After the article about NashobaValley.com came out in the Free Press last week, the number one question I got from people was…

“Why isn’t Chuck smiling?”

The answer - I had to get some kind of photo in to the paper in a very short amount of time. I got the call from the reporter on Tuesday night, during the week in Boston where I was at the trade show. I needed to use a picture I already had on my computer, and that was the one I chose.

Big mistake, I guess. I got more people asking me if I was having a bad day, or if my dog had died, than I would have liked. I guess most people who know me aren’t used to me having some kind of stupid grin on my face.

So, just to prove that I can smile, I’m going to have my wife take a picture of me smiling over the next couple of days. I’ll post it to the site somewhere, and let you know where it is. But rest assured, I do like to smile, and even though I have a face for radio, I’ll prove it.
On to some more interesting stuff…

Tell A Friend Race Contest

First off, on the Tell A Friend Race Contest, noone made it to the 15 referrals. But, there were two people who had 7 friends sign up. So, I’m going to give a 2 GB iPod Nano to…

• Melissa Fetterhoff

and

• Jennifer Koulopoulos

I’ve just ordered the iPods, and they will be in some time this upcoming week. I’ll get them to Melissa and Jennifer as soon as possible.

Clearing Up Some Confusion

As is usual when you’re winging it, there tends to be some confusion around some of the NashobaValley.com features. So, in an attempt to make everyone understand a little better, I’m going to answer some of the questions I’ve received over the past few days.

Question: Does my charitable organization have to pay to list its events?

Answer: No! If you are a charitable (church, non-profit, etc.) or community (youth sports, senior activities, town government, etc.) organization, you can request to have Community Leader status. This will let you post as many of your organization’s events as you like. All you need to do is be registered at the site, and then click on the “My Events” link and then click on “List Your Event.”

Once on this page, there will be a link that says “click here to complete the request form. On this page you’ll be able to submit your Community Leader request.

Question: Why can’t I put a web site link or email address for my business in my directory listing?

Answer: Basic listings have only a business’ name, address, and phone number. To get a link to your web site, you would need to purchase an upgraded listing. The enhanced business listings, and the other advertising opportunities - banner ads, sponsored listings, coupons - are the only way that I make any money from NashobaValley.com. I would like to do the site for nothing, but the cost of development, hosting, and the time it takes means that I have to charge something.

But, the advertising is very inexpensive. Enhanced business listings start at only $19 a month, which is far less than any other form of advertising that you could get. Plus, the community is very targetted for local businesses - it’s the residents of the 11 towns in the Nashoba Valley. So, you not only get inexpensive rates, but an audience that is matched to your customers.

Question: How do I enter the weekly contest?

Answer: First, you need to be registered on the site. Next, once you’ve completed the registration process, you simply need to log in to your account and go to the “Win Prizes!” page. Once there, simply hit the “Enter To Win” link and enter your tip.

As far as upping your chances to win the contest, here’s a few suggestions. First, vote for your own entry. This is acceptable, and in fact encouraged. Next, have all your friends go to the site and vote for your entry. Finally, you can vote for any entry once every 24 hours, so you can go back and vote for your entry once a day (and so can your friends). The more votes, the higher your score. The higher your score, the better the chance you have of winning. And, it’s all perfectly acceptable.

Question: Do you want any suggestions for improving NashobaValley.com?

Answer: Absolutely! If you have a suggestion on how I can make NashobaValley.com better, please just click on the “Contact Us” link at the bottom of the page or under the “About Us” link. I welcome any constructive comments on how I can make this more useful to you and the rest of the Nashoba Valley community.

Nashoba Valley Screensaver - Help Me Please!

I have a crazy idea about making a Nashoba Valley screensaver. Basically, it will be photos of the area with some music (if I can find some appropriate public domain or other non-copyrighted music for free or little money). But, I need your help…

If you have some ideas of what I should go out and photograph for the screensaver, please send your suggestions to chuck@nashobavalley.com. Or, if you have a photo you would like included in the screensaver, and you own the copyrights (i.e. you took the picture), please let me know and I’ll consider adding it.

It will probably take me a few weeks to take the pictures and figure out how to make the screensaver, but I think it will be a nice little screensaver for local residents. So let me know your thoughts.
That’s it for now. Sorry for the length of this posting, but I needed to spend a lot of time clearing up some things that I didn’t explain very well at the beginning.

Have a great weekend, and if you’re at the Rustlers Pop Warner football game tomorrow at North Middlesex High School (9:00 am start time), look for me. I’ll be the guy with the short haircut and a smile!

Regards,

Chuck

Technorati Tags: Nashoba Valley, Ashby, MA, Ayer, MA, Devens, MA, Dunstable, MA, Groton, MA, Harvard, MA, Littleton, MA, Pepperell, MA, Shirley, MA, Townsend, MA, Westford, MA

A lot of you have asked me a few questions, and I wanted to answer a few of the more popular questions in this posting. So, without any further ado…

Question 1: Where the heck have you been?

Answer 1: I’ve been travelling on business. I’m not doing NashobaValley.com full time. I actually have a couple of other jobs. I have a number of Internet businesses, and I also do 20 hours a week at a high tech firm in Chelmsford. Last week, I was at a high tech trade show in Boston from Monday to Thursday. Friday morning, I flew out to San Diego for an Internet marketing event. I’m learning how to put video and audio on the web, so I’ll be incorporating that into NashobaValley.com (of course, I’ll have to figure out what to put on the site). I get back on Thursday, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the kids and my wife.

Question 2: Where do you live?

Answer 2: I live in Pepperell, and have been here for a number of years (with a few years in Shirley and a side trip to Franklin for about three years). I graduated from North Middlesex way back when, and also got my degree from Fitchburg State. I’ve worked in Westford and Littleton, with some odd jobs in Groton. I also used to play in the old Times Free Press softball league and played in Ayer, Ashby, Harvard, Pepperell, Shirley, and Townsend. I’m a Nashoba Valley guy through and through.

Question 3: Why did you create NashobaValley.com?

Answer 3: Actually, I created NashobaValley.com out of frustration. I was looking for someone to fix the door on our microwave oven, and being a high tech and Internet guy, looked in Google.com. The search results were disappointing at best. It got me thinking about what an ideal portal would be for residents in my area. I thought encompassing the entire Nashoba Valley was a good idea, so I wrote down all my ideas and had some of my online buddies create the web site (my buddies are programmers in Romania). I think the site is pretty close to my vision, and I hope to make it the place for information about the Nashoba Valley.

Question 4: What is going to be on the site?

Answer 4: I did a little video tour of the site, but basically, what I want to have on the site is local businesses (including coupons for these businesses), community events, local news and articles, and links to great sites of interest. In addition, I’ll be having a weekly contest for registered users.

Question 5: I have a local business. How can I get listed on the site?

Answer 5: Chances are, your business could already be listed on the site. There are almost 4,000 businesses already listed at NashobaValley.com. These are basic listings, and they are free for any business in the 11 towns of the Nashoba Valley. These contain the business name, address, and phone number, and ONLY businesses in these 11 towns can be in the business directory.

In addition, there area a number of options available to increase visibility for your business. Enhanced listings are displayed above the basic listings, and are available on a first come, first listed basis. Sponsored listings are above the enhanced listings, and are limited to only 3 per category.

Businesses can also offer savings coupons and purchase banner ads.

Question 6: I work for a community organization. Can we get a listing?

Answer 6: Yes, there is a directory of useful links on the site, and any community organization can be listed for free. In addition, you can apply for Community Leader status, and when approved, you will be able to post all of your events in the community calendar for free.

Question 7: You mentioned a weekly contest. What kind of contest (and what kind of prizes)?

Answer 7: The theme of the contest will change weekly, but the basics are that registered users will post their entry (usually some kind of tip), and then community members will rate the entries. The top-rated entry of the week wins the prize. So, instead of me choosing te prize winner, everyone in the community will choose.

As far as the prizes, I’ll have to figure that out as I go along. But, I will do my best to make the prizes valuable and desired.

Question 8: Why is it taking so long to launch?

Answer 8: NashobaValley.com is a software project, and unfortunately, I’ve never seen a software product delivered on time (or even close to on time). I’m still testing the site, and also writing some of the content. I finally set the September 25th launch date to make sure I finally get the site launched.

Question 9: When can I sign up?

Answer 9: I’ll most likely be opening up the registration for the pre-launch list this Friday, and for everyone else on the 25th.

These were the most popular questions, but feel free to post in the comments if you have any additional questions or comments.

Thanks,
Chuck

I’ve just finished the video tour for the local business section. I’m dead tired, so I hope it makes sense. I have to get up early to head into Boston for a trade show, so I won’t be able to get to this tomorrow, and most likely won’t be able to post anything (unless it’s really late). So enjoy today’s video tour!

Thanks,
Chuck

A bunch of you requested that I put a link to the Pre-Launch Introductory Tour on the blog, so here it is. Just click on the screen capture image below, and the video page will open in a new browser window.

Chuck

Here’s a quick update on the Tell A Friend Race Contest:

Melissa Fetterhoff = 6 referrals

Jennifer Koulopoulos = 5 referrals

Meagan Ackroyd = 5 referrals

Lisa Manley = 3 referrals

Nancy Prevost = 2 referrals

Toby Tyler = 2 referrals

Beth Bedard = 2 referrals

Kathy Mercurio = 2 referrals

Things are really starting to heat up, with a lot more people getting involved. But, noone has reached the Race goal of 15 referrals, so everyone is in the running!

Make sure you enter today at:

www.NashobaValley.com/tellafriend.html

Good luck!

Chuck

I just got back from a full day of football. First, I saw my son’s Pop Warner football team (the North Middlesex Rustlers) play in Gardner this morning. Then, the whole family went to the Patriots game in Foxboro, where we watched the Pats squeak out a close one over the Buffalo Bills. It was a great time.

I just checked the survey results, and I was surprised. Here’s the latest on what you had to say about what you are looking for in a community portal:

As you can see, the most popular response to the survey, by far, is a Community Events Calendar. It just so happens that a Community Calendar is featured prominently on the NashobaValley.com portal. And, if you are involved in a community or charitable organization, you can apply for Community Leader status and post all of your events to NashobaValley.com for free.

I plan on making NashobaValley.com THE place to find out what is happening in the Nashoba Valley region.

I’m working on a video tour of the site. It’s almost done, and as soon as I get the final technical glitches ironed out, I’ll post the tour here at the blog. They aren’t going to be slick, professional web videos. Nope, just me talking while showing you what is on the site.

Watch this page for more info, and an update on the Tell A Friend Race Contest tomorrow.

Thanks,
Chuck

P.S. I’ll be sending out some information for the businesses of the Nashoba Valley very soon. If you are a business owner, make sure you’re registered for the Pre-Launch Notification List to get this news first!

I’m looking for your opinion on what you think is most important in a community portal serving the Nashoba Valley. I’ve created a little anonymous survey with some multiple choice questions, as well as a comment field. Use the comment field to send me your ideas.

The survey is located at:

www.NashobaValley.com/tellchuck.html

When you fill in the form and submit, you will be redirected back to this blog.

UPDATE: Tell A Friend Race Contest

The contest is starting to heat up a bit, but the contestants are still not close to winning the iPod Nano. Here’s the latest results:

Meslissa Fetterhoff = 5 referrals

Jennifer Koulopoulos = 4 referrals

Nancy Prevost = 2 referrals

Toby Tyler = 2 referrals

Lets make sure all your friends are signed up for the Pre-Launch Notification List. I’m going to have a very special Pre-Launch Prize Package, and I’ll let all of you on the list pick the prize I’m giving away! I’ll send out a survey in a few days.

Thanks,
Chuck

Here’s a quick update on the Tell A Friend Race Contest. Right now, there are a number of people who have confirmed referrals. The leaders are:

Melissa Fetterhoff = 4 referrals

Jennifer Koulopoulos = 3 referrals

Nancy Prevost = 2 referrals

Toby Tyler = 2 referrals

Melissa is almost 1/4 the way to the iPod Nano prize, with Jennifer, Nancy, and Toby nipping at her heels.

If you would like to enter, and you are already registered, you can find the “Tell A Friend” form at:

www.NashobaValley.com/tellafriend.html

Good luck to everyone, and keep those referrals coming. I’m going to have even more special surprises for everyone who is on the Pre-Launch Notification List. I’ll be giving you some hints over the next few days!

Thanks,

Chuck

Granite City Electric is running their 3rd annual Field of Dreams Contest.  Each year, Granite City Electric has installed lights on one lucky town’s Little League baseball field, and this year, Dunstable, Groton, and Pepperell are in the semi-finals.

In order to advance to the final round (which is a random drawing), each town needs to have 1,500 votes.  Right now, none of our Nashoba Valley towns has 1,500.  So, if you could go vote for one of these towns (and tell your friends about the contest), you’d be helping out the communities of the Nashoba Valley.

Here’s where you can vote…

Granite City Electric Field of Dreams III Contest Site

When you get to the web site, there will be two logos - one that says “America Online” and one that says “All Others”.  Click on the appropriate logo to vote.

Right now, here are the vote tallies for our towns:

Dunstable = 301 votes

Groton = 1,041 votes

Pepperell = 1,001 votes

Please take the time to help out these three towns (I voted for Pepperell since I live here).  All three could use the lights on one of their Little League fields as they are all bursting at the seams with the number of young children in the Little League system in each town.

Thanks!

Chuck

As part of the pulling together the NashobaValley.com web site, I thought it would be really cool to have an illustrated map of the towns I’ve included on the web site.  Here it is:

If you click on the image, a larger version will appear in a new window.  Check it out to see if you can recognize the buildings that represent each town!

When the site is launched, I’ll be having another referral contest, and the winners will receive a t-shirt with ths image on it.  Of course, you won’t have to refer 15 people to win a t-shirt - anyone who refers 5 people will get the t-shirt.  This contest will start on Monday, September 25th when the site launches.

Thanks,
Chuck