BRIGHT SPOTS - Did you know that Zanesville was founded by American Revolutionary War patriot Colonel Ebenezer Zane, a great-grandfather of prolific author Zane Grey?Learn about this and other bright spots in our community by visiting our This is Zanesville & Muskingum County, Ohio webpage, and check back frequently to see new content.

GITOMER ON SALES - Our partnership with sales expert Jeffery Gitomer continues with this week's column titled The Old Way or the New Way. "Last week (in part one) I discussed the worthlessness of the old way of selling - everything from cold calling and finding the pain to overcoming objections and closing the sale. I referred to "the old ways" as manipulative, insincere, and aggressive"....read more.

CASH FLOW - Cash is the life blood of your business, and keeping it flowing is essential. Here are 10 Ways to Improve Cash Flow When Cash is Tight from author and consultant Bruce Johnson.

LAWS OF SELLING - Jeffrey Gitomer's "21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling" is an online course you can use to improve your sales knowledge and abilities. Sales training like this is available to Chamber members at a reduced rate through www.gitomervt.com (which stands for Gitomer Virtual Training), the online education site for Jeffrey Gitomer, the popular sales author and speaker. The activation fee is waived for Chamber members when you take a course - just use the coupon code zmchamber when you register.

WEB MARKETING - From www.marketingprofs.com: "Ask.com, Bing, and Yahoo drive far fewer consumers to publishers' websites than Google, but visitors who arrive via those three search engines tend to stay longer during visits and view more pages, and they are less likely to exit after reading only one page, according to a recent analysis by Shareaholic".....Keep Reading.

SHALE INDUSTRY - Through a partnership with Shale Mart, a print and online magazine aimed at the oil and gas industry in Ohio, Chamber members can receive a discount on advertising and reach 80,000 prospective buyers. The ad deadline for the July issue is Monday, July 7. Email today for more information or to reserve your space: sales@shalemart.com .  

COST CUTTING - The Chamber manages the Ohio BWC sponsored Safety Council program, and July is THE month to save money through this program.  Companies that participate can save up to 4% on their workers comp premiums. The new year starts July 1 and you have to enroll by July 31 to be eligible for the rebate. For more information visit www.zmsafety.com.

COMPANY PHYSICAL - It's time for an annual check-up by an independent "business doctor". A comprehensive Business Assessment is available via MCBI (www.mcbi.info) for just $99.  This is a special price for chamber members; the price is normally $135.  The assessment is a confidential and unbiased review of your business strategies and practices that results in a set of recommendations you can implement. For more information contact Wendy Edgar at MCBI at 740-453-3649 or wedgar@mcbi.info.

BUSINESS PLANS - MCBI is hosting a 10 week long business planning workshop series. The workshops will be held every Tuesday at 5:30 pm starting July 8 and ending September 9. For more information or to register call 74-453-3649 or email jwhite@mcbi.info .

SUBMIT YOUR EVENTS - If you have an event coming up you should enter it in our online events and meetings calendar at zmchamber.com as a way to promote it. It's free to members and it's simple to use. There is a "submit new event" link on the right side of the calendar page. Click it and fill in your details. You can also find the calendar link at any time on the homepage of zmchamber.com. Events entered in our online calendar also automatically posted to the Chamber's Facebook page.

 THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS