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PHOENIX (May 2010) – Laura’s Gourmet Granola, a chef-created, artisan-crafted granola company, has expanded its presence in the Southwest, adding a resort and two gourmet retailers to its lineup.

Produced by Chef Laura Slama, the artisanal granola will now be sold at Oakville Grocery and Queen Creek Olive Mill in Arizona, and served in various dishes on the T. Cook’s menu created by nationally known Chef Lee Hillson. These purveyors join Fox Restaurants, AJs Fine Foods, Central Markets and Whole Foods, among others.
The retailers will carry all four flavors, which currently include Vanilla Almond Crunch, Pumpkin Pecan Crunch, Honey Roasted Peanut Crunch and AppleLicious Crunch. Queen Creek Olive Mill blended the Vanilla Almond Crunch in their “Corantina,” known as the healthy Elvis sandwich, and T. Cook’s has found various ways to include it on the menu.

“Local supporting local is key to the success of artisan producers right now,” Chef Laura said. “The support I’ve received from local gourmet retailers and chefs is incredibly encouraging. It also amazes me what these extraordinary chefs are creating with the granola.”

“We’ve incorporated it into our cookies, salads, breakfast recipes and even soup garnishes,” said Executive Chef Lee Hillson, T. Cook’s at the Royal Palms Resort and Spa. “Since Laura’s granola has such a natural and fresh taste, it lends itself to diverse recipe combinations.”

“When choosing products for our store or menu, it has to be local, and it has to be fantastic,” said Perry Rea, master blender and owner of Queen Creek Olive Mill. “Laura’s granola hits the mark on both accounts. The fact that she also uses our oil (as a chef) continues the farm to table theme and giving back to other local producers.”

Since Chef Laura began selling the granola in 2004, distribution has expanded to specialty retail stores throughout the Southwestern United States and shipment has increased to various markets across the nation. Distribution continues to grow each year and Chef Laura’s kitchen is in constant production, so much so she enlisted more help to manage the exponential growth and continue brand expansion throughout the country.

About Laura’s Gourmet Granola
Laura’s Gourmet Granola, an artisan granola company out of the West, was launched in 2004 by celebrity Chef Laura Slama. The company originally began selling Vanilla Almond Crunch to local retail stores, but soon added three additional flavors to accommodate demands. Today the granola is distributed to specialty retail stores throughout the Southwestern U.S and shipped nationwide. Chef Laura is a high-honors graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Scottsdale Campus, is the owner and Executive Chef of Celebrated Cuisine, providing cuisine and hospitality to corporate and private events, and currently serves as the Le Cordon Blue Scottsdale Chapter Alumni President and an Alumni Executive Leadership Board President. For more information, visit www.laurasgourmet.com.

These days we’ve all been forced to do more with less, and the mass media is one industry where this trend is in full effect. This has, however, paved the way for finding new ways to operate more efficiently using the power of the social web.

What are you doing to make it easy for the media to find you?

When you think about the way in which you get your news, connect with your customers, or do research, how much of it takes place online and in social networks? Many of those in the news business are turning to the social web for the same purposes – to uncover new stories, conduct research, find sources and connect with their audience. With the changing newsroom and social media shaping how journalists find news and sources, it’s increasingly important for you or your brand to become searchable and make it as easy as possible to be found online.

Content-rich online newsrooms, blogs, social networking connections, and social and multi-media press releases are a few ways to get your information out there. It’s important to determine which best fits your company and the news you are releasing. A multi-media press release could be overkill in one instance, and incredibly useful in another.

Adam Kress of the Business Journal has embraced various forms of media – print, online, social networks and even radio to share his reports and cast a wider net. He also uses many online platforms to find information and sources, but says it varies based upon the news or the article he is writing.

“I’m looking at it as more of a sounding board – as an idea-generator as opposed to copying what may already be out there,” Kress said. “Depending on what you may be writing or reporting on, if it’s on a certain industry or certain topic, you can use Facebook and Twitter to try to connect with other people out there who may be involved in that industry.”

He said these networks enable him to reach out to potential sources he might not otherwise have access to without a major time investment. “It takes a very small amount of time to do, but it can pay off in that you may be connected with people very quickly.”

When it comes to online newsrooms, Kress said the more information the better. Fill your company site with useful and relevant news, press releases, and most importantly, contact information. For multi-media releases, however, tons of information could be overload if it’s not relevant.

“If you’re going to do those multi-media releases just make sure what you are putting in there is relevant,” he said.

Bottom line, do your homework. You have to know who you are pitching and how they like to receive information.

Hear the entire interview with Adam Kress below.

Resources:

• PitchEngine
• “Essence of Online Newsrooms” by Ryan Zuk
• “How to Connect with Mass Media Using Social Media”

Question of the week:
What online tools are you using to connect with traditional media?

For more tips and tools check out JetPack Radio.

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Are you Googley? No matter what area of business you are in, being Googley can help differentiate you from your competitors, at least according to “What Would Google Do?” by Jeff Jarvis.

In the book, Jarvis examines how Google operates and its core values: creation, openness, connections, uniqueness, collaboration, invention and keeping it simple. In previous podcasts I talked about Googlefying your business – that series was more focused on utilizing the many platforms Google has created to help you operate more effectively and efficiently in many ways. But by becoming what Jarvis called “Googley” a company is in essence taking the core values that Google has employed to better serve their clients. Whether or not you like Google (good reads: “Google Whacked” and “When Google Owns You”) some of the core values Jarvis outlines in his book should be fundamental in any business.

Fundamental values:

• Listen and monitor – What are customers saying about you and your competition? Where are they saying it?
• Collaborate and link – What do you do best? Focus on that and refine it. Make quality the one thing you do then collaborate and link with others who have different specializations. Linking to other bloggers helps you get found and increases your Google (or Bing) juice.
• Join and distribute – Your audience will likely not come to you, so go to them. Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, YouTube…if this is where they spend their time, it’s also where you need to spend yours. Engage, interact and find out what they want. Think about how you can utilize these platforms, like Foursquare, in a different way beyond a special deal for the “mayor.” If you are a restaurant owner or chef, is there room for collaboration with other restaurants to develop a Foursquare-specific deal?
• Innovate – As Jarvis points out in his book, Google employs a 20 percent rule in which technical employees are encouraged to use 20 percent of their time innovating and working on new ideas, products and businesses. It has spawned many of the new ideas and features that come out of Google. Jarvis recommends spending time each week researching, learning, experimenting and inventing.

Get out there and join your audience, the conversation could be taking place without you. Create, and make it easy for your customers to share you or your product with their friends online. Remember, contributing, creating and linking will make you more searchable. Lastly, innovate! It will likely be one of the most liberating things you do in business.

Resources:
1. “Five steps to a Googlier you”
2. “What Would Google Do?”

Question of the week:
Do you implement the 20 percent rule? If so, has it spawned any great ideas that you’ve tested?

For more tips and tools check out JetPack Radio.

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How can you effectively build relationships with members of the media and increase the chances of them telling your story? Get social.

Whether you work in the media or public relations industry, own a business, or create some amazing gizmo, you should be using social networks to connect with storytellers – bloggers, journalists, broadcast and radio reporters and producers. You never know when you might be able to serve as a source for them or better yet, have your story told.

By now chances are a majority of people in the media have Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. They are using these mediums not only to promote their work, but also to connect and search for sources or story ideas. Being on the receiving end of their posts will help you network with some powerful voices and be in the know if they are looking for sources for their story or news report.

The social media platform has done a lot to tear down many of the barriers and bridge the gap between media producers and the community. So how do you connect? Join the conversation and start interacting, but remember many of the same rules apply here:

• Don’t spam or bombard them with irrelevant messages.
• If they ask for a source or topic for a story, be sure you truly fit the bill. If you pitch off-topic you run the risk of never getting one of your responses read by them again.
• Self-edit. While speed and brevity are the nature of social media, be sure you are sending accurate information. You want them to think of you as a credible source.
• Pay attention to their posts. See what they typically write about or report on. This will give a tremendous amount of insight on what types of story ideas they might be receptive to.
• Don’t always just promote yourself. If you have a connection to a source they are in need of, but it won’t necessarily promote you or your company, still let them know. Or if you come across a compelling story that doesn’t involve you, but they would be interested, share it with them. They’ll remember you for it and it’s just good karma.
• Don’t get discouraged if they don’t respond. Keep in mind they likely have at least ten times the number of followers as the average user and likely receive just as many messages. It would be near impossible to keep up with them all. Be diligent. Be relevant. And don’t give up. More often than not it will pay off…trust me.

How do you find these sources? Search the various networks and also check out the below links for a few lists. Once you find them, search their profiles. Who are they following and talking to? You may want to do the same…if it’s relevant to you.

• We Heard You: 10 More Media Tweeters to Follow
• Twitter: 25 Media Insiders to Follow Right Now

Question of the week:
How do you use social media to connect with various media outlets? Any surprising moments? Share a comment.

For more tips and tools check out JetPack Radio.

Enclosures: MP3, M4V

What makes a business remarkable? What drives repeat business?

A recent purchase got me thinking about this again. The item I wanted wasn’t available in stores any longer, so the company had it shipped to me free of charge. I was completely blown away by the entire purchasing process. It was incredibly easy – and rightly so – what company wouldn’t want to make it as easy as possible to take your money? It arrived before the estimated date and the attention to detail in the presentation actually shocked me. They even followed up with a thank you email the day after I received it.

How does a company this large and storied maintain this level of quality and attention to detail? Often with growth these two characteristics fall to the wayside. Aside from a system of policies and procedures there must be something deeper at play here; something at the core of the company.

What is the cornerstone of great business operation? Is there just one? I threw the question out on Facebook and Twitter and got a mix of responses:

Twitter:
@PoshRestaurant – Ingenuity
@SedonaPies – Relationships
@ZackBarna – Honesty. Brutal if necessary.
@jamesarcher - Awesomosity

Facebook:
Stephanie Conner – Good, high-quality work/products
Katie Bitowf – Good ethics.

While different qualities resonate with different people – and timing, cost and type of product also come into play – most successful, sustainable companies have a strong set of values at their core. Perhaps it’s these core values that your customers know you will deliver on consistently that keeps them coming back.

In a recent Marketing Over Coffee podcast, author of “Start with Why,” Simon Sinek, spoke about “The Golden Circle” – why, what and how. According to Sinek, too many businesses focus solely on the what and how, but it’s the why that sets great companies apart. Why you do what you do in your company. People don’t by what you do, they buy why you do it. He said inspired companies, like Apple, focus on the why.

Think about your buying patterns? Why do you do business with a particular company? Then translate this to your customers. Do some mining and find out why your customers do business with you. Their responses may surprise you and may spark some new marketing ideas. At the very least, this exercise will show you care about your customer’s input.

Question of the week:
What makes you repeatedly do business with a company? If you own a business, what value do you offer customers that keeps them coming back?

For more tips and tools check out JetPack Radio.

Enclosures:

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