Robert Lani

The sidewalk replacements and new tree work is well under way in Wallingford. It is a little bit inconvenient and messy with parts of sidewalks blocked off on 45^th Street, but it will be well worth it once it's complete. It's giving Wallingford a fresh face lift.

There's also a lot change in Wallingford's retail storefronts. If you haven't heard the news yet, Office Max has left the neighborhood. It will be sad because I hate to see people lose their jobs. I will also miss it because I enjoyed being able to walk to the store anytime I needed office supplies. I hope they take care of the Robert, a great employee who always took care of me and was extremely helpful.

In Wallingford Center, we are gaining a tenant, Tweedy and Popp. At the same time, we are losing a tenant. Zanadia has decided to close up their brick and mortar location and go strictly online. The dog store "High Maintenance Bitch" has done the same. The space Bitch occupied will become a cigar shop. Cigars are not my personal thing nor did I think there would be a great draw here, but it seems to make sense being located so close to Club Babalu.

Wallingford is also getting a second ice cream shop. I am not sure we need a second one, but we need to support all of our local businesses. It will be hard to beat Molly Moon's ice cream. If you have not yet been there, I highly recommend the Salted Carmel and the Strawberry Balsamic.

QFC also just put up a sign proposing a 5300 square foot addition and Wallingford now has a gym down at 45^th and Stone Way. It's called Fuerte Fitness and offers membership, classes, and personalized training. Let's see, what else? There's a new Italian restaurant called Catinetta down on Wallingford Avenue and 36^th Street. Whew! It's hard to keep track of all the changes.

You're over the hump of the work week. Come and enjoy some productive networking in a relaxed atmosphere with other Bizniks. Even the parking is pretty easy in Wallingford. Whether you're looking to make new business connections, reconnect with old ones, or bounce some new business ideas off other entrepreneurs, you'll enjoy the company and find it useful.

At this event, we would also like to remind everyone that there are others of the 4-legged variety out there who need our help. We are suggesting (but by no means requiring) that everyone who attends bring a donation for the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), such as canned or dry dog or cat food, hot dogs, cat litter, an so much more. A comprehensive wish list can be found on their website at http://www.paws.org/help/donate/wishlist.php. PAWS is a local agency that helps both domestic and wild animals. PAWS advocates for animals through education, legislation, and direct care.

If you would like to join me at this exclusive Biznik event, or would like to learn more aout this free networking site see http://biznik.com/join/robert-lani.

If you have not already heard, a great pet store coming to Ballard. All The Best Pet Care is opening March 2009 at 1909 NW Market Street here in Seattle. It is a great company that started back in 1985, looking to improve the well-being of our animal companions. They have many products in the store that have made a difference to pet health care. They have a very knowledgeable staff that can help you with your pets needs. I went in looking for information on pet food for my overweight dog and also to get info on brushing her teeth. The person explained the different foods they recommend along with a guide to brushing her teeth. For dog or cat, they carry four types of food--raw, dry, canned, and kibble. Their website offers an interactive feeding guide to help you determine the amount of food to feed your animal.

If you have not been to one of the stores check out their website for locations and stop by to see them.

http://www.allthebestpetcare.com/index.html

Any King County seller of a single or multi-family resident served by an on-site septic system is now required to have the septic system inspected at the time of sale. The inspection and the report must be completed by a King County licensed On-Site System Maintainer. A copy must be submitted to the Health Department prior to transfer of title. NWMLS has combined forms 22L and Form 22S into a new form 22S-King. Form 22S-King requires the seller to retain an On-Site System Maintainer to comply with Health Code13.60.010.

For more information, including a copy of the inspection form and a list of licensed OSMs, call King County's Operation & Maintenance Program Manager, Michelle Britt at (206) 205-8962 or visit

http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/ehs/wastewater.aspx.

I read two great articles on Biznik and I wanted to share them with you. They were written by Ilise Benun and the topic is on how to grow your business in 2009. What's so great about the articles is that it is not just theory. She lays out some very specific plans to implement. She said you should set 3-6 specific quantifiable annual goals. She then goes into how much marketing you should do to reach those goals. Marketing is about time and effort, not money. The article states that 5-10% pre-tax annual revenue should be used for marketing and 10% - 20% for business development.

Below are some highlights from the articles:

The three steps of the Marketing Machine:

Step 1. Focus on one market and streamline your efforts in that market before you add on markets.

•§ Get your message out in the following ways.

•o Trade shows

•o Publications

•o Inbox

•o Mailbox

•o Industry blog

Repetition will have a stronger impact, so do something once and continue doing even if it does not work the first time. Start working on something you know because it will make it easier to reach that goal.

Step 2.

Make sure you qualify the market and do research. Answer three questions:

Current state of the market?

Size and type of projects available from market?

And are there other service providers like you working the same market?

Step 3

It's time then to put the names and the faces to your potential clients and reach out to them.

The following tools should be used to reach your goals:

Networking

Research calling

Email marketing

Marketing smart website

Printed materials and samples

Blogging

Article marketing

Speaking engagements

Publicity

In the second article written by Ilise Benun, she breaks down the following five marketing steps:

1. Weekly in-person networking. Find 2-3 groups or organizations that suits your needs and attend them on a weekly basis.
2. Daily Research calls. This sounds so much better than "cold calls" and a lot easier to do if you think of them slightly differently.
3. Monthly email marketing. She provides specific help here as well, stressing the importance of doing this on a regular basis.
4. Marketing-smart website. Here she gives concrete suggestions on how to make sure that your website is an active part of you marketing plan.
5. Printed materials or samples. She provides more good advice here on when to use them.

Below are the links to the articles. I hope you find them as useful as I do.

http://biznik.com/articles/how-exactly-to-grow-your-business-in-2009

http://biznik.com/articles/how-exactly-to-grow-your-business-part-2