It takes time to plan a rural trip from Reno when my destination is in southern Nevada. I’m flying to Las Vegas this Sunday where I will get a rental car and drive about an hour+ to my first destination, Pahrump. Working with Al Parker who is our NSBDC counselor in this town is fun because Al’s a fun guy! But more than that, he really cares about his community and welcomes members of our NSBDC team with open arms. We’ll be doing a workshop on social media for beginners Monday morning and I’m excited to learn more about the various businesses in Pahrump who will be in attendance. Al’s like most of us, he’s busy, but took the time to get the word out and create awareness of this learning opportunity for his community.

I want to encourage other rural Nevada communities to contact me for training outreach. We are here to provide valuable services to our entire State, and are always looking for those who want to bring our services to their area. We have funding for specific locations, so give me a holler and we’ll go from there!

I’ve been planning to launch this site, at least in my mind, since last October. As they say, thinking about something and actually doing it are two separate things. Being a huge advocate of planning helped me tremendously. I gave myself six months to prepare, knowing well that once my blog site was published I would have to be prepared to, well, blog.

Effectively engaging into social media practices naturally takes time, and thought, about what one wants to accomplish. I spent more than 40 hours in live workshops, seminars, and various presentations from those who knew more than I did on the topic. I don’t believe for a second that once we post our Face Book and LinkedIn pages we can qualify ourselves as an expert. I will continue to have a lot to learn, but am getting better at “getting it.”

Since October I have discovered countless new websites in which I learned something new and relevant. I have enjoyed the referred posts from colleagues and have been quite active in leaving comments to blogs I felt provided value to me.

To be a best-selling author, one would have to write a book. We all know people who want to write a book, but never will simply due to time constraints. These potential best-selling authors are all over the Internet writing short posts, referencing powerful sites, and sharing expertise, experience and humor with others. It’s an eye-opener for me to discover so many people whom I will never meet in person but can enjoy their contributions via personal branding websites.

There are a number of people encouraging me to do this – launch kathycarrico.com –  and start writing daily. So here I am on Friday, June 11^th going LIVE!  “Good for me,” I say to myself, because regardless of who reads what I write, or who takes time to comment, blogging is absolutely one of the best processes I’ve discovered that keeps my mind sharp, organizes my thoughts, and provides therapeutic solitude as I reflect upon what interests me and what value I can share.

Many thanks to my NSBDC family who keep asking, “When are you going to start blogging, KC?” because for some insane reason they believe I’ll get this. Oh, and let’s not forget, I am not the “techy” type like Kristy Crabtree who built this site and provided the best photo of rural Nevada I’ve ever seen.  She’s got to be the one of the smartest and easiest persons to work with…totally non-nerdy and absolutely has the best hair of anyone I’ve ever known, seriously! It is a pleasure, my friend, to do business with you!

My biggest thanks goes out to Bret Simmons, who is actually in Spain as I write, who turned my head around at the Sparks Chamber Business Forum last fall, in a mere 60-minute presentation on the whats and whys of personal branding – so, Dr. Bret, thank you for providing YOUR value to me!

Like many small business owners I find my position as State Training Director for the Nevada Small Business Development Center (NSBDC) shifting in how I conduct business, and in how I connect with existing and new NSBDC clients and partners.  Five years ago we were happy with providing free standing seminars on popular subjects such as customer service, employee retention, team building, leadership, conflict resolution, communication skills, etc.  Large companies sent their employees for professional development training, and small business owners invested a few hours here and there to polish their skills.  People came, they learned, and they went back to work.  Marketing tools consisted of a standard press release, an uncomplicated e-blast and word of mouth.  Hard copy brochures were mailed out and newspapers listed our events in a calendar section.

As management and marketing tools evolve so do we.  Social media sites have allowed people to communicate directly, with each other, on a 24/7 clock.  Faces appear that personalize the message and no longer do we settle for a monotone voice.  Today we look for conversations that make us feel valued, and the business education and training events that we choose are based not only on a topic, but who we can meet before, during and after we sit and learn.

I have had the pleasure of developing a countless number of meaningful, powerful, valuable and pleasant business relationships this year because our community has evolved to an impressive level of effective networking practices both on-line and in-person.  We are an amazing region of incredible people and my expertise of “knowing experts” is growing exponentially.  I invite you to feel welcome on a 24/7 basis to leave a comment or suggest a training topic that allows our business community to continue its evolution in gaining knowledge, friendships and partnerships…all at the same time!

Every first Thursday of the month for almost 3 years I have intentionally gotten out of bed at 5:00 AM so I could be present by 6:45 AM for the monthly Sparks Chamber of Commerce BizFlash program.  I am not a morning person by choice, but there are some things worth getting up for.  As founder and chair of this great chamber event I continue to be amazed at the amount of other people who are as passionate as I am about this program.

This year has been tough for so many, and when Len Stevens, executive director of the Sparks Chamber, sought program funding to keep BizFlash free to our chamber members I was concerned that we may have to go back to our smaller space that caps out at 55 attendees.  I was also envisioning Len bringing coffee-in-a-box with paper cups and napkins, along with other chamber staff shopping at 6:00 AM for pastries and fruit to continue the free continental breakfast that is an important feature of BizFlash.

To date, we have not had to move backwards thanks to the significant support of our local casino property members.  The Sparks Holiday Inn was incredibly generous to host our event for 12 consecutive months, ending in January 2010 by providing facility space, room set up, and a first class continental breakfast for 115 people.

Circus Circus raised their hand next and hosted 80+ attendees in both February and March, sparing no expense to provide the highest quality arrangements.  First class sponsorship continued as the Grand Sierra Resort hosted the BizFlash program in April and May, adding a raffle drawing for an overnight stay and dinner for two at their fabulous Italian restaurant.  Today the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa hosted our June BizFlash for another 80 attendees, and we’ll be back there on July 1^st.  I was personally greeted by 5 staff members who couldn’t have been more helpful, courteous or excited to be part of our program.  The fine dining raffle was just one more piece of elegance as we ended our popular program today.

There are many more people to chat about (and you know I will), but today we honor our corporate casino property sponsors of BizFlash for their amazing commitment to our community, our businesses and our chamber.  They make a positive difference in our quality of life in northern Nevada!

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Topics taught include:

Failure to plan is a key reason 80% of small businesses close their doors! Join us for NxLeveL in Nevada!

Note: This class is fully funded by the Western Nevada Development District. There is a $95 registration fee that will be returned to each attendee who completes the class with 3 or less absenteeisms or submits a completed business plan if more than 3 absenteeisms. No refunds will be provided to attendees who drop the course. Fee includes all materials.

NxLeveL is the world’s largest most effective entrepreneurial training network. Since 1996, over 80,000 students have participated in NxLeveL training nationally, and over 1,800 in Nevada since 2000. NxLeveL is a 13-week intensive training program designed to encourage small business expansion and promote economic development. It focuses on teaching the art of better business practices while producing a comprehensive business plan to guide business expansion, decisions and activities.

Topics taught include:

Failure to plan is a key reason 80% of small businesses close their doors! Join us for NxLeveL in Nevada!

Note: This class is fully funded by the Western Nevada Development District. There is a $95 registration fee that will be returned to each attendee who completes the class with 3 or less absenteeisms or submits a completed business plan if more than 3 absenteeisms. No refunds will be provided to attendees who drop the course. Fee includes all materials.