Marketing Your Website -- Huntington, Oct. 7, 14 and 21, 6 to 9 PM, $90 for three sessions

    Even the best-designed website is ineffective if it doesn’t reach its target audience. Although search engine optimization is important, it is often overemphasized, particularly by companies that are eager to provide the service for a fee. Nobody understands a small business better than its owner, making you the most capable person to promote your own company’s website. This workshop will walk you step-by-step through hands-on, real world exercises. You will learn how to measure and evaluate performance, how to confirm that your site is fully search engine ready and search engine friendly, how to read and interpret Web traffic statistics, how to uncover your competitors’ secrets and strategies, how to make Web 2.0’s consumer-generated content work to your benefit, how to use “offline” marketing to your maximum advantage, how to use powerful free tools from Google (including Google Analytics, Google Alerts, Google Maps, and Google Webmaster Tools), and how to take an overall “guerrilla” approach to your website’s marketing – all with a minimal commitment of time and on a shoestring budget.  Taught by Peter Pelland of Pelland Advertising. 

Basic Computers -- Chesterfield, Oct. 15, 6 to 9 PM, $35

    Learn the basic components of a computer, what you need for a computer for your home or business, how to shop intelligently for software and hardware, and some basic troubleshooting techniques. Learn how to scan, how to save documents on different types of storage media, and how to send along attachments (and open and save them) on your email. Don’t wait for the kids to come home from school to help you.

Word for Beginners -- Chesterfield, Oct. 22, 6 to 9 PM, $35

    This workshop is designed for people with little knowledge of Word. You will learn how to create documents, set up margins and fonts, store documents, print documents, and do basic formatting of the documents. No experience is required.

Introduction to Guerrilla Marketing -- Huntington, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3, 6 to 9 PM, $60 for two sessions. 

    Learn the key principles upon which all business success rests.  Understand how guerrilla marketing can improve sales without spending money on advertising.  At the end of these two sessions, you will have an actionable document designed to focus on your 30, 60 and 90-day marketing action items.  If you feel hamstrung by a lack of money to market the way you’d like, then this is the workshop for you.  Taught by Sheldon Snodgrass of www.steadysales.com.

Creating Marketing Materials with Word -- Chesterfield, Oct. 29, 6 to 9 PM, $35

    You will learn how to use Word to create marketing materials through the use of graphics, text boxes, line drawings, colors, and fonts. We will see how easy it is to create fliers, posters, simple brochures, and ads using the software that comes with most computers! This workshop will explain page set-up and show how to tinker with pictures. All you need are basic Word skills, like typing (hunt ‘n peck’s ok), using a mouse, and using the Enter key. While this course is taught on a PC, the skills are transferable to a MAC.

Tax and Legal Aspects of Small Business Ownership -- Huntington, Nov. 5, 5:30 – 8:30 PM, $15

    This class will examine the tax and legal implications of sole proprietorships, partnerships, S and C corporations, and limited liability companies.  It will cover the general guidelines for choosing a form of business ownership, and will allow time for participants’ questions on specific issues. Mikal Weiss is a partner in the Northampton law firm of Burrows, Weiss and Bloomberg.  He has been practicing law since 1983, with a primary focus on business law. Caleb Harris is a CPA with over 25 years of individual and small business tax experience.  He has a home-based practice located in Worthington.

Creating your own business in QuickBooks -- Chesterfield, 6 to 9 PM, Nov. 5, 12 and 19, $90 for all three sessions

    Learn how to create your company in QuickBooks.  Set up your company and design the Chart of Accounts and Item lists that match your business. Work with your own client names to create client databases, create customized invoices, statements, and credit memos, and learn the basics of using QuickBooks for all your Accounts Receivable. Work with your own vendor list to create vendor databases (including sub contractors), pay sales tax using QuickBooks reports, prepare 1099’s for sub contractors using QuickBooks reports, work with credit cards and credit accounts with vendors, and master all the basics of using QuickBooks for Accounts Payable. Reconcile your bank records and credit card accounts and create all the reports that show how your business is really doing. This workshop comes with demo QuickBooks software so that when you burn the CD of your project on the last night of class, you can return to your office and start working on your company’s books.

Beginning Excel -- Chesterfield, Nov. 17, 6 to 9 PM, $35

    This course is designed for a beginning user (or someone who wants to learn a few new tricks). Topics covered include: navigating the basic spreadsheet; formatting cells, columns, and rows; creating formulas; displaying your data as charts.

Advanced Excel – Chesterfield, Dec. 1, 6 to 9 PM, $35

    This course continues where the Intro course ends – folks with a basic knowledge of Excel are invited to join and learn more about this powerful software program. Topics covered include: creating workbooks, creating macros for repetitive operations, and worksheet set-up.

    This class covers creating mail merges and other tricks (like headers and footers, page numbering, tables of contents) that help you prepare a more formal document in Word. Mail merge is a powerful tool for using data from mailing lists to create envelopes, mailing labels, and business letters. Headers and footers are (cleverly enough) the information that is stored at the top (head) and bottom (foot) of each document. The table of contents will document all your major (and minor) topics and create a separate page listing them. Anyone interested in this class must have a basic knowledge of Word and formatting.

* Tuition waivers are available for income-eligible applicants from Ashfield, Chester, Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Plainfield, Westhampton, Williamsburg, and Worthington.  If you qualify by town and your family earns a gross annual income that is less than 80% of the median income, you should complete the income certification form to receive a tuition waiver.

Tuition waivers are made possible, and fees for the workshops are kept affordable, thanks to a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development Economic Development Fund.

COMPUTER SOFTWARE

• Basic Computers
• Introduction to Word
• Intermediate Word
• Creating Marketing Materials in Word
• Introduction to Excel
• Intermediate Excel
• Integrating Word and Excel
• Creating Your Business in Quickbooks
• Introduction to Power Point
• Introduction to Photoshop Elements

• Creating a Simple Website
• Using the Internet to Help Your Business Succeed
• 30 Ways to a Better Website
• Marketing Your Website

• Marketing Your Products & Services
• How to Grow Your Small Business
• Prospecting, Cold Calls & Sales
• Introduction to Guerrilla Marketing

• Tax & Legal Aspects of Small Business Ownership
• Financial Planning for the Self-Employed
• Year-End Tax Planning for Businesses
• Learn About Your Market, Your Customers & Your Competition
• Budgets and Financial Statements – Managing the Numbers
• Managing Your Cash Flow – How to Avoid Running Out of Cash
• Negotiating for What Your Business Needs
• Managing a Growing Business

• Getting Going in Crafts
• Pricing a Product Line
• Wholesale & Retail Craft Selling
• Securing Gallery Representation