Recently, we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Lori Baker from Next Step Ministries in Woodstock. We’d been introduced briefly at the Woodstock Community Business Association in the past, but this last time we met at the Canton-Cherokee Business and Professional Women’s meeting, enjoyed a meal, and the meeting, and the more formal introduction from Stacy Bailey of Absolutely Clean, also a client of Inspired 2 Design. We’ve worked together on her cleaning company’s website, her personal blog, and the Canton/Cherokee SALT/Triad website.

Next Step Ministries was in need of a new way to get the word out about the work they’re doing down off Trickum Road and Hwy 92 in Woodstock. They’d recently taken over the space occupied at one time by the Baby & More Thrift Store, (small world, we did their website a couple of years ago).  Now armed with a ton of space for their work, Lori and Jean (her right hand), just needed to let more people know what they’re doing.

So what are they doing down in Woodstock?
They provide parents with moderately to profoundly involved special-needs young adults need a readily available full day program to maintain the functional skills learned during school and to provide a safe and loving environment. Especially when these young adults can’t manage the day-to-day activities we often take for granted like:

• Feeding ourselves
• Communicating with words
• Performing basic activities without supervision
• Going to the bathroom without help…

Next Step Ministries offers several programs for parents and their special needs kids: Therapeutic Day Care, Saturday Respite, Camps. The Cherokee Tribune covered the Next Step Ministries story earlier this year. So if your business is looking for a special place to help via donations of time, money, or supplies, why not start right here in Woodstock, GA?

• Have time? They could use people to come in and read, play music, games, crafts.
• Have equipment? They’re in need of many things including some workout equipment, kitchen equipment, musical instruments.
• Have cash? Enough said!

Inspired 2 Design is proud to have partnered with Next Step Ministries in Woodstock to help support their mission, and help the families of special needs kids in Cherokee, Cobb, Fulton, Bartow, and Pickens counties. Their new website is a project of love and we’re thrilled to have had the opportunity to bless them with this functional and design-appropriate website design that they can use to educate, inform and capture the families that need their services in Woodstock, Canton,  Holly Springs, Acworth, Marietta, Kennesaw, Roswell, Sandy Springs, north Atlanta, and beyond.

If you’d like your charitable non-profit organization considered, please call our office during business hours – 770-781-3452, or Contact Us.

I2D accepts the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce February Entrepreneur of the Month Award

With all the attention on Misti’s appearance, another special visitor almost escaped under the radar. Seth Tuttle, the Director of Major Gifts for MUST Ministries was also a guest at this week’s meeting. Seth and I were classmates during the 3009 class of Leadership Cherokee and worked together on homework projects, and a project or two for Reinhardt College during his tenure there. I had called Seth to inquire about MUST’s holiday giving programs as the SECBN Board of Directors had discussed getting the group involved somehow.

Seth’s motivation for attending the group’s meeting on Wednesday gave me some food for thought, worth sharing. He said that he is looking to understand how small businesses feel about and integrate charitable giving into their operations.

I was quick to answer that Inspired 2 Design offers a gratis website each year to a non-profit (Drug Free Cherokee and Baby and More Thrift Store were past receipients), and that we offer a large discount to Christian organizations (most recently Cartersville Family Church and The HOPE Center’s supporter site). Neither of these “give-backs” do we advertise (I guess not until now…). And I felt pretty darn good about that.

Afterwards, I realized that there is so much more to Seth’s question than just what have you done or what are you doing. It really boils down to what your core philosophy is based on. And will that core philosophy withhold during good times and bad?

Over the past 18 months or so, small businesses have suffered as well as many large corporations, which trickle down to affect the people right here in your own community. The need is great, and the need is immediate. Another member of SECBN approached me after the meeting to ask how the business sales climate was with companies we have met with lately. The consensus was that generally sales were flat, even some entreprenuers gave up as funding ran out, others are stretching themselves as thin as possible reaching out to touch as many revenue streams as possible, yet there are others who took time off during the worst of the storm but now are beginning to return their boats to the water as the news improves and the market rises.

So, back to the core question… if sales are flat; if funds-r-low; if, as a business owner you’re stretched thin, where and how does charity fit in? As a business owner, your responsibility reaches so far outside your company walls. If you haven’t considered making the investment in the community, now is the PERFECT time to start. Here are a few ideas:

Canned food drive: a local mechanic is offering a FREE oil change if you bring 4 cans of food to their shop. WOW! What a great way to give back AND promote your business. MUST is stuffing over 850 Thanksgiving dinner baskets this year… by the way, they also need volunteers to sort, pack, cook and deliver!

Toy Drive: put a box in your store or office and ask clients to bring a new unwrapped toy when you call to confirm appointments. How easy is that? The MUST goal this year is to give 1,800 kids a gift…

Clothing Drive: ask clients to bring used clothing when they visit you, or better yet, go collect it! Be creative and collect winter clothing, blankets or …

Walk, Run, Golf, Tour… there are tons of options to participate in charity events: get your employees involved and pay their entrance fee, order some custom t-shirts, and reap the benefits of raising money, having fun, AND boosting morale!

Volunteer a Day: give back by offering a day during the week for employees to go to MUST and wrap toys, delivery meals, or work down at the YMCA. NO organization will turn away extra hands.

Your Return Here: what do you do in your business that you can share? Are you an accountant that can volunteer time helping a family review their budget? Do you have a restaurant who can donate free meals to a single parent? Do you take pictures and can you offer an afternoon or two to take portraits and give prints to families who otherwise have never had memories like that? Are you a contractor who can offer repair work to someone on a regular basis?

There is an incredible need, right here in our own community. Surely, as we consider how to grow our business, we should include the fertilizer of helping others as the number one ingredient of success.

You can contact MUST Ministries in Cherokee at 770-479-5397.

Happy Holidays!

-The Ball Ground Business Association is actively seeking new members. This newly formed group is designed to bring businesses together in the Ball Ground area for referrals, and to bring attention to the city. So far this group has successfully tackled two events: a Holiday Bazaar and a Christmas Tour of Homes.  If you live, work or do business in town, you should join us for a meeting to see what’s rockin’ in BG! Visit the website here.

-The Southeast Cherokee Business Network has a new board of directors and new committees that are rockin’ the house with energy, ideas and great marketing tools. They are bringing businesses together weekly to share referrals, laughs, and friendship. Check them out here, and if you don’t see your business classification listed contact them to find out how to join. Keep your ears open, you’re going to hear a lot about this group in the near future!

-If you haven’t been by the NEW and totally HUGE Frosty Frog in Hickory Flat, what are you waiting for!? They absolutely have the best chicken salad in Canton, and great HOMEMADE ice cream – oh and don’t forget the cakes!! Visit Frank at the corner of Hwy 140 and East Cherokee Drive (in the Publix shopping center) and tell him we sent you!

-Another new arrival in Canton – Paula’s Unique Boutique. Ladies, you have got to get over there and check out her very cool, very classy and very affordable women’s apparel and accessories. Paula has about 1/3 consignment, the shop is fabulous, and the prices are to die for! It’s great to feel like you’re in Buckhead, but you’re just a few minutes from home! Visit Paula at the shop on Reinhardt College Parkway near Jocks and Jills. Watch for her website coming soon too. Tell her Inspired 2 Design sent you!

-Tax time is approaching F-A-S-T, and if you need a CPA to prepare your return, contact John Drawdy at Drawdy CPA Services in Towne Lake. Give John a call at (678) 494-8278.

That’s the hits for today from Inspired 2 Design – your full service advertising and creative services agency making professional, quality design and marketing affordable for small businesses in Cherokee county and across the U.S.

• Introduce your company
• Make new contacts
• Gain validity
• Find sources and resources
• Discover fusion marketing opportunities
• Invest in your local business community
• Develop a positive reputation
• Spend some time away from the office
• Have fun
• Make friends
• Eat stuff (typically networking events involve food)
• Earn new clients and customers

Tonight we had the opportunity to network with over 50 great companies in the Cherokee County area – from Canton, Holly Springs, Woodstock and Ball Ground. We had the opportunity to show just a sample of what we do, and we had a good time learning about other companies. As time passes and we network with some of the same people, we gain a mutual respect and trust – which in turn leads to new business for the companies involved. You don’t even need to be an extrovert or outgoing person to network, believe me, there are plenty to go around. If you’re more introverted, just shake hands, and listen.

If you’re not using the networking opportunities in your area to market your business, you’re missing out.

Inspired 2 Design, LLC