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10 Things I Learned About Blogging from Apartment Therapy at the WithIt Educational Breakfast at High Point Market

October 23, 2011 by Danielle Hatfield 6 Comments

Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, Co-Founder / CEO of Apartment Therapy Presenting to Withit at High Point Market

Thanks to long time twitter friend Julia Rosien, who just happens to be the Withit 2012 President, I attended the WithIt Educational Breakfast at High Point Market this morning featuring keynote speaker Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan of Apartment Therapy.

For those of you who may not know . . . Apartment Therapy is one of, if not THE, top design blog. They receive 7 million unique visitors per month (PER MONTH!), their reader base is 59% women, and they currently have 18 full time and 170 freelance design bloggers that contribute to their success!

Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s presentation “10 Things You Need to Know about Apartment Therapy” shared Maxwell’s personal philosophy and and the mission that has changed the way millions approach creating a home. Regardless of whether you’re a renter or own your own home Maxwell says that “your home is a path not a place.” He went on to share the “Design’s purpose is beyond “stuff” it’s how you, your family and friends feel in your home.”

10 Things I Learned About Blogging from Apartment Therapy at the WithIt Educational Breakfast at High Point Market

Have a mission.
Know your purpose.
Be a resource.
Collaborate with guest bloggers.
Share your passions online and off.
Know your blog’s “prime time” – the better you know your readers the more your can offer them information they crave when they are hungry for it.
Visit your readers blogs and participate in their success. Comment, share and celebrate!
Paths are often blurry. Your success comes from knowledge of yourself and knowing where you excel.
Don’t be afraid to put people in the rooms when taking photography of your projects.
Environment affects learning – make sure your blog is the right environment for your readers.

What did you learn from Maxwell’s Presentation?

How will it change the way you connect with and build your community?

Follow Apartment Therapy on Twitter and show them how much you like them on Facebook!

Be sure to enter Apartment Therapy’s Room for Color Contest!

Filed Under: HIGH POINT FURNITURE MARKET, LIFESTYLE, Uncategorized Tagged With: Apartment Therapy, Blogging, Blogs, HIGH POINT FURNITURE MARKET, Julia Rosien, Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, Withit

Yes Weekly and Social Media : Covering Greensboro City Council

October 12, 2011 by Danielle Hatfield 1 Comment

Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing Jordan Green (aka @jordangreenyes) News Editor of Yes Weekly. Many of you may already know that Jordan covers (brilliantly I might add) the Greensboro City Council Meetings via live tweets as a member of the @yesweekly twitter team.

Why is he live tweeting you might ask? Well in his own words . . . “social media allows me to perform a unique service.” And it’s true.

With traditional print coverage it would take days to get the story out due to print cycle of a weekly paper – but with social media, Yes Weekly is live streaming the discussions of Greensboro City Council as they happen and (hopefully) in the process inspiring a new generation to become more involved in local government as well as spark discussions with older generations who are pressed for time and who are looking to feel informed and engaged via social media.

“It takes time to acquire the expertise to become and active citizen“, Green says and adds that “any political coverage starts with the current elected officials – social media helps me share information with our readers immediately.”

On behalf of a grateful community – Thank You Jordan Green and Yes Weekly for your commitment to keeping us informed via social media!

Pick up the print edition of Yes Weekly in and around the Triad and stay up to date on local news and events. Connect with them across the web ::

Greensboro City Council meeting can currently be attended/viewed via Channel 13, you can follow the meetings via Twitter (follow @yesweekly) as well at watch it live streaming on your computer (warning for Mac users :: you must have Silverlight installed in order to watch streaming meetings on your Mac.) Be sure to stay up to date on the next Greensboro City Council Meeting and review past meetings.

You can learn more about Greensboro City Government and Council Members, and if you’re on twitter you can follow @greensborocity for sporadic postings of Greensboro events.

How do you learn about local government news?

How has social media changed the way you engage with your local community?

Filed Under: POLITICS, RESOURCES, SOCIAL MEDIA, TWITTER, Uncategorized Tagged With: Channel 13, Greensboro City Council, Jordan Green, Live Streaming City Council Meetings, Local Government, Politics, Social Media, Twitter, Yes Weekly

Undercurrent hosts Treanna Wine Dinner with Advanced Sommelier Julia Schiavone Hunt

October 10, 2011 by Danielle Hatfield Leave a Comment

Join Undercurrent Restaurant on Friday, October 14th for a VERY special wine event!

Chef Michael Harkenreader has prepared an exquisite five course menu, expertly paired with Treanna Wines chosen by Advanced Sommelier Julia Schiavone Hunt, who will be the hostess for the evening.

The price of this wine dinner is $60 per person and will begin at 6:30pm.

The menu and wines they will be presenting this evening:

Liberty School Chardonnay

Green Apple-Goat Cheese Tarte Tatin, Almonds, Parsley-ThymePuree

Treana Viognier/Marsanne

Seared Sea Scallop, Sweet Onion Ravioli, Parsnip-Celery Root Cream, Citrus Gastrique

Troublemaker

Maple Smoked Quail, Bacon-Pecan Stuffing, Sweet Potato Puree, Cherry-Peppercorn Glaze

Treana Red

Roasted Lamb Chop, Roasted Root Vegetables, Duck Liver Bordelaise, Swiss Chard

Coffee and Dessert

Hazelnut Profiterole with Cinnamon-Chocolate Mousse, Caramel Ice Cream

Call Undercurrent today at 336.370.1266 for reservations.

About the Hope Family, Founders of Treana Winery

“The Hope family planted wine-grapes in Paso Robles in 1978. They were among a handful of pioneering families who helped to shape and gain recognition for this distinctive winegrowing region.

The Hopes established Treana Winery in 1996. Today, third-generation farmer Austin Hope is at the helm as director of winemaking and viticulture for the flagship brand. He remains uncompromising in his pursuit of wines of exceptional quality that specifically reflect their growing regions.”

You may remember the WINE ENTHUSIAST MAGAZINE feature from July 2010 that touted “Hope Family Wines launches a DJ iPhone app that matches wine, music”

Download the full article here! (PDF)

Filed Under: DINNERS/TASTINGS, FOOD, Uncategorized Tagged With: Ben Roberts, Greensboro Restaurant, Hope Family, Julia Schiavone Hunt, Michael Harkenreader, Treana Wines, Undercurrent Restaurant, Wine Dinner

Love Your Mother Earth, Save Your Wallet

October 3, 2011 by Jeanne Blaisdell Leave a Comment

The Environmental Stewardship Commission of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Greensboro presents “Love Your Mother Earth, Save Your Wallet” now through October 30th.

All classes will be held in the Roe Library, 607 North Greene Street in Greensboro, NC from 10:15 am to 11:00 am featuring local business experts and resources from around the Triad.

Oct. 2–Andy Courts, energy efficiency expert and creator of North Carolina Energy Partners. This week, Andy is going to talk about hows and how-tos, and bring examples. He will tell us how to find leaks, where and how to seal them, and what other things we can do to cut those energy bills and make our home more efficient. It may be easier than you think and can add value to your home as well.

Oct 9th–Eric Henry, President of TS Designs in Burlington will talk about the hidden costs of buying cheap. As a producer of sustainable t-shirts, his company provides jobs for numerous local employees and purchases cotton from NC farmers, whenever possible. What good is it to buy something that is made more cheaply overseas only to put ourselves and our neighbors out of business? Can we re-localize our production and re-vitalize our community? Come find out.

Oct 16th–Local Food and Composting–Kevin Dowling, of the Agricultural Extension Agency will answer your questions on what to compost and how to compost, saving on waste disposal AND producing rich soil for your garden at the same time! He will also discuss the benefits of buying locally grown food, from produce to beef. It’s better, it’s better for you, and it provides local farmers with income.

Oct. 23–Sarah Denman will discuss how she and her husband Jeremy decided to really do something about lowering their carbon footprint. Hear what they did, how they live more simply and see if some of their changes might be ones you are ready for.

Oct 30–Dr. Kathy Shea is the Executive Director of NC Interfaith Power and Light. She is an amazing speaker and will bring the entire series into focus and inspire us to Go Greener!

No RSVP required and all are welcome!

Filed Under: GREEN COMMUNITY EVENTS, GREEN LIVING, Uncategorized Tagged With: Agricultural Extension Agency, Andy Courts, Dr. Kathy Shea, Eric Henry, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Kevin Dowling, NC Interfaith Power and Light, Sarah Denman

7 Tips for Organizing Your Finances

September 26, 2011 by Danielle Hatfield Leave a Comment

Dr. Dorothy Merchant of SImple Solutions Professional Organizers

This past week I had the pleasure of learning from Dr. Dorothy Merchant of Simple Solutions Professional Organizers at a Linking Greensboro Luncheon.

Dr. Merchant shared tips from one of her posts : 7 Tips for Organizing Your Finances.

She not only encouraged us to discover our spending triggers (we all have them!) but she encouraged us to understand the importance of knowing what our expenses are each month and setting a saving plan in place.

Ideally we should all have 3-6months worth of living expenses saved in case of emergencies as well as a stocked pantry that can feed your family for a few months if need be!

The great advice offered that could help you change your financial future? Have a clear picture of your current financial situation, create a spending plan for each pay check and save consistently.

One of the highlights of her presentation was pointing out how much we all spend on food each week. A simple exercise she shared was to make 3-4 columns on a sheet of paper with the headings of meats/fish or fruit, vegetables, grains. Under each of these headings quickly write down 5 of your favorite things to eat under each category. . . read each line across from each category and voila! You now have a whole weeks worth of dinners.

What are ways you and your family save money?

Filed Under: FINANCE, PERSONAL FINANCE, Uncategorized Tagged With: Dr. Dorothy Merchant, Financial Tips, Linking Greensboro, Piedmont-Triad, Simple Solutions Professional Organizers

Social Media: How Much Time Do You Spend Online?

August 4, 2011 by Danielle Hatfield 1 Comment

I recently posed a question to via Facebook asking, on average, how much time people spend online per week on social networks.

Here are the results thus far. . .

It’s not surprising that the majority of those polled responded with 5+ hours per week. Many citing that there should have been another choice of 11+ hours.

A few who responded are online because of the nature of their business. But to me, that is irrelevant. As a wired society we are all spending more and more time ‘plugged in’, and it will be interesting to see the new usage statistics come out for 2011.

As we all have seen, so much can happen in very short period of time on the web. Case in point : Google+ Growth Rate Shattering Competition. Yep, you read right – it took Google+ only twenty-four days to reach twenty million users. 24 days.

Just a year ago Adam Ostrow shared in a Mashable post that Social Networking Dominates Our Time Spent Online. Adam mentions that 2010 stats from Nielsen show that sites like Facebook and Twitter account for 22.7% of time spent on the web. And a 2010 study by comScore Media, shows that the average American spent 32 hours per month on the Internet.

As with any study there will be a ‘heavy users’ group where a small percentage make up the majority of time spent online and since the number of mobile-only households overtook the number of landline-only households in 2009, that means that the average time spent online on sites like twitter, facebook, and now google+, will continue to grow as the global internet penetration rate continues to climb.

Currently 56% of Americans Check Online News Daily with 24% going to four or more unique online news sites daily. Think about it. Where do you get your news? Do you read an article shared by a Facebook friend? How about click a link while you’re on Twitter? The way information travels to us is through our networks. Who we follow, fan or watch.

Check out these 20+ Mind-blowing social media statistics: One year later. It really puts in perspective how much the internet and social media has changed our personal lives and the way we do business.

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While researching for this post, I found this Press Release dated 2002, July 12 : Carnegie Mellon Study Reveals Negative Potential of Heavy Internet Use on Emotional Well Being

Though it’s 9 years old, it poses questions and concerns that are still relevant today. How much is too much? Are you monitoring your children’s time spent online? Are you substituting online relationships for interaction with family and close friends?

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So how many hours do you spend online per week?

Where do you spend most of your time online? Email, Social Media, Games, Movies or News?

Do you “unplug” on a regular basis?

Filed Under: SOCIAL MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY, Uncategorized Tagged With: 2011 Social Media Statistics, Average Time Spent Online, Heavy Internet Usage, Mobile Only Households, Online News, Piedmont-Triad, Social Media

Goals and Their Impact on Your Success

June 20, 2011 by Danielle Hatfield 3 Comments

If you’re bored with life – you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things – you don’t have enough goals. – Lou Holtz

If you don’t know who Lou Holtz is :: From wikipedia -Holtz is the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 20 rankings. Holtz also coached the New York Jets of the NFL during the 1976 season.

What are your goals?

Reading over Jack Canfield‘s The Success Principles this morning and on page 56 there it was. . . this quote from Lou Holtz. I am no big sports fan, but could absolutely appreciate the story of what changed his life.

In 1966, after a personal set back, Lou’s wife gave him a copy of The Magic of Thinking Big, by David Schwartz. In this book, David encourages you to write down all of the things you want to accomplish in your life. This simple act would change Lou’s life and help him make history. By owning his goals and having a daily reminder of what he wanted to do – Lou was able to achieve nearly all 107 goals he set for himself.

As I continued to read about Bruce Lee’s letter and Jim Carrey’s check, it was apparent that these success stories all had one thing in common. . . clearly defined goals.

Ask anyone who has achieved success (could be someone you know personally or admire) and they will tell you that having clear goals of what you want in your life is vital. Whether it is writing it in a letter, a journal or on note cards. . . write them down today!

You want to set a goal that is big enough that in the process of achieving it you become someone worth becoming – Jim Rohn.

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Do you have clear personal goals?

What goals do you have for your company or career?

How do you stay on track when you hit a roadblock?

Share your success story with us about a personal success you have achieved thanks to your goals.

Filed Under: BUSINESS, Uncategorized Tagged With: Bruce Lee, Goals, Jack Canfield, Jim Carrey, Lou Holtz, Piedmont-Triad, The Success Principles, Triad NC

Business Blogs: Inspiration to Grow Your Audience

June 17, 2011 by Danielle Hatfield 1 Comment

After reading over Social Media Examiner’s post on the 10 Top Business Blogs and Why They Are Successful – it made me curious as to what business blogs the leaders in the Piedmont Triad enjoy and why you think they are successful.

We each have different needs as it relates to our professions – but we all have one thing in common when it comes to blogging . . . we want to provide relevant content for our readers and hope that they connect with us and continue to come back and comment.

Some of the best ways to learn how to improve your own business blog is to be a devoted reader of other blogs. It could be a plugin that you discover that could be the missing ingredient, a layout or theme that catches your eye or simply a style of writing that really inspires you.

Here are a few links for inspiration to grow your business blog awareness and your eventually your audience.

The 50 best business blogs – Times Online

Small Business Blogs – Forbes.com Best of the Web

Top 10 Business Blogs for Women | Little Pink Book

Top Business and Entrepreneurship Blogs

Top 10 Business Blogs to Bookmark

What are your favorite business blogs to read? Why?

Filed Under: BUSINESS, SOCIAL MEDIA, TECHNOLOGY, Uncategorized Tagged With: Blogging, Business Blogging, North Carolina, Piedmont-Triad, Triad, Triad NC

Monday Morning Motivation: Communication

June 6, 2011 by Danielle Hatfield 1 Comment

If you haven’t picked up the book Monday Morning Motivation – Five Steps to Energize Your Team, Customers and Profits by David Cottrell – it is a must add to your business bookshelf.

Whether you are a small business owner, a mid level manager or a CEO – David will guide you to effectively motivate and energize the way you interact with your business. It takes commitment to become successful and making sure that everyone on your team has the same level of commitment as you is vital to your businesses bottom line.

In chapter 6 we learn that high level employee engagement has a measurable impact on the bottom line. Companies who have a strong internal communications programs are more successful than those who don’t.

Take a look at the top 50 most admired companies. How are they engaging with their own army of brand ambassadors? What are they doing to empower their top performers? How are they keeping their teams motivated and on task?

“The most important element of the communication conductor is to connect the corporate goals and objectives with the activities on your team.”- David Cottrell

This brings us to the Monday Morning Discussion questions from page 105 –

How often do you as you team for feedback and input? Do you receive it constructively and genuinely listen to the ideas?
Do you promote a culture of learning within your team? What additional information and knowledge can you share with team members so they will better understand the business of your business?
How can you tear down the walls and create better connections within your team? Between your team and others in the organization?

If you are interested in making your Monday morning meetings meaningful – take time to pick up Monday Morning Motivation, Monday Morning Mentoring and Monday Morning Choices by David Cottrell. His books will change the way you do business.

xxx

How does your company communicate?
Does your company ask for valuable feedback?

What company do you look toward for inspiration?

Filed Under: BUSINESS, Uncategorized Tagged With: Business Meetings, David Cottrell, Internal Communications, Monday Morning Choices, Monday Morning Mentoring, Monday Morning Motivation, Piedmont-Triad, Triad NC