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We can’t say enough good things about the Small Business Management Program at Clatsop Community College.  Keith and Keleigh went through the 3-year program and have been in the alumni class for as long.  Not only is it a wonderful program for folks new to running their own business, it really fills in the gaps for those who fell into entrepreurship by passion for their product or service rather than business training.

At Clatsop, the instructor is an amazing human being by the name of Jim Entler.  The best part of the program, in our opinion, is the one-on-one time with Jim, right here in our office.  We got to visit with him monthly while we were in the 3-year program and now get him once a term.  While the coursework follows a pre-planned curriculum, the on-site visits allow instructors to meet business owners where they are and deal with real-world issues of the moment.  We’ve watched our friends and clients use the expertise of the program to build a business, sell one, retire completely, buy new, open new locations - you name it.  We’ve grown from a 1-1/2 person mom and pop shop to the outstanding staff and service offerings we have now, with help from the program every step of the way.

Jim invited us to speak at the North West Association of Small Business Management Instructors (NWASBMI) Fall Conference this past week and we were delighted to accommodate the request.  What a great group of people.  If you are in business, and we’re guessing you are if you’ve made it this far into reading this, please, give yourself the gift of checking out the program closest to you.  We don’t know a single business owner who has regretted the decision to enroll.

You can read the handout of our talk, Mom & Pops…& the internet. Can small business compete?: http://beachdog.com/downloads/NWASBMI-0908.pdf

Here is the Seaside Small Biz Development Center, where SBM classes are held once a month:

Thanks Karl, you are wonderful and fast!!!

Sharon - World Kite Museum

One last note, I can’t say enough good things about Sabrina. She’s been incredibly patient with this newsletter process, never makes me feel stupid (I do enough of that myself), is very very quick to respond to my email requests for help and always so cheerful and positive. In short, she is doing a great job of modeling herself after [the beachdog way]!

Ann Kischner, Bridgewater Bistro

The website is my #1 priority for the next couple of weeks and I told Sabrina that it would really help me with writing text if I had kind of a feel for how she was proceeding with the ‘tone’ of the design end.

She was amazing!  She told me that if it would help my process at all, she’d be happy to give me something interactive from the site to get the juices flowing, and to just give her a couple of days to shoot something off to me.  Now, for all I know, she was thinking, “My God, these people have no idea what goes into web design—doesn’t this crazy person know how hard it is to design a site without the tex?!”  If she was thinking any of that (or anything negative at all) I certainly didn’t know it.  She was sweet as pie, totally helpful, and in every little thing she said to me, all I heard was “Yes, of course” or “I’d love to help make that happen for you.”  Now THAT is great customer service.

Actually, all I ever get from you people is great customer service.  …it’s almost like people love their jobs and the ones they work with over there…don’t you know this is America?  We’re all supposed to vote <insert your party name here> and be miserable!  Get with it!

On a serious note—the last time you and I communicated, you wrote me some very good words …and look, it worked; here I am at summer’s end, still happy and prosperous with a staff and a good base of customers who seem equally pleased with things.  Who knew?

Lynette Dowty, Anchorage Cottages

Didn’t Dr. Roof do a nice job on our exterior paint?  The crew was great, too.  Incredibly polite, and they did a great job keeping things tidy.  It isn’t often that we get to sing the praises of contractors, but working with their painting crew was a really top-notch experience.

We’re making some changes here at beachdog.com, with a goal of stellar customer service.

As most of you know, we’re now available for appointments Monday through Thursday, 9am - 5pm and, by special arrangement.  When needing to discuss a new or ongoing project, please do make an appointment rather than dropping in so we can give you our complete attention.  Of course, you’re always welcome to stop by to drop off, pick up, make an appointment, ask a quick question, get a dog fix…

Please note the following email addresses, especially if you’re using webmaster@beachdog.com to reach Keleigh!  That address is now accessed by everyone in the office so please use webmaster@beachdog.com for the fastest turnaround.  You’re also invited to use our “Send A File” form, which lets you send BIG files our way.

To reach us individually (remember to take out the spaces around the @ symbol):

FRONT OFFICE:

sue @ beachdog.com - Sue Skinner (billing questions, appointments & information, M-T-W)
wendy @ beachdog.com - Wendy Murry (appointments and information, T-W-Th)

WEB:

sabrina @ beachdog.com - Sabrina Kent (website projects manager, 9 am-7:30 pm, M-T-W-Th)
karl @ beachdog.com - Karl Johnson (website projects, database projects, 8 am-6:30 pm, M-T-W-Th)
kathy @ beachdog.com - Kathy Kidd (website projects, search engine marketing, 9 am-7 pm, W)

PRINT & DESIGN:

woof @ beachdog.com - Keleigh Schwartz (email is usually a faster way to find Keleigh than is the phone)

PROJECT BASED AD SALES:

keith @ beachdog.com - Keith Schwartz (don’t expect a quick response except during a project.)

Thank you for appropriately routing your email so we can provide you the best possible service!

Our neighbors and tenants, Western Coastal Mortgage (aka First Houston Bank) have moved. You can reach Mikel at 360.642.8034.

Here’s the exciting news: We’ve decided to take over the space ourselves! We’ll be moving the web kids (Sabrina, Kathy & Karl) to that side of the office this week. Everyone is very excited about spreading out since we’ve been sort of tripping over one another for some time now.  So, give us a week or two, then stop by and see our new digs!

(Karl is very excited to already have a corner office with a window…) 

Our beachdog family suffered a loss today.  Wendy’s 16 year-old Pumpkin crossed the rainbow bridge.

Pumpkin was an amazing girl I called her my cat dog because she was so independent and aloof she would let you pet her if she felt like it. She would let you admire her beauty.  She was the healthiest animal I ever knew.

When we first moved to the beach she would get on the beach and run so far and fast that one time I had to flag down a stranger for a ride to chase her down the beach loosing my Tiffany key chain and keyless entry in the process.

My favorite was when we lived in Portland and I found myself in the turn lane on 82nd avenue buck naked except for (thank God) my bathrobe–no shoes, nothing, trying to catch her.

Our neighbor told me this morning he would have people regularly tell him they saw a coyote in his yard. I was asked many times if she was a fox, such a pretty animal she was. Once she mellowed out she really truly became a perfect pet. I don’t think I will ever have another dog who will measure up.

~Wendy

Please join us in sending Wendy, Del, Royce and Avary some soft puppy kisses.

Blogs (web logs, or online diaries) are a great way to stay connected with friends & family, or customers.  Besides the fact that they are super-easy to update, and because most allow your visitors to comment on what you write, the super-cool thing is RSS feeds.  RSS, or “really simply syndication” essentially delivers what you write to your subscribers email box or RSS feed software.  Whoosh!

On the right is a blog that grew out of a family reunion.  Interested family members are able to upload photos and each has their own login for posting updates from their corner of the world.  On the left is a blog that allows friends and family to keep track of a hospitalized loved one’s progress.  It replaced phone and email trees and allows everyone to stay in touch at the time of day that is most convenient to them, all without further burdening the family.

For businesses, we like to set up domain-based, customized blogs.  Both of the samples shown here are nearly “out of the box” templates.  Using templates makes it super easy and inexpensive to get started on your own.  Blogger is a great way for anyone to get started blogging.  WordPress is our favorite.  Both are free!

We live in it!

Keleigh muses about it here:  www.washingtonsbestkeptsecret.com

…Just another example of a blog in action.

Here are a few more local blogs (in no particular order):

• South Pacific County Humane Society
• Long Beach Merchants Association
• City of Ilwaco & Ilwaco Merchants Association
• The Beachcomber
• Long Beach Washington City Administrator’s Blog
• Cheri Diehl
• Captain Lulabelle’s Fine Art
• Rotary Club of SW Pacific County Peninsula

It’s an exciting weekend here at beachdog.com.  Not only is it Rod Run AND Perdita’s 2nd birthday, Dr. Roof is giving the building a fresh coat of paint.  Here’s a BEFORE pic, for nostalgia’s sake. :-)

This pic is about a year old. We lost that roof in "The Great Gale of December 2007"