know that Honda never sells their vehicles to rental companies? This is a large contributor to them maintaining their re-sale value. Julie {Tobias Weiss Design} announced that she is happy to now offer QR Codes {square bar codes you scan with your smart phone} with her graphic design service. Bonnie brought in some canvas prints today from Rice’s Pharmacy & Gift; they’re a clean and classy way to display art without the expense of big frames. Peg O. shared that she’s been in banking for 39 years! With many members of the Citizens Bank team having decades of experience you can be sure that you’ll get the best service at this community bank. Melissa was our second guest this morning from AHMB Inc {A.lternative H.ealthcare M.anagement & B.illing} consulting company. Often healthcare providers are very good at doing just that, but not as good at the office management end… that’s where AHMB Inc can help. Shelley {Alta’s Antiques & Collectibles} is expanding into fine jewelry. Oooooh! She’ll maintain her stock of costume and vintage jewelry, but is now also on the look out for the finer things. Joni from Essentially Healed reminded us that it’s the time of year for colds and other sickies. She has On-Guard {an anti-viral essential oil blend} available now so you can protect yourself early. Elaine {Simply Home Professionals LLC} just got back from spending two days in Portland for continuing education on federal and state codes for general contractors. She’s still just as excited about wall paper striping. 🙂 Oni of Balance Point Acupuncture shared about achy joints – especially ones that have had surgery and metal rods inserted – with the changing weather and how acupuncture help. Do you run your business from your home? Do you have insurance covering your supplies, inventory, materials, and equipment? If not, go see Tara at the State Farm Office of Jeff Mills. …it’s important. Nadine {GF RN/RN On-Call} had some exciting news this morning: Dr. Oz will be talking about the gluten-free lifestyle all next week! Nadine’s office is always open to further discuss the topic and answer questions. Chris from Valley Eye Care reminded us that VEC is a full service office keeping hundreds of frames in-stock. Also with VEC is Ebeth, and it was her last meeting with us as she prepares to move out-of-state. We’ll miss you 🙂 Amy {Carefree Massage} shared that last week she gave a 90 year old his very first massage! Wow! Mary and Janelle from the dental office of Drs. Bugni, Laster, and Jensen had this announcement: if your crown falls out do NOT use super glue to put it back on. Instead use denture paste or flour & water, call your dentist, and have them re-cement it. Super glue will make it VERY difficult for the dentist to remove and properly re-cement it and can cause a lot of damage. You’ve been warned. Ilene {A&S Accounting} also had a warning about emails from the IRS. Do NOT open them or reply. The IRS will not try to contact you by email. On a happier note Anne Fahy of Remax Integrity was the #5 Realtor for the month of July in the PNW. Great work Anne! Lori {The Thank You People} is always there to encourage others with her greeting cards. They’re available in local businesses {Rice’s Pharmacy & Gift and the Bookbin to name a couple} if you can’t get them from her directly.  Lora announced the new “Glitz & Glam!” line from Initials Inc. Check out her webpage for more details. And Peg W. of Pathfinder Travel still has the most knowledge and resources for planning and booking your next trip… big or small.

We had planned to take a new group photo today, but with so many guests applying for membership we decided to postpone the photo so that they would be included. 🙂

Amanda {Amanda Photographic} was our speaker this morning, though she didn’t talk about photography or prints this time. Instead she talked about how to effectively utilize your social media – Facebook. Dun dun dun!!!  Just a quick sum up since this topic could go on and on for days: Social media needs to be active AND interactive in order to be effective. Facebook has recently, over the last 6 months, made several changes that effect the visibility of the posts we all make – both personally and for our businesses. The more other people interact with your posts and page, the more visible it is. Sounds simple, but getting there can be complicated. Here’s a super simple break-down: For any of your posts a “like” is good, a “comment” is better, and a “share” is best. If you’re a photographer, like Amanda, and you want your client “tagged” in their photo it’s better if the client tags themself than if the photographer does. On a scale of least likely to get an interaction to most likely: text only post, post with link to other webpage, post with picture.

…And there’s so much more. Oh wow is there. Amanda is hosting a Facebook 101: Business Pages Workshop at the end of October. We’ll post more details here as they are available. In the meantime you can also watch her business fb for updates.

Happy Thursday!