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Author Archives: Krista
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All You Need to Know About Basic Marketing
Are you a small business owner? Do you need to spread the word about your product or service, but don’t know where to start or how to create a strategy for maximum effect? Do you want more media coverage, but don’t know how to go about contacting producers and reporters? If so, “The Beginner’s Guide to the Marketing Galaxy” is for you.
Beginning September 1, 2011 I will be teaching an 8-week introduction to marketing class. Each week, we will focus on one important element of a marketing strategy by going over the fundamentals and “how-to’s” of that principle. Class members will be given weekly assignments designed to help them take the concepts and information presented and implement them with practical steps. Each week builds upon the last and at the end of the 8-weeks class members will have a fully planned, strategic marketing campaign for their individual business.
What we will cover:
- Branding // What is it? How do I create one?
- Advertising
- Sales Promotions
- Event Marketing
- Direct Marketing
- Publicity & Media Relations
- Social/Viral Marketing
- Strategic Planning
Extra benefits:
- Limited class size
- Networking opportunities with other small business owners
- Links for additional marketing helps and hints
- Ideas for specific marketing elements
Who this class is for:
- Small business owners from any field or niche
- New business owners
- Those considering going into business
- Students thinking about a career in marketing
What this class is and what it is not:
This is not a class for business owners wanting a cookie cutter marketing plan handed over to them. It is also not a quick fix for immediate increased revenue or past marketing mistakes. And finally, it is not an advanced marketing course. This is a beginning marketing course designed to help business owners create their own plans based on the weekly instruction. It is up to each individual class member to implement those plans. Each class member will walk away with a different strategy based on how the concepts taught fit with their own individual budget, available time, and personal commitment. One-on-one consultations are not included. Questions regarding course curriculum will be answered weekly in a collective Q&A (not by personal email).
When does class begin and end?
Class will begin September 5, 2011 and end October 29, 2011 (just in time to implement your plan for the Christmas season!). New instruction materials (video & written) and weekly assignments will appear online every week and will be available for class members to view when convenient during the course. However, course materials will not be available past October 29.
What if the Fall Semester is full? Or what if I can’t attend? Winter Semester will begin in January 2012. Sign up on my email list (over on the right, near the top of this page) to be notified of registration.
My credentials:
After graduating with a degree in Communications, I landed a job as the Director of Media Relations for an independent record label, where I learned the in’s and out’s of creating media relationships and placing stories with local, regional, and national outlets. After a corporate merge and a few years, I found myself acting as the Director of Marketing Communications for that same label, creating and directing the marketing plans for more than 15 recording artists and CDs at any given time. Over the course of my six years with the label, I was involved in the marketing and publicizing of more than 100 CDs, including the Grammy-winning One Voice by Gladys Knight. During my last three years with the label, I also produced and managed a popular holiday musical tour seen by 50,000 people annually in ten cities, and wrote a 200+ page corporate manual for how to produce a concert tour. I currently split my time working independently as a professional photographer and private marketing consultant for small business owners in every niche.
What is the cost?
For those who register before August 15, the course costs $75 (non-refundable). That’s less than $10/week. After August 15, the cost increases to $100 (non-refundable). Which is still a steal (in my humble opinion) for the amount of information we’re covering–less than $13/week.
How do I sign up?
Just click the link below. Payments are made via PayPal (no PayPal account required) and are non-refundable.
Holy Cannoli. I’m Going to Be on Good Things Utah Next Week!
Yes! You read that title correctly. I am going to be on Good Things Utah next Tuesday, January, 12! The show airs live at 10 a.m. MST on channel 4 (ABC). I don’t know what time my segment will be exactly, but I’m being featured as a fabric craft expert with tips (and a step-by-step project) for home decor.
Can you believe this?! I’ve been a beach bum, sans the beach, this week, and I’ve got to kick it into high gear ASAP. Things to do:
1. Finish my designs and a step-by-step tutorial for the featured project
2. Get my website finished!
3. Send the producer talking points and a bio for the segment
4. Find something cute to wear (this should probably be #1)
5. Film a practice segment at home and critique myself so I don’t look like a total oaf on camera
6. Figure out what to do with my hair
This is going to be SO fun!
(AND I’ll get to cross #70 off of my 101 in 1001 List! Who knew THAT would happen so quickly!)
p.s. if you live out of state: Good Things Utah is the #1 rated lifestyle/variety show here in UT. They usually upload the segments to their website in the days follow the taping so I’ll be sure to post a link for you as soon as it’s up. That is, as long as I’m not a bumbling fool.
Family Photo Shoot on Hilton Head Island [The Ryan Clan]
While I was home over the Christmas holiday, our good family friends, the Ryan’s, hired me to take their family pictures. (I’m still amazes and excites me when people want to hire me! I mean really. How cool is that?!)
We used the beach as our setting (of course) and I’m officially in love with family photos at the ocean’s edge. Here are some of my favorites …
***
For more info and pricing on hiring me to take your family photos, please email me.
Triathlon 2010: Resurrecting Beyonce
So training for the race in May began yesterday and all I want to know is:
WHY didn’t I keep riding the bike after the last race was over?! What was I thinking?! Building bum callouses is torture. And here I am, having to do it all over again. But(t) thankfully Beyonce was with me. And homegirl didn’t let me down. “Survivor” was on repeat for the last 15 minutes of my ride and I ROCKED it. Thanks B! (I call her “B” all the time. We’re tight like that.)
But lest you think that’s the only song I have, here is the rest of my Triathlon Training Playlist titled: Resurrecting Beyonce
1. Wannabe / Spice Girls
2. Spice Up Your Life / Spice Girls
3. I Wanna Dance With Somebody / Whitney Houston
4. Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It / Will Smith
5. Eye of the Tiger / Survivor
6. More Than Yesterday / Spiral Starecase
7. Together Forever / Rick Astley
8. Life is a Highway (Movie Version) / Rascal Flatts
9. Step By Step / New Kids On the Block
10. Miss Independent / Ne-Yo
11. Bye Bye Bye / ‘N Sync
12. Haven’t Met You Yet / Michael Buble
13. Suddenly I See / KT Tunstall
14. Survivor / Destiny’s Child
15. Sunny Day / Joy Williams
16. Charmed Life / Joy Williams
17. One Step At a Time / Jordin Sparks
18. One And Only / Jenny Jordan Frogley
19. Never Be Another / Jenny Jordan Frogley
20. Don’t Stop Believin’ / Glee Cast
21. Summertime / DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
22. Dreamer / Chris Brown
23. Every Little Step / Bobby Brown
24. Crazy In Love / Beyonce
25. Cruel Summer / Ace of Base
I have to have a beat to follow when I’m working out, otherwise I’m a wimp. And if you know these songs, you can see (aside from how totally random it is) that the BPM (beats per minute) are all over the spectrum. So what I’ll do is up the resistance if it’s a slower song and lower the resistance if it’s a faster song. That way my heart rate stays up and I get a little strength training in along with the cardio. I also don’t listen straight through. I jump around and sometimes I’ll keep it on repeat if I get in a really good groove with one particular song.
Hope this helps any of you who are training for the race too!
And do tell (any of you with a workout playlist): What’s your favorite song to work out to? I’m always updating to this list and would love your recommendations!
Dear Darling {2}
Dear Darling,
This won’t be long. Just a short note to make a quick request …
Please let there be dancing. Lots, and lots of dancing.
In the kitchen after the dishes are done. In the bathroom while I’m brushing my hair. Right before we climb into bed. On your way out the door in the morning. Under the bistro lights on the patio, me in my cotton sundress and you in that jeans-and-white-T-shirt combo that gets me all hot and bothered, barefoot and in love.
Catch me off guard. Grab my hand. Circle your arms ’round my waist and pull me in. Search my eyes in that way you do and then pull me closer. I don’t want to know where I end and you begin. And just keep me there ok? Slowly swaying, back and forth, round and round. Music or not.
Do you promise?
Just let there be dancing. Lots, and lots of dancing.
I love you, you know.
xo,
me
Monday Morning Email Exchange
For your reading enjoyment, here is the email exchange that occurred between Frit and I this morning …
To: Kim Olsen
From: Krista Maurer
Date: Monday, January 4, 2010, 9:34 a.m.
Subject: Monday Morning
My toes are frozen and I’m wondering where my Snuggie is.
I ate Cheerios and an egg for breakfast but I pretended it was chocolate cake.
Am trying to will myself to the gym but I just feel like going back to bed.
Deleted all but one of my new eHarmony matches. How is it that all of these guys are so dang short?
Hoping you’re having a great day at work, but wishing you were home to play with me all day.
love,
Kristafer
To: Krista Maurer
From: Kim Olsen
Date: Monday, January 4, 2010, 9:46 a.m.
Subject: RE: Monday Morning
It took me almost an hour to get from 500 South to 600 North.
Allison is out doing visits. Cathy is in a meeting.
One nurse called in sick and we have 1400 patients to see.
And apparently I’m the only one who can answer questions today.
Wishing I was home playing. :)
love,
Frit
To: Kim Olsen
From: Krista Maurer
Date: Monday, January 4, 2010, 10:19 a.m.
Subject: RE: RE: Monday Morning
Sorry about the nurse shortage on a day with 1400 patient visits. They are fools who ought to be flogged. (The nurses that is, not the patients.)
It’s a good thing you have all the answers to all the questions, boss lady.
You also have a pretty face. It should be on a Christmas card.
I just heard an F-16 just fly over our house. Speaking of … I really just need to nab me a pilot. And yes. I know what they sound like. (The F-16′s that is, not the pilots.)
I am going to the gym. I am going to the gym. I am going to the gym.
later,
Kristafer
p.s. Don’t kill anyone today ok? No matter how stupid they are. You should always sit on something like that for at least 24 hours before acting on it.
101 Things to Do in 1001 Days
This year, in addition to a few well-thought New Year’s Resolutions, I have made a list of 101 things I want to do, see, accomplish, or experience in the next 1001 days. I saw this idea on another blog (Sorry. I can’t for the life of me remember where.) and I thought it looked like an amazing thing to try … I mean, do. I’m all about positive thinking, affirmations, verb tenses with intent, and the like these days. It is the New Year after all.
So here’s my list:
1. Write a book
2. Record a song
3. Start a business
4. Sorry, this one is secret
5. Sell a piece of my art December 17, 2010: I sold a bunch!
6. Hike to a waterfall May 27, 2010: Emerald Pools Trail, Zion National Park
7. Visit a continent I’ve never been to
8. Another secret
9. Plan an elegant dinner party
10. Learn French
11. Take a dance class September 15, 2011: Signed up for weekly Hip Hop Class
12. Learn how to put up jam September 21, 2010: Made peach jam to give as favors
13. Go to New York City (I’ve never been!)
14. Become a regular yoga student
15. Go to a BYU football game (I haven’t been since I graduated. Sad!)
16. Visit a state I haven’t been to yet
17. Go on a picnic
18. Visit my mission (Washington)
19. Get my recipes organized
20. Read all 100 books on the Best Literature List
21. Learn to grill
22. Go to Paris
23. Be kissed Mmm hmm.
24. Drive the west coast highway
25. Go to a ML baseball game
26. Hostess a summer BBQ
27. Get a story printed in a major magazine
28. Skinny dip August 24, 2011: Half-skinny in the Atlantic Ocean (still working towards a full skinny)
29. Learn how to make tarts April 5, 2010: Orange-Lemon Tart
30. Build a blanket fort and cozy in with someone I’m wild about
31. Write a letter once a month for a year
32. Get my scrapbooks organized
33. Get my room organized (once and for all!)
34. Get my office space and studio organized
35. Learn how to dive
36. Write a poem/day for 30 days
37. Buy Photoshop & InDesign
38. Fly a kite
39. Teach a class (non-Church) July 23, 2011: Taught a Marketing Class at a Business Seminar
40. Set up KristaMaurer.com January 2010: But it’s always a work in progress
41. Update my wardrobe
42. Hostess a tea party
43. Go to the temple every week for a year
44. Visit all the LDS temples in Utah
45. Go to an amusement park
46. Visit the aquarium May 20, 2010: Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy, UT
47. Visit the planetarium June 23, 2010
48. RUN a 5K (the whole thing)
49. Make Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon
50. Pay off any debt
51. Take a photography class
52. Get a pedicure
53. Sew a quilt Finished May 31, 2010 for the Karl Malone family
54. Do something for a good cause
55. Grow peonies Summer 2011: My First Bloom!
56. Take a design class
57. Save $10 for every task completed on this list
58. Memorize The Living Christ
59. Memorize The Family Proclamation
60. Start/Keep a journal (with the stuff I can’t/won’t publish here)
61. Write a letter to myself to open in 10 years
62. Take a cooking or baking class
63. Knit something (other than a scarf or hat. Been there, done that.)
64. Learn (and play for an audience) a new piano piece
65. Get the piano tuned
66. Start a writing group
67. Play tennis regularly
68. Do genealogy (1x/quarter)
69. Make a budget and stick to it
70. Be featured in the media Tuesday, January 12, 2009: Appeared on Good Things Utah
71. Send someone flowers
72. Send a message in a bottle
73. Begin taking cello lessons
74. Sleep under the stars
75. Learn how to fillet a fish
76. Play in a rainstorm
77. Don’t use car for one week
78. Ride a horse
79. Clean out my computer files
80. Send an anonymous letter to someone
81. Go to a concert Not only went, but HOSTED one! December 13, 2011: Mindy Gledhill
82. Get a new car
83. Eat vegetarian for a week May 2011 — September 2011
84. Refinish a piece of furniture
85. “Unplug” for a week (no phone, no computer, no internet, no TV, no iPod)
86. Ride on a subway
87. Take pictures of my sisters and parents
88. Float in the Great Salt Lake
89. Collect fall leaves and press them
90. See a movie at a drive in
91. Learn how to make taffy
92. Buy a nice turquoise jewelry set
93. Buy a nice pearl jewelry set
94. Start a non-profit organization
95. Illustrate a children’s book
96. Go to a spa
97. Sing karaoke at a real karaoke club
98. Another secret goal
99. Record a podcast
100. have 6 months expenses in savings
101. Go fly fishing
16 down. 85 more to go. I better get going!
Finish by: September 27, 2012
I’m Going to Shave My Legs for New Year’s Eve. What’re YOUR plans?!
Well.
I left this:
for this:
And oddly enough, it’s ok. I shoveled the driveway this morning and thoroughly enjoyed it. Shoveling is one of those tasks that, for me, is incredibly therapeutic. I know most people don’t shovel like I do–I’m meticulous and precise and have to get all the snow off the cement, or at least as much as I can, and I try to be as exact as possible in keeping the snow banks in line with the curb or edge of the sidewalk. (Can we say OCD?) Anyhow, I love tasks like that.
And now it’s New Year’s Eve. (How did that happen?)
We were going to hostess a party, but that never came together. Then I was going to cook a fancy dinner for just the two of us (one that we could get really dressed up for), but that fell through. Then we were going to invite the neighbors over, open house style, for cider and doughnuts, from 8:00 to midnight, and that fell through too.
So here I am, sitting in my skivvies, crossing things off the list (and adding more to it) of things to get done whilst I ring in the New Year.
And oddly enough, it’s ok. It’s perfect, actually. Here’s where I’m at so far:
1. Clean the kitchen (DONE)
2. Clean the downstairs bathroom (DONE)
3. Clean my bathroom (DONE)
4. Unpack, do all laundry (IN PROCESS)
5. Shave my legs (DONE)
Nothing says, “Hello New Year! I’m ready for you.”, like freshly shaved legs.
6. Go through dresser and closet: iron/refold/organize/downsize
7. Make a list of things to accomplish or learn in 2010
8. Make a list of all the things I accomplished or learned in 2009
9. Tidy my office nook
10. Go buy a new shower curtain liner
11. Toast the New Year (the sparkling cider is in the fridge, ready and waiting)
Here’s hoping you’re having as glamorous a New Year’s Eve as me!
xo
Hilton Head Island Restaurant Review: vol. 2, Truffles
Doing a restaurant tour over a holiday vacation is a tricky thing. Apparently. There is still so much leftover turkey and stuffing in the fridge right now and we’ve eaten so much at every meal, opportunities (and desire) to eat out has not been as plentiful as I had anticipated.
But I do want to share a recent outing my mother and I enjoyed to Truffles. Truffles isn’t necessarily an experience in Southern culinary indulgence, but it is delicious and unique to Hilton Head and so I do enjoy popping in for lunch every few trips home.
Truffles is located in Sea Pines Plantation on the south end of the island (with another cafe next to the Sea Shack and another over the bridge on the mainland). Bright paintings of florescent flamingos and palm trees add a certain beachy, but not gaudy, flair and the dimmed lighting mixed with natural light from two full walls of windows offers elegance but not stuffiness. A true representation of Hilton Head. It’s a flip-flops sort of town, you know, but it’s flip-flops with class. If that makes any sense.
Now onto the food…
I started with a cup of their tomato-dill soup.
And finished with the black bean burger and a side of sweet potato fries.
The burger was good, particularly due to the sauce they conconcted for it. But the soup … the soup was heavenly, and if I could get ahold of a DeLorean I’d go back and cancel the black bean burger and instead, eat a bowl (or two) of the soup. I’m somewhat of a conessuier of tomato soups, if I do say so myself (and I do), and it was divine. Especially with their warm bread and herbed butter (oh the butter … [sigh]).
Dessert was in the original plan, but upon second thought, we thought better. We. Were. Full. (Perhaps due, in part, to the bread and butter. Yes. Quite so.) So we left it at that. And that concluded our lunch at Truffles.
Bottom line: Do eat at Truffles, the next time you’re on Hilton Head. Do eat their tomato-dill soup (lots of it). And do hide the butter in your handbag. You’ll want it for later.
Street Signs on Hilton Head Island
Who wouldn’t want to live here?!