Stone-Tapert Introduces “MyWave HR”

By John Bidwell, The PEiR Group

PEiR Group vendor Stone-Tapert is always looking for innovative products and value-added services to ensure PEiR Group members satisfaction. As a result, Stone-Tapert is excited to introduce to you MyWave HR, a Web combining efficiency with user-friendly tools we think will streamline your everyday work tasks.

This service is designed with you in mind, offering the benefits and HR content and functionality you need. With this new tool you can:

 Access an exclusive set of comprehensive guides full of federal legislation including COBRA, HIPAA, HIPAA Privacy, Section 125, and FMLA.

 Download materials including articles, brochures, forms, and charts covering a variety of industry-specific topics that can be sourced when you need them.

 Share resources and information with thousands of industry peers.

 Receive, download, and collaborate on documents with our agency.

 Access hundreds of insurance, human resource, and wellness Web sites, all from the convenience of your MyWave HR home page.

 Provide comprehensive, health-related information, in ready-to-print newsletters to your employees helping them make smart and informed healthcare, consumer-related decisions.

This service is offered by Stone-Tapert at no charge to PEiR Group members. I encourage you to review the program overview on the PEiR Group Web site. Please contact the PEiR Group (925-658-0200) to receive your login information, so you can begin using it immediately! And be sure to contact me with any questions you may have or if you would like to set up a one on one presentation. As always, thank you for your continued business!

Sincerely,

John Bidwell
PlanWell and The PEiR Group
johnb@planwell.com
925-658-0215

PEiR Member In the News: Brentwood Repro

Roger Strauss, owner of Brentwood Repro in Brentwood, CA, was looking for a good way to show his support for Americans serving in combat theaters overseas when he found an organization with a very direct link to the troops - Blue Star Moms.

Taking their name from the pennants that used to hang (and still do hang in some cases) in the windows of families with sons or daughters in uniform, the Blue Star Moms needed places people could drop off necessities our troops have requested for use in the field.

Roger stepped up with other local business leaders and volunteered the use of his Walnut Boulevard location, also volunteering to print the posters for the drive. Dropoffs have been "brisk" since word got out, with supporters coming by with everything a lonely soldier might need. And Roger has insight into that, having served as a career Marine Corps officer with a tour of duty in Iraq in 2004-05 under his belt.

"I remember all the support people at home showed us back then," he says. "It's a very quiet way of saying 'we're with you' and it meant a lot to us. We're very happy to be able to participate in this current effort... knowing what it will mean to someone on the receiving end."

The drive runs through Dec. 6, when all donations are collected and sent overseas in time for the Holidays. Most requested items? DVDs (new or used, apparently it doesn't matter), drink mixes, beef or turkey jerky, coffee, batteries, duct tape... and mail. Lots of mail.

Guest Speaking Gigs, Are You Missing an Opportunity?

By The PEiR Group

Not long ago we had occasion to attend an evening seminar hosted by our local chamber of commerce. The speaker for the evening was billed as an “expert in his field” and as a “widely respected speaker.”

The upshot? He was awful, but we couldn’t help but notice how he commanded the attention of a rather large crowd who apparently believed in his accolades enough to seek him out afterwards, exchanging business cards and pleasantries.

What, I thought, could a real speaker do with such an audience? While many of our members have accepted an invitation to speak before friendly, hometown crowds – we couldn't help but think that an opportunity may exist for trained speakers to spread the word about their shop to non-AEC audiences.

Getting the right people in the room is often the problem, as anyone who has tried to do it knows. But local groups are constantly seeking speakers for their programs, and many – from church groups to local chamber of commerce luncheons – include audience members with impressive résumés who are there to be impressed themselves.

There are many stories of long-term business relationships being forged after chance encounters at a local Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

As one of our members puts it: "I don't have as much time to commit to public speaking as I used to, but I believe those early engagements were a big part of how I grew my business in its early years.”

What if you're just getting started or looking for a fresh approach? Companies all over your town are looking for speakers, especially during tough economic times when their budgets – and speaker availability – is low.
Potential topics include your shop's use of technology; your “Green Program;” or how the use of technology can make business more efficient – and profitable. Keep your talk broad and do not preach about your business or its core competencies. Be professional, but friendly and approachable.

Ask your host if you can leave a few business cards behind. You’d be surprised how often someone has given a talk and gotten a call from someone two, three… five weeks later. Very often they say: "you may not remember me, but you talked to our group about remote printing. My company has this project we think you can help us with…”

Signups Almost Over for PlanWell University...

You've only a few days left to sign up for PlanWell University... don't get left out in the cold!

Date: Dec 4-5, 2000
Place: Fremont (cal) Marriott
Start Time: 9:30am

PlanWell University is an intensive two day, hands-on class dedicated to instruction on the operation and functions of PlanWell Enterprise, BidCaster and EWO. When this class is completed, you will be able to easily obtain certification on the PlanWell Enterprise system. This class will be tailored to each individual.

To sign-up, please click the link at right to complete the registration form and Attendee Profile Sheet.

Good Stories Need To Be Told - Tell Yours!

Some Tips from The PEiR Group

A lot of people see reporters as scheming, conniving members of a slavering wolfpack who would do anything for story.

And you'd be partly right. Most self-respecting reporters
would do anything for a story. If you're smart - you'll
give them one. Yours.

We frequently talk with members frustrated by their seeming inability to get "the word" out about their business, about how it works and about how the industry works as a whole.

The right exposure may lead to new business, contact from prospective customers, and leads. Sitting on your hands gets you nothing. You're going to have to reach out... you may not always succeed, but eventually an editor is going to spot what you have to say and assign a reporter to help tell it.

Many people we speak with el feel they have no story to tell, don't know how
to get it out there, and don't want to pander to what they suspect may be a hostile press. To this we say - "hogwash."

We’ll be getting into this more deeply in the weeks ahead but if you feel some press coverage could benefit your shop, try this approach first:

Put yourself in the reporter’s position. The story you may want to tell may not be the one they want to hear. What’s big right now and working? Your Green Program. The press is interested in how old-school business is using new technologies to “go green.”

Here's how to "pitch" your story:

1. Prepare a list of your shop’s best practices. Detail how your green effort (or any other successful effort you have mounted lately) works.

2. Prepare a fact list of measurable data you can give the reporter, TV crew. Show them how your green plan, for example, lessens your shop’s impact on the environment in quantifiable terms they can understand. Use a "Green Calculator" to determine how many trees you were able to save using
recycled paper or how many tons of carbon emissions you kept out of the atmosphere with your recycling or hybrid programs.

3. Don’t be afraid to pitch them. We are finding that many traditional newspaper and television outlets are looking for businesses to profile. Be subtle and don’t oversell yourself. Make sure the guts of the story are there and waiting before you pitch it.

4. Online submissions. Newspapers and television stations are like any other business; they’ve had to scale back their staffs. Once verboten, online submissions are now an acceptable way of reaching reporters and editors with little time. Often, you can find email addresses for the entire staff on the company web site. Pitch the assignment editor or individual reporter.

5. Keep it short, Mac. Reporters are looking for an angle, something different to report. Give it to them.

6. Relax. A lot of people get nervous when the cameras and notepads come out. Don’t worry. Have your facts straight and offer to show the crew around (to they extent you are comfortable, of course). Remember, photographers love interesting subject matter – give it to them. Action and faces, action and faces. That’s what photographers are looking for.

Okay? Good luck and let us know when news of your shop hits the streets!