HR Lessons From Colonial Williamsburg
Public Records Are Newly Accessible
Getting E-Smart: Setting Goals
Corrections or additions?
This article by Kathleen McGinn Spring and Bart Jackson was prepared for the April 9, 2003 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Self-Styled Sabbatical Boosts Career
With the economy souring, Hollie Gilroy “fired
herself” and spent a year learning all about sailing and thoroughbred
horse racing. Back at a desk now at the Healthcare Institute of New
Jersey, she looks on her self-styled sabbatical as a smart career
move — and so much more.
Gilroy speaks as part of a panel, “Sabbaticals: They’re not Just
for Educators,” on Thursday, April 10, at 8:30 a.m. at Princeton
Softech’s offices at 111 Campus Drive. The event is sponsored by the
New Jersey Technology Council. Other speakers are Louise Levy
of New Hope-based Levy Associates, and Jill E. Jachera of Morgan
Lewis. Cost: $40. Call 856-787-9700.
As Gilroy speaks about her sabbatical, and about the career progression
that led up to the year off, it quickly becomes clear that she is
a person with a finely-calibrated life plan.
She got it from her mother.
“I was a first generation college graduate,” she says. “My
mom was a young widow.” Working all of her life in office support
jobs to raise her children, Gilroy’s mother drilled them on the value
of an education, especially for women. She told her daughter that
“`you can be a person who lets fate manage your life, or you can
take charge.’”
Choosing the latter course, Gilroy, who grew up in South Plainfield,
spent two years at Middlesex County Community College, and won a scholarship
to Douglass, graduating in 1985 with a degree in journalism and mass
media. She then earned a master’s degree in public and corporate communication
from Seton Hall.
An internship in the public affairs department at Merck whetted her
appetite for community/public affairs work. She did do a brief stint
at a newspaper, but soon left “to go to the other side,” working
in communications. “The working conditions are better, the pay
is better, and there is more opportunity for career mobility,”
she says.
She first went to work as a lobbyist for the Marcus Group in northern
New Jersey. “I got the lay of the land, learned about lobbying,”
she says. “It was a learning-the-ropes job.” After three years,
she moved on to Nancy Becker Associates in Trenton, where she spent
18 months before going to work for one of the company’s clients, the
New Jersey Council of County Colleges. She describes that job as “a
wonderful outlet for my personal convictions.”
“Community colleges are what America’s all about,” she says.
“It takes the snobbery out of education, letting people learn
when they are ready. It’s a thing you find nowhere else but in America.”
In addition to involving an issue of deep significance to her, the
job was “one of the best professional growth opportunities.”
She spent eight years at the Council of County Colleges, culminating
in what she terms an important moral victory. “We hit a high note,”
she recounts, “when we corrected the state funding formula. Governor
Whitman gave us $48 million. It showed that the white hats do win.”
After helping to secure an important victory for community colleges,
Gilroy decided to move on despite the fact that she still loved the
job. “I wanted to go out on a high note,” she says. “I
was starting to think of my next career move.”
Just then the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers
“came knocking.” She decided to accept a job there as director
of community and public affairs, thinking the work would be similar
to that she had done. But it didn’t turn out to be a good fit. Her
entrepreneurial personality chaffed at the bureaucracy at the huge
institution of which the Ag Station is a part. She says she did give
the job a real chance, but after year, she knew it wasn’t for her.
Still, she did not want to start “pounding the pavement” to
look for another job.
“I was at a place in my career where I thought it was better to
take a break,” she says. “It was time to take a big step back,
and decide what I wanted to do next. A break was a great way to objectively
look at my career path without the stress of a job. I could make a
better decision, and not be emotional about the situation.”
In her opinion, the pressure of leaving a job that is not a good fit
and jumping right into another job can be a recipe for going from
the frying pan straight into the fire. She decided to take another
route to her next career move, and, along the way, to spend time trying
things she had always wanted to do. Here is how she did it, a method
she recommends to others.
Talk to people who have taken a sabbatical. Through anetwork of women professionals with whom she maintained contact, Gilroylearned of a woman who had done what she wanted to do. “She wasa year or two younger,” she recounts. “She was on the fasttrack in a high-powered Manhattan job, engaged, and living a wonderfullifestyle. But she wasn’t enjoying her life.” The woman told Gilroyshe had met with a career coach to uncover her true abilities andinterests. She then took time off to travel in Europe before findingwork at a non-profit.”It was a story I could relate to,” says Gilroy. “It’snice to have a nice resume with awards, but you need to honor otherparts of yourself.” The early years of a career are all aboutacquisition, she says. Promotions, titles, an increasingly upscalewardrobe, the corner office, a bigger salary, these things becomeall-consuming. Stepping away allows space for introspection and re-evaluation.Build up a nest egg. Academics often can take sabbaticalswith pay. Some corporations and non-profits — but not many —grant sabbaticals at full or partial pay, and some continue healthinsurance during the time off. None of this applied to Gilroy. Sheknew she had to finance her own sabbatical. To do so, she saved everyother paycheck for a year. It was tough staying on at a job she didnot particularly enjoy for 12 more months, but that was the only wayshe could do it.The lifestyle adjustment was not particularly difficult. “I’mnot a person who needs a new car, who needs to live in the biggesthouse,” she says. “I don’t need a million cable channels.I don’t need to eat out every night.” Her husband, Michael Skowronski,is a self-employed inventor, so one thing she would need was healthinsurance. She would have to pay for that too, which she did throughCOBRA.Make a plan. In a Seinfeld episode, George receives agenerous severance payment from the Yankees after being fired. Hehappily declares that the next months will be “the summer of George.”But beyond deciding to learn to play rolf, a combination of frisbeeand golf, he makes no concrete plans, and ends up sinking deeper anddeeper into a routine of doing nothing more than watching televisionwith a substantial supply of snacks nearby.Some version of this scenario is a real possibility without a plan,says Gilroy, who avoided the trap. She chose two main activities.First, she would become a sailor, learning not only how to sail aship, but also how to repair it, and how to navigate. Growing up nearthe Jersey shore, this was something she had dreamed of doing, andshe thoroughly enjoyed becoming a competent skipper.She says her stay at the Ag Station, while not perfect, was a learningexperience. One thing she came away with was a deep appreciation ofthoroughbred horses. For the second part of her sabbatical, she spenther days at a stable, learning all about horses and about horse racing.Make sure the plan is flexible. While a “summer ofGeorge” is something a person on sabbatical needs to avoid atall costs, too much planning is not a good thing either. Schedulingevery minute forecloses the possibility of losing a precious opportunity.So it was that Gilroy, about to wrap up her sabbatical after aboutseven months, was approached by Raritan Valley Community College,and asked to teach communications for a semester. She accepted onthe spot, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.Don’t worry about finding another job. When Gilroy firstdecided to take a self-financed sabbatical, the economy was rocketingto new heights, and gobbling up every worker it could get. By thetime she had saved up enough to take the leave, the economy was softeningperceptibly. But she did not let the situation dissuade her. “Youcan always get a job,” she says. Finding a year to explore newinterests, in her opinion, is not so easy. She was not going to leta budding recession get in her way.In any economy, she advises, the beginning of a sabbatical is definitelynot the time to worry about — or plot — a reentry into theworld of work. “You need to make a clean break,” she says.Play up the sabbatical on resumes. With her sabbaticalnearing an end, Gilroy did begin to think about her next career move.She first decided that she did not want a career change, and thenmade a list of all the things she had liked — and disliked —about previous jobs. In the end, she decided that a job in a relativelysmall non-profit, perhaps in the healthcare industry, would be a goodfit.She told employers, right up front, that she was returning from asabbatical, refreshed and ready to go. She also detailed what shehad done with her time off. Intrigued, a good number of employerscalled her in for interviews, and wanted to hear all about the sabbatical.Rather than being a liability, the break had turned into a substantialasset, inspiring wistful admiration in the desk-bound.Gilroy received a number of job offers, and just about one year agosigned on as director of communications for the Healthcare Instituteof New Jersey, which has just moved from New Brunswick to Hillside.Led by Bob Franks, former head of the state Republican committee,this organization represents 20 companies aiming to raise the visibilityof the research-based pharmaceutical and medical device industry (www.hinj.org).Back at work, Gilroy says she is immeasurably changed. She attendsto her workload conscientiously, but also sets boundaries, insistingon leaving her work at work, and keeping up with outside interestson her time off. “I don’t compete anymore,” she says. “I’mnot obsessed with adding the title of vice president to my name.”During her sabbatical, Gilroy had a chance to spend a lot of timewith her mother, who, coincidentally, retired just as her daughter’sleave was beginning. “We were two girls on the run,” Gilroylaughs. It was her mother’s lesson about the importance of takingcontrol of your destiny that led Gilroy up the career ladder. Nowthat she is back at work, it is the same lesson guides her alteredview of work.”It’s up to the individual to set limits,” she says. “Youneed to take breaks so that you don’t become overwhelmed.” Whena one-year sabbatical is not possible, make it a week-long break,or even a week-end away. If you find yourself dreaming about timeoff, probably you should take some. Says Gilroy, “that’s a redflag.”Employers’ ViewLouise Levy, whose consulting business, Levy and Associates,works with start-ups and small businesses on “change cycle”issues, also speaks on sabbaticals at the NJTC event. She recallsthat sabbaticals were hot back in the boom of the late-1990s, whenemployers, particularly in the high-tech sector, used the lure ofpaid time off to attract and keep employees in an ultra-tight labormarket.Now, she reports, some companies are using sabbaticals as a tool toavoid severing ties with their workers. Instead of laying off employeeswhen things get slow, these employers are offering time off, sometimeswith partial pay, and sometimes with benefits only.Levy points out that there are dangers with this scheme — forboth sides. Employees can not be sure where they will stand when asabbatical ends, and the employer, already signaling weakness, hasno guarantee that his worker will return.Top Of PageHR Lessons From Colonial WilliamsburgWhat do Taco Bell, Marriott, and Colonial Williamsburghave in common with one another — and with the Seaside Heightsboardwalk and the Nassau Inn? All need to hire, motivate, and retainlegions of non-exempt workers. A key to success in the tourism industry,the subject is on the agenda at the 2003 Governor’s Conference onTourism, taking place on Thursday and Friday, April 10 and 11, atthe Trump Marina Hotel Casino in Atlantic City. Call 609-777-0885.Laura J. Loda, vice president for human resources of the ColonialWilliamsburg Foundation, addresses the always tricky question of “EmployeeRetention and Motivation.” Other sessions concern crisis management,enticing corporations to sponsor events, advertising on a tight budget,packaging a vacation destination, and legislative issues for the tourismindustry. Governor McGreevey speaks at an awards luncheon onthe first day, and Senator Jon Corzine speaks at the closingluncheon.Loda is uniquely suited to speak on employee relations at organizationswith a large number of non-exempt workers (generally those who arepaid an hourly wage, qualify for overtime, and often are at the lowerend of the corporate ladder). “It’s my passion,” she says.A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where she studied English andFrench Literature, she first became interested in labor relationsduring her first post-college job, when she worked in the U.S. Houseof Representatives for a congressman from N.E. Iowa who was on theHouse Labor and Education Committee.”It was a great experience, a wonderful first job,” she says.In doing research on training issues, she saw the possibilities ina career in human resources, and left her legislative job to workfor Marriott. A native of Bethesda, Maryland, she says Marriott was”the hometown company in D.C.” As a teen-agers, she had workedpart time at one of the chain’s Hot Shoppes.Her next job took her to San Francisco, and the Gap. “It was somuch fun,” she says. “We got to wear the product. I went towork in blue jeans and T-shirts.” While she enjoyed both jobs,she saw that retail was different from the hospitality industry. “Inhospitality,” she says, “so much of the culture comes fromthe customer interface. It’s a very intimate business. You’re sleepingand feeding them. Retail is more about the product.”From the Gap, Loda moved down the California coast to work for TacoBell, then a Pepsico company. Shortly after she arrived, Pepsico spunoff its restaurants, and she went with the newly-formed corporation.”I was blessed to be in the right place at the right time,”she says. “It was a $22 billion start-up.” Communicating withmanagers of myriad divisions in the new company was “a very largeendeavor, very exciting.”Staying in Southern California for one more job, Loda headed up humanresources at ARV Assisted Living, a 3,000-person company, before acceptingthe job at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Incredibly positiveand upbeat about all of her work experiences, Loda is especially thrilledto be heading up human resources at the living history museum.”If I ever had a dream job, this is it,” she says. “I’mgoing to be here for 20 years. I’m going to retire from this job.Colonial Williamsburg is just such a special place. It’s a very mission-drivenorganization.” Her parents have just moved to Williamsburg, and herhusband, a physicist and trailing spouse, is at home in the area too.While everyone is familiar with Colonial Williamsburg, the livinghistory museum, Loda explains that the foundation encompasses muchmore. “We run five hotels, three golf courses, two clubhouses,a catalog operation, retail outlets, a distribution center, and twoother museums,” she says.An article in the Wall Street Journal last week reported that ColonialWilliamsburg is substantially expanding its shopping area on the backof the success of its retail operation, which pulls in nearly twicethe gross of the average shopping mall.So Loda is responsible for retail clerks, golf pros, hotel housekeepers,and waiters in addition to all of the costumed interpretive staffvisitors encounter going about daily life as it was lived during the18th century. Also on her staff are silversmiths, blacksmiths, paddlemakers, and a host of other artisans practicing largely-lost crafts.And then there are architects, curators, historians, librarians, andconservators working away behind the scenes.To add to the challenge, all of Loda’s employees, whether living inthe 18th century or the 21st, are doing so post 9/11, in a state oforange alert, at a major tourist attraction in close proximity toWashington, D.C. Here is a look at how she creates an environmentthat soothes fears, and which is unfailingly welcoming to visitors,and at the same time attractive enough to employees to ensure thekind of job satisfaction that shines through on the hottest summerday southern Virginia serves up.It’s not about the money. “No one ever left a jobfor a nickel, or a dime, or a quarter,” Loda says. “Wagesare not an issue. Period.” As long as the wage is competitive,it is not something that will send an employee out of the door. Ifsomebody is motivated enough to apply for a job, sit for an interview,go through orientation, and then endure “new job hell,” shesays, he is not going to jump ship because another employer is offeringa little better deal on wages.Finding a job and making it through the period when all the peopleand routines are unfamiliar takes “a huge emotional investment,”Loda points out. Having made it that far, employees want to stay around.Job satisfaction revolves around three basics. There isa famous research study, Loda recounts. It took place some 25 yearsago, and nothing in the intervening years has contradicted it. Inthe study, a large group of employees and a large group of managerswere asked to rank 10 items relative to job satisfaction. The itemsthe employees ranked one, two, and three, the managers ranked eight,nine, and ten.What the employees wanted was simple, says Loda. They wanted to knowexactly what they were to do; they wanted the tools to do the job;and they wanted to be appreciated for doing it well. “The truthdoesn’t change over the years,” the veteran HR professional hasfound. Those three things are still what it takes to motivate andretain good workers.Take on just a few problems at a time. For most of hertime with Marriott, Loda worked in the company’s corporate headquarters,but toward the end of her stint, she was sent to turn around a hotelexperiencing rapid staff turnover. She and her team spent time talkingwith the employees, and asking them what problems they were experiencing,and what could make the problems better. They turned up things likecarts that wouldn’t go down the halls because their wheels were bent.After listening to the employees, the staff promised to work on specificproblems, generally two at a time, and to get back to their staffwith solutions within three months.Employee satisfaction soared, and turnover plunged. This approach,in Loda’s opinion, is far better than the sweeping opinion surveysmany companies use. “They go through the hoo ha,” she says,”and then it goes into a drawer.” Far better to talk to employeesone-on-one, or in small groups, ferret out a few problems, and thenpromptly fix them.Keep core messages simple — and stable. At ColonialWilliamsburg, the key messages, says Loda, are “basic, but notsimplistic.” Throughout the foundation, and all of its operations,the core values are hospitality and courtesy — to guests and tofellow employees — collaboration, and accountability or stewardship.”We weave them into everything we do,” says Loda, “andthey don’t change.” Some organizations shift around, emphasizingone set of values this year, and another next year. In Loda’s opinion,it is far better to craft core values, and then to stick with them.”It’s not `this year’s focus,’” says Loda.Insist that everyone get with the program. So what happenswhen an employee chooses to ignore a core value? Loda doesn’t hesitateeven a second before saying, “We aggressively manage performance.”Translation: Transgress in a serious way, and you are out. Fast.But, she continues, “there should be no surprises.” Thereare formal yearly evaluations, but supervisors are expected to providefrequent feedback on performance. “It has to be ongoing,”says Loda. “Every day.”Honor employees’ desire for information. An organizationhas no duty to tell its workers how it is doing, and how world affairsmay affect it. A smart organization, however, will keep its workersin the loop. “We’ve been talking non-stop about what is goingon in the world,” says Loda. From the CEO down through the ranksof supervision, there are frequent updates on how the war and fearsof terrorism affect the business and the security of Colonial Williamsburg.”We don’t have an obligation,” says Loda. “They don’tneed to know, but they want to know. We’re 90 miles south of Washington,D.C. We hear the president recommending closing national monuments.Our employees are concerned.” Keeping employees informed in mostorganizations is a bit easier than it is at Colonial Williamsburg,where interpretive staff, living in a pre-dirty bomb world, are busytending sheep and making barrels on 300 acres. Their world, authenticin every detail, is not furnished with computers, cell phones, oreven beepers.Many of Loda’s employees are still living in the 18th century— sans air conditioning and Instant Messaging — but the HRstrategy that encourages them to adopt their employer’s values shouldwork in the hotels along Route 1 and at the amusement parks at theshore. As Loda enunciates the strategy, it sounds like plain old commonsense. She cheerfully admits as much, and adds: “Organizationsthat have figured it out, “are organizations where people stay.”Top Of PagePublic Records Are Newly AccessibleFrom the worst to among the nation’s best. With thestroke of Governor DiFrancesco’s pen in 2001, the Garden State bootstrappeditself from being one of the two most closed state governments (rivalingPennsylvania) to the most open. Taking effect only last July, theOpen Public Records Act states that all state, county, and municipaldocuments are open to the public unless some previous statue specificallyforbids it. As the curtain of darkness and secrecy descends from thefederal level, New Jersey stands as one bright point of light. Butkeeping this lamp lighted has taken incredible vigilance.A panel discussion on Thursday, April 10, at 8:30 a.m. at the SomersetHoliday Inn addresses the subject head-on: “Everything You Needto Know about the Open Public Records Act.” Cost: $309. Registerat 715-833-3959 or online at www.lorman.com Sponsored by Lorman EducationalServices, this seminar provides continuing legal education credits.The discussion’s scope, however, will extend far beyond legal technicalities,and should prove of value to government officials, sunshine watchdoggroups, anti-censorship librarians, and privacy activists.The speakers list reads like a roster of individual rights advocates.Princeton-based Grayson Barber is a First Amendment litigatorwho sits on the ACLU’s national board and the New Jersey Privacy StudyCommission. Thomas Cafferty of Somerset’s McGimpsey & Caffertyserves as attorney for the New Jersey Press Association. ReporterJoseph Tyrrell covers Middlesex County government for the NewarkStar Ledger. John Connell of the Haddonfield law firm of Archer& Greiner represents Gannett Publishing, and attorney Frank Corradowas one of the initiators of the Open Public Records Act (OPRA).Many of the panelists are also members of the New Jersey Foundationfor Open Government (NJFOG), an umbrella organization including theLeague of Women Voters, the Society for Professional Journalists,Common Cause, the ACLU, the New Jersey Public Research Organization,and other organizations. The latest news and calendar of events involvingOPRA and similar issues can be found online at www.NJFOG.org. Barberhas listed her speaking engagements on www.graysonbarber.com“The whole burden of proof has shifted,” notes journalistTyrrell, who has worked for the Newark Star Ledger for 20 years. “Previously,the individual had to prove to his government that he had the needto know what it were doing and to see its documents. Now, state, county,and local governments must turn over every paper requested unlessthey can legally prove it is against public interest.” He viewsthis as a giant step.OPRA unfoldings. You are not particularly happy with yourlocal school board’s proposal to cut art and physical education fromthe curriculum. Your wife has always been suspicious of how the countyfunds itself by just slipping its bill in with your property taxes.Your young, long-haired son, who drives a red sports car, seriouslydoubts that the state’s anti-profiling bill has the necessary teeth.As concerned citizens, each of you has the right to access any transcripts,budget documents, bills, voting records, even the records of reprimandfor that cop who keeps pulling you over.Equally important, journalists have the right to receive, and reporton, government documents. If the lifestyle of a township administratorseems suspiciously extravagant, an inquiring reporter can find outhis salary, or at least that position’s salary range. Additionally,earnings of his spouse and household are available. Further, if thelocal government has done comparative studies of pay scales for similarpositions around the state, these must be disclosed. If the townshiphas not done this research, chances are the local library can putits fingers on the numbers.Legal bite. Any government official willfully refusingto disclose a document faces a personal fine of $1,000 for the firstoffense, $2,500 for the second, and $5,000 for the third. And recentlyOPRA has gained additional teeth. Penalties for willful violationmay now include all of the plaintiff’s attorney’s fees. This allowsthe individual to legally pursue his information cost free.New Jersey Press Association attorney Cafferty notes that OPRA makessome definite judicial changes. Previously, individuals denied accessto government information had to go to the courts, where the judicialsystem agreed to weigh each case, balancing private confidentiallyagainst reasonable disclosure, and basing decisions on previous caselaw. OPRA has changed precedent law to codified law. Everything, unlessspecifically proved otherwise, must be open to the public. Additionally,federal law can not supersede OPRA, and can not limit the state’sability to disclose the contents of its own documents.Privacy problems. It may be all well and good to openup public meeting transcripts, but what about an individual’s DMVfiles, tax information, and all the other personal information thestate has collected? The myth that you can phone up the Departmentof Motor Vehicles and get all your neighbor’s personal records, isexactly that. Back in l994, the federal government ended that personalsecurity breach with the Drivers’ Privacy Protection Act. “Interestingly,”says ACLU attorney Barber, “Virginia was the only state to contestthe bill because they were making so much money selling the liststo telemarketers.”Sitting on the state’s newly formed Privacy Study Commission, Barberseeks to limit both excessive governmental fact gathering and allunnecessary personal disclosure. She is the first to champion OPRAand the ability of libraries to provide uncensored information, butshe says this need not involve the sharing of personal data. “Itwould be so simple to keep all that personal information unobtainablein this computer age,” she states. “On all those tax, andlicense, and other information gathering forms, simply move all thepersonal data into that gray area labeled `for administrative useonly,’ then program the computer to respect that.”Such a program exists in most New Jersey libraries. For years thelibraries have frustrated random searches by police and FBI agentslooking for a list of all the books a given patron has read. “Inthe old days, we would have to personally fend off such unconstitutionalintrusions,” says South Brunswick Library Director Lorraine Jackson[also the wife of reporter Bart Jackson]. “Now we simply set ourcomputers to delete the loaning history of any book once it is returned.It is now impossible for the self-styled censors to ferret out allthe readers of Fanny Hill.”Barber insists that similar, low-cost programs would protect all stateresidents. “The ones who are really gong to hate our Privacy StudyCommittee and lobby against it,” she says, “are the data-miningboys — the techies who deliberately go through the government’sfiles and sell your data to the highest bidder.”OPRA’s Catch 22. Governor James McGreevy attempted toput into effect over 400 proposed exceptions to public disclosureshortly after OPRA became law. But the New Jersey Foundation for OpenGovernment prevented these restrictions. Nonetheless, says Tyrrell,the attempt exposes a basic weakness in the law. “Legally, executiveorder can disenfranchise this bill,” he says. In effect, any officialcould run to the governor, who might deny any disclosure to anyone.A ray of sunshine. Back in the mid-l970s the Open PublicMeeting Act was enacted. Known as the Sunshine Law, it stated thatevery government board and commission meeting be open to the public.Eighteen months ago, an addendum was issued. Now every public meetingmust set aside a minimum of 15 minutes for pubic comment. “Thisgives the people a further voice in their own governings,” statesCafferty.It is cliche, but very true, that the free flow of information isthe life blood of democracy. OPRA works to keep the tap fully in the”on” position.— Bart JacksonTop Of PageGetting E-Smart: Setting GoalsWe are a lot E-smarter now. Few — and far behind— are those business owners who merely dump the chore of websitebuilding into the laps of young tech wizards and wait for sales tobillow.Mastery of all that the Internet can do for a company, including somelesser known tricks, is the subject of “How to Make an E-businessPlan,” a seminar by Sarah Miller on Thursday, April 10,at 9 a.m. at the Mercer County Community College Conference Centeron the West Windsor campus. This seminar is part of a full-day conferenceon Starting and Expanding a Small Business in the Age of the InternetCost. Cost: $189. Call 609-586-9446.Miller, founder of Ewing-based Set Now Solutions, discusses the variouscyber elements that can be blended with other existing business mediaand methods.”In the old days, businesses would walk into our shop and throwmoney at us to get them up and webbing,” recalls Miller. “Theweb was a `me too — gotta have it’ thing.” These days, however,caution has set in. Clients come to Set Now Solutions seeking an investment.They enter with definite goals and want to walk away knowing exactlyhow much each procedure will net. Miller fully appreciates this approach.A New Jersey native, Miller attended the College of New Jersey, earninga B.A. in English. Hoping to set the world afire as a writer, shestarted, as many writers do, creating technical copy for several firms.While working to compose Bristol-Myers Squibb’s website, she learnedHTML, and first noticed how, as she puts it, “the web would levelthe playing field for all size businesses.” Marrying graphic productionartist Michael Miller, she pooled talents with him, and in l997 launchedSet Now Solutions, which helps firms, some with limited budgets, takeadvantage of cyber opportunities.Numerous elements can coalesce into any company’s E-business plan:intra-office sites, newsletters, client-vendor matching links, targetadvertising with follow up market surveys, and more. All of thesecan give a company’s bottom line a boost — eventually. A big questionfor many businesses is what do I need now versus what do I want tohave established three or five years down the road? Here is a guideto choosing what Internet strategy to implement when.Goal setting. Of prime importance, says Miller, is theinitial step of pondering and prioritizing exactly what functionsyou want performed. Do you seek foremost to expand a client roster,or to retain old clients? How urgently, and in what order, do youneed market surveys, new product positioning, support systems, andinternal cost savings? The idea is to focus on needs, not tools. “Businesspeopleare always hot to build,” Miller says. “We merely want themto begin by fixing a blueprint, before running to the store and droolingover table saws.”Search engine placement. It is vital to ensure that potentialclients can easily find your site. If your site doesn’t show up inthe top three items under a search engine’s heading, fewer than 10percent of those entering a search query will go to your site. Ifyou’re not on the top dozen, you’re hiding your expensive light ina linen closet. Maximizing access entails a two-prong approach. Today,28 percent of surveyed site seekers find firms by guess. They bypassthe search engine browser, and merely type in, for example, “SarahMiller” or “Set Now” and hope to click on that company’ssite.When choosing a web name, instead of being cute, go for the logical.Remember, the person with whom you shook hands will probably onlyremember your name or your firm’s name. Also, check to see if anotherorganization is using the web name you would like to trade under,or mix-ups can occur. For example, if you type in “mercerchamber,”you will be swiftly transported to a site in Wisconsin.Secondly, you want to get your name in that top three on all searchengine listings. “This takes a thorough analysis of the searchengine,” explains Miller, “and unlike the Yellow Pages, thealphabet has nothing to do with it.” A domain often gets placedhigh on the list due to the frequency of the search word listed onits home page. Zenith Plumbing may appear before Acme Plumbing becausethe term “drain unclogging” appears 18 times on its openingpage. Solving this problem requires that Acme go back and survey potentialcustomers to find exactly what key words they use to reach its site.Other placement factors include seniority. Five years is an eternityin Internet time, and those who get online first usually appear highup. Also, money talks. Some search engines accept payment for positioning.Netting new clients. Increasingly, the sites that scorethe most first-time and repeat hits are those offering a wealth ofupdated information. “Here’s reams of information, and, oh bythe way, we have a product which might help,” has proved itselfthe most attractive approach to site browsers. “An effective domaincan be set up for well under $15,000,” insists Miller. “Figureout how much profit a new client averages you, then figure your investmentand payback.”In addition to proffering information on the website, links can beestablished to online newsletters. This allows easier updating withinthe confines of the newsletter, and a more simple method by whichclients can delve more deeply into specific subjects.At the same time, the main website must be kept fresh, alive, andchanging. Certain things should stay fixed, such as the color schemes,which should be the same as those of your product logo and print brochures.But pictures, sidebars, and an array of short new items should keepchanging. Ideally you want to hear, “Yes, but have you seen theirwebsite today?”Retaining clients. Miller says she uses Macro Media’stech support services because it is available around the clock. Ifyour rate of customer attrition has topped 10 percent, perhaps itmight pay to hire a technical service representative who could, viainstant messaging from anywhere, provide 24-hour service. Better thanthe office phone service, which closes at 5 p.m., a laptop-totingtechie can be hired contractually, and can sit at home in his pajamaskeeping your customers satisfied. Yet again, it takes legwork fromyour sales force to nose out exactly what customers need, so thatyou can offer these solutions online.Cost saving. The Mercer County Chamber of Commerce recentlyinitiated a “Save A Tree Campaign” whereby members receiveits newsletter online. This saves not only the cost of regularly mailingthe packets to members, but also allows for instant program registration.The New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners has installeda system that stores large packages of information online. Membersare informed of additions via E-mail or through a postcard. Thesebrief and intriguing heads-up notifications often create curiosity,and entice association members or customers to log on to find outmore, and meanwhile, the organization has saved a bundle on printingand mailing.Targeting ads. All of us have been spammed by outfitsselling enhancement of body parts we never even owned. The rationalefor these indiscriminate E-mailings has been that — unlike broadcastand print media — cyberspace is not amenable to targeted advertising.To this Miller says “Bunk.” Permission advertising on theInternet has proved not only very cost effective, but also a positivemethod of reaching untapped markets. One effective plan is to issueinvitations for clients and potential clients to sign up for youronline — or print — newsletter. If you aren’t ready for yourown newsletter, Miller recommends sponsoring the distribution of newslettersbelonging to organizations to which your customers belong.Regional targeting can also save enormous amounts of response time.If your firm only operates within the tri-state area, get your searchengine to block all responses from outside areas.Not all of your E-business must go online at once. You can take agiant plunge or cautiously wade in one step at a time. Whichever way,profits exist for those who design, predict, and measure the returnon each stage of E-investment.— Bart JacksonTop Of PageJob Hunting DirectoriesHere’s how one person who works at the Carnegie Centerfound her last two jobs — one at Environ, one at Simstar. Shetook the U.S. 1 Business Directory, circled the companies with 70companies or more, and made cold calls. “A lot of companies don’twant to advertise their positions,” she says, “but when theysaw my resume, they were interested.”The 2003-’04 edition of the U.S. 1 Business Directory is scheduledto be distributed to each office location that receives this newspaperon Wednesday, April 16. It will be available at bookstores for $14.95.It includes more than 5,500 company listings, including contact names,fax numbers, number of employees, E-mail and URL addresses, and revenueswhere available.The U.S. 1 listings are excellent for companies and nonprofits, butif you are looking for a government position, you may want a morespecialized book. Here are some that we have perused:New Jersey Public Sector , PBM 890, 1308 Centennial Avenue,Piscataway 08854-4327, 800-663-1563; fax, 800-665-4995, www.public-sectors.com.It costs $295 plus $17 shipping and is available on CD-ROM. The 2002edition has 702 pages and includes state government (legislative andjudicial), county and municipal government, local school districtsand colleges, and the various authorities. It also has biographiesof Congressional delegates and some limited information on federaldepartments and agencies.An appendix has historical data plus articles on how to do businesswith the state and federal government, a list of chambers of commerce,hospitals, and population statistics. The strength of this directoryare the long lists of names and phone numbers, though some of themayors’ names we checked were outdated.Another government reference for jobseekers is the MunicipalReference Guide: New Jersey by Eatontown-based Towndata.com NetworkInc. It presents names of key officials, real estate values, incomeprofiles, school system budgets, demographic break-outs, housing data,library data, summaries of leading occupations and industries, averagework commute times, municipal population and expenditure trends andbreakdowns, and tons of other stuff for every municipality in thestate. The strength of this directory is that each municipality getsits own page.The 2003 edition of this guide is due in March. Call 800-242-5511or 732-643-1212, or visit www.towndata.comFitzgerald’s is the official manual of the New JerseyLegislature. It’s the short squat red book that has been used by officialdomsince 1872. Published by Skinder-Strauss it has everything from electionreturns to the composition of every state board, plus all the phonenumbers you need. The compact book is almost 11,000 pages and willbe published in May. The late-in-the-year publication date means thatit has the current staff changes. Cost: $50 plus $5.50 for shippingand $140 as a CD-ROM. Call 609-396-2669, extension 2, Box 2150 Trenton0860Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
