August 2008 - Too Busy Livin' and Lookin' Forward

As far as I’m concerned, July and December are the busiest months of the year. The reasons December is so busy are obvious. July? Well, it just seems that one minute that calendar page is blank, and the next time you look, it’s covered in inked appointments, events and special moments.

For example, July starts with the holiday weekend. Following, I had a four-day retreat, my side of the family had a reunion, and my CEOS club had their annual trip. I had two long business appointments, in far-away metro areas, several columns to edit and lay-out for this issue you are reading, and we’re already working on special features for our next issue, the one-year anniversary issue.

Then of course, there’s the hay, the garden, the yard, the hay and the house.

I share this will all of you because at one point, I had to make a choice. Do I take some time for fun, friends and family? Or, do I sit down at the computer and write my own columns?

They say, when you own a business, you need to be dedicated, diligent, and steadfast. My friends and family will tell you I am all of those things. But if I didn’t take time in my life for relationships with friends and family, I wouldn’t have any one around to even tell you that.

This month’s issue of Two-Lane Livin’ is four pages shorter than usual. In other words, I didn’t do my homework. Instead of writing many of the pieces I normally contribute, I went on a retreat, to a family reunion, joined the Rush Run CEOS on their trip to Marietta, helped put up hay and weeded the garden.

What’s the point of being your own boss if you can’t give yourself a little time off?

I feel like a kid, explaining to the teacher why I don’t have my assignment done, and promising that I’ll do better next time. But, since I’ve had so much fun this month, feeling like a kid doesn’t feel so bad.

This "weight loss" of Two-Lane Livin’ isn’t permanent. In fact, the September Anniversary issue and the October issue both look already to be bigger and better than ever before.

In the September issue, we will release the results of our Reader Survey, and will introduce some new columnists. We have a new travel column, "WV Wanderer" launching in September, a new outdoor column, as well as other features requested by survey responses. We have a special section planned for the October issue.

In fact, in the publishing business, it’s already time to start thinking about Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year. While many of us cringe at the thought, it is important for small business owners to begin planning their Christmas promotions.

Advertising and marketing is a tricky game. You have to plant a seed in the potential customer’s mind so that it grows and blooms the very instant they are ready to use your product or service. Just as we plant seeds for harvest in the fall, in marketing, we also have to plant seeds early for a healthy Christmas harvest.

We all know Christmas will be tight this year. We don’t need to wait until January for politicians or economists to tell us that Christmas spending for 2008 was down. This Christmas, the competition for holiday dollars will be immense.

Our survey results show that folks are already on the lookout for deals, coupons and incentives. As the holiday season grows nearer, they will be watching for even more.

If you are thinking about a Christmas promotion, we can help you with ideas, design, and implementation of your Christmas campaign. Our sales reps can arrange space for you in Two-Lane Livin’, The Calhoun Chronicle, The Parkersburg Register, The Marietta Register -- and online at WVYourWay.com. We’re a one-stop place for getting your marketing message out to potential customers bother here in Central West Virginia and other areas.

Everyone is talking about cutting back on expenses. Of course, it’s on our mind too. While the obvious decision is to cut back on the expense of gasoline (which we’ve been working on, and I believe we have found every shortcut in 14 counties), the choice we’ve made is to cut back on complimentary shipments and find sponsors for complimentary deliveries.

I can hear some of you wondering, "If the magazine is free, aren’t all shipments and deliveries complimentary?" Well, no.

Throughout this past year, we have been mailing complimentary copies to elected officials and government offices. In fact, at one point, we were mailing to five different offices in the capital complex alone. That’s what we consider to be "complimentary shipments."

In the year since we launched however, postage rates have increased - twice. So, we’re cutting back to one office at the capital, the office of our delegate, Brent Boggs. We felt our elected officials would understand the situation with the current economy and all, and thus, they wouldn’t mind walking a little way to find their copy.

Complimentary deliveries are a different story. See, we also deliver to volunteer fire departments, emergency service centers, hospital waiting rooms, senior citizen’s centers and long term care centers. We feel this is a service to firemen who are protecting our homes and businesses, to EMS providers who are available for the next emergency, to those who have loved ones who are ill, for our seniors and for the elderly who wait, often far too long, for their next visitor or letter.

These aren’t exactly newsrack locations, but we are not giving up these services. In fact, these are our favorite places to deliver to because they enjoy Two-Lane Livin’ so much. However, we are looking for eleven community minded organizations and businesses to help sponsor some of these "complimentary deliveries and services" and help us continue providing these deliveries.

This is a wonderful opportunity to honor those who serve us, raised us, or suffer with health issues among us by providing them with their issues of Two-Lane Livin’.

We also have sponsorships available for our contests.

We don’t mind cutting back with government offices and elected officials -- but we refuse to deny our emergency responders, families in need and seniors something that helps them enjoyably pass the time. I know some of you out there feel exactly the same way.