Greetings! Welcome to the end of one heckuva marathon run of a year! Getting through 2020 was one amazing accomplishment for all, and while 2021 won’t give us that magic “reset button” for all of the challenges of the past year, there’s much to be optimistic about and truly a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with you through the last half of this year, and I look forward to many more!
Here’s our update for the week –
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Suzan’s week:
* Daily/ weekly routine tasks
* Confer w/Keri re date changes in P/R
* Investigate why rent check didn’t clear bank
* Yearend record shifting/shredding/reorganization process
* QBO issues
* Devise compatible filing system for bill pay records
* Staff meeting
* Pay bills in bill pay
* Post P/R & Gusto in QBO
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Paul’s week:
Digital Marketing Test – Just a quick update on the campaign – as of this afternoon, we’ve had just over 5,500 impressions with just over 130 clickthroughs to the landing page – not too shabby for the first few weeks!
Website – I backed up our old website and replaced the index page (the page you reach when you type in “coastbusiness.info”) with some short code to redirect the site visitor automatically to the new site. In the new year, once I fully shut down the old site, I’ll reach out to other sites that still link to the old site to update their listing – part of a several-week SEO project.
QuickBooks – I worked with Dorothy from Bryan’s office this week to look at how we were processing credit card transactions. After some research on both sides, we came to the conclusion that Columbia Bank does NOT have an auto-transaction sync with their credit card (it looks like they use a third party provider for the online portion of managing their CCs) like they do for our business checking account. Without that automation, the most efficient (in terms of least time spent) is to just split the bill payment transaction to match the CC transactions – good to know and another step to reaching maximum efficiency in our bookkeeping.
Business Expansion – I’m sure you saw the article in the NewsGuard about the potential expansion of Great Life by Lucinda. I’ve been working with her the last few weeks and even had a nice call from Representative Gomberg on Monday. Part of what’s she’s needing in the short term is a site for expansion (lease and not buy – yet). Linda and I have both been working hard to get her some options (thanks a ton Linda!), and I connected her with Sharyn Jasmer over at the Outlet Mall as well. Hopefully she’ll have a few options to take that next step. It also made me realize we need a little more information coordination and dissemination on available commercial rental sites.
Toledo Phantom Gallery Project – I culled through our inventory of Main Street vacant business in Toledo this week and created a short list of six potential “phase one” sites and got that off to the team (with addresses) – a mailing will go out to those owners next week. On Monday, I’ll be meeting someone at the Newport Visual Arts Center to check out some potential backdrops. I’m also be working with Rachael Maddox-Hughes on a USDA RDBG marketing grant – we’ll be doing a lunch meeting next week to kick that off.
Professional Development – For those “process nerds” out there, this week I did a pretty darn thorough analysis of my note-taking approaches and what results I need in the New Year (and the process is much different when you factor in note taking during phone and Zoom calls), and I’ve got a system that I’ll test drive in January.
2021 Planning – I’m reviewing our organizational goals and current and potential projects for 2021 to put together an initial road map and work plan for the year – and I’m still expecting quite a bit of change and disruption in the coming year, so it’s essential that we’re set up to do quite a bit of creative problem solving and stand at the ready top both learn new things and pivot as opportunities arise. I’ve attached a draft mind map of the planning so far.
I hope you all will have a wonderful New Year’s celebration. It’s pretty exciting and new to us that the NYC ball drops at 9pm Pacific Time, meaning we get to check out the fun, yet can get in our jammies early!
Thanks for all that you are doing out there! Please reach out to me if you need anything at all. Merry Christmas!
Cheers,
-Paul 🙂