Quick testimonial: Gil offered his services valued at $500 as a donation. That client eventually turned into a $3,000 paying client. ‘Nuff said.

Thank you so much to all of those who took my auction forms this morning! I only had 16 seconds this morning to explain this auction, so here’s just a bit more about it – including a letter below that explains it all in more detail and a donor form (download PDF) that you can fill out and fax in (Rooftop Fax: (415) 695-5429).

I think this would be a great way to advertise your business/services to a group of 600+ families who are looking to spend money because they know it’s going to a good cause (our school). Remember, you don’t send money, just offer a product or service. It’s also fully tax deductible.

What To Do

So here’s how you can help-and help your business, I’m going to use Mischa as an example:

1. Fill out the attached form with the service you’re offering. [E.g. "Family photo session. $500"] Fill out my son’s name (Liam Charbonneau) as the student and mine as the solicitor (Bradley Charbonneau).
2. Fax it in: Rooftop Fax: (415) 695-5429
3. Mischa’s service, because it’s value is $500+, will receive a quarter page ad in the Rooftop Auction Catalog. Rooftop families and friends will all receive this catalog. It’ll also be listed on their auction website: http://www.rooftopauction.org.
4. At the auction, families will bid on Mischa’s family photo session. Maybe it goes for $300, maybe it goes for $900, who knows. They’ll then have a voucher that they can use for the session with Mischa. There’s a chance no one buys the service or that someone buys it and never redeems it. That’s OK, Rooftop will still get the money spent.
5. Mischa provides the service, hopefully has a new client, and when everyone at Rooftop hears of what a great photo session he did, he might have more clients.
6. Big thank you from Liam, my 6-year old !

If You’d Like to Come to the Event

Finally, it’s a really fun event if you’d like to come. Great products and services available (as well as art) and again, all for a good cause! Last year (for a friend’s school), I bought massage gift certificates for my wife, car wash gift certificates (guess that was for me … ), and got outbid on a two-night stay in some hotel in Napa.

Rooftop Auction
The Hall of Flowers
March 20, 2010
5:00-10:00pm
Lincoln Way & 9th Ave
San Francisco, CA 94122
Map: http://tinyurl.com/7schzm

——————–

Here’s the letter from Rooftop:

Dear Community Friend,

I would like to introduce myself as the parent of a child who attends Rooftop School in San Francisco. Rooftop is a K-8 public, alternative elementary/middle school located in Twin Peaks, in the heart of San Francisco. Each year Rooftop’s Parent and Teacher Association (PTA) hosts an Auction to raise money to fund programs that make our school special, such as the library, garden, science, sensory motor and art.

I am writing to you on behalf of all the Rooftop children to help us with our biggest annual fundraiser by donating a gift certificate and/or merchandise that will be sold to the highest bidder during the Auction on March 20, 2010.

These are difficult times for all schools, and with huge state budget cuts our children’s educational system needs even more help.  Your support at this time is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider making a donation from your establishment. Attached you will find the Donor Form; please complete the form (keep a copy for you records) and return with your donation. If you prefer, we can make a gift certificate for you (just indicate this on the form).

If you would like more information about Rooftop School and the wonderfully positive and creative learning environment we provide, please visit our website at www.rooftopk8.org.

The Staff and Children of Rooftop thank you in advance for your support!

Don’t review just one business – Users who only review a single business are often removed and their testimonials count for nothing. The more complete your profile is and the more businesses you review, the better you prove that you’re a good user, and the more valuable your review will be judged to be by Yelp moderators.

Don’t review someone who’s reviewed you – (even if your personal and business accounts are separate). This is a surefire way to attract the attention of Yelp moderators. Businesses who are giving each other good reviews are often conspiring and Yelp knows this. Whenever I’ve seen this done, one review or sometimes both end up removed.

Write short reviews – Long-winded, well-written reviews aren’t what yelp is about. People usually dash off their testimonials in between bites of a sandwich or on the bus with their iPhone. They frequently include slang and spelling errors. This is normal and totally OK. In fact, writing something too professional will stand out and could make people think you’re a shill. Resist the temptation to write a beautiful review. Your review doesn’t need a thesis, just say something nice.

Don’t “Shill” – It’s no secret that businesses review themselves and try to get all their friends and family to do the same thing. That’s why I always remind people that no matter how much they love the person or business they’re reviewing, try not to sound like you’re their mother or best friend.  Basically, don’t over-endorse someone; it discredits your review and potentially the business. Reviews like that will set off alarm bells in the heads of Yelp moderators and before you know it your fanatical review has been removed.

How to Yelp

1. Open your browser and go to http://www.yelp.com
2. Click Sign Up. The button is on the top right, it looks like this:
   
3. Fill out your account details and then click the red sign up button.
4. If you typed everything correctly, a screen should appear with the text: Are your friends already on Yelp? You probably don’t want to do this, just click “skip this step” on the bottom left.
5. Now yelp will send you a confirmation email. So go to your email and open the new email from Yelp. If it’s not there yet, go get a snack and come back, it should come in 1-10 minutes. Open the confirmation email and confirm your email address by clicking the link in the email. The confirmation email should take you back to yelp.com.
6. Now that you’re signed up and logged in, let’s search for a member’s business. On yelp.com you should see a big search bar like this, make sure the city is right, and search for the member’s personal or business name.
7. Now you should see a list of search results. If the member is not in the list, they may not have a Yelp.com entry yet, but try searching for them again or emailing them to see if they have one. If they don’t, anyone can create one for them, but that’s a little more complicated so I won’t go into it. Your search results should look like this:



8. Click on the correct entry and it should bring you to their review page.



9.   Click on Write a Review. A review page should come up where you can rate the business and write a few sentences about your experience with them. Remember to observe the guidelines in the beginning of this document!

Got Questions? Send me an email or check out our website:
Chromaplex Designs San Francisco

• Find out the best ways to market your business
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Thursday, February 26, 2009
9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
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550 Montgomery Street @ Clay, San Francisco
Hosted by: Ron Micuch, VP/Branch Manager – First Bank/San Francisco
SPECiAl GuEST SPEAkERS:

Gil Zeimer
Creative Director/Copywriter
Zeimer’s Advertising Shoppe

Sharon Schanzer
Creative Director
Red letter Day Graphic Design

RSVP by Friday, February 20, 2009
Ron Micuch – (TEl): 415 273-2020 or (FAX): 415 781-0540
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How to Market & Promote Your Business During A Recession