I am pleased to introduce Zev and Leslie Rosenberg of Raritan Air Water Power Service. This is part of a series of guest interviews with small business owners in New Jersey. For a past interview, see Interview with NJ Playgrounds.

I previously wrote about Raritan Air Water Power in this post called Say Thank You – a trait the Rosenbergs do well! I got to know the Rosenbergs when our sons were in the same Cub Scout pack.

When did you start your business? We started our heating and air conditioning company here in February 2005. However, we were in business for a number of years when we lived in Potomac, MD. Zev has been in this field for 30 years.

How do you market your business? Currently we market mostly through word-of-mouth. We also send customers reminders about preventative maintenance that should be done in the winter and spring. Being part of the Highland Park First Aid Squad discount card also brings in additional business and customers seem to appreciate the savings.

Customers are very interested in energy savings and we try to alert them to ways to save. There is tremendous opportunity in high efficiency equipment right now due to federal tax credits and utility rebates.

Have you used social media? We currently have a page on Facebook. Readers can become a fan of our page at Raritan Air Water Power Service. We give tips and reminders there on savings and ways to manage your home.

What are some ways a business can keep customers? The most important thing is 100% quality control. For us that means every job that we do the customer has to get a follow-up phone call asking them how things are going and if we met their expectations. Let’s face it, people have come to expect lousy service. When someone’s not happy with the service they’ve received they are likely to go elsewhere, thinking it’s not worth the hassle. Occasionally we have to go back on a service call or installation. It makes the whole situation easier on the customer if we call them. I think people appreciate that you followed up even if they don’t have a problem. Most people are just shocked that once you get paid you even care! That is the biggest thing.

The second thing is to let people know that sometimes they have options of what they can do to repair their equipment. If they do have options, I like to present them and let people decide what best meets their needs.

Third, whenever I make any kind of suggestion on what needs to be repaired, I ask myself, “what would I do if this were my home or business.” I think people appreciate that you are trying to keep their perspective and or help them make decisions that are in their best interest.

Finally, in this current economic climate people need options for paying which is why we take credit cards.

How do you suggest dealing with a difficult customer? The first thing is that you have to establish realistic expectations and listen to what your customer is saying. We try and spell out for people exactly what we can and cannot do and what they should expect. Also you have to understand that not everybody wants what you have to offer. Many contractors will do anything to “get the job.” Because I live here I can’t offer to give someone less than what they need.

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Thank you so much, Zev and Leslie, for this interview.

I jokingly told Leslie I was going to photograph one of our toilets, which Zev has fixed while checking our heating system or our air conditioning (he’s multi-talented), but instead I will show you their logo and phone number:

Do you have any questions for Zev or Leslie? Or if you would just like to cheer them on, please feel free to leave a comment.

I met Sheila of NJ Playgrounds via Twitter (she’s njplaygrounds), and I enjoyed her posts on parks and playgrounds here in New Jersey. She also introduced me to the Atahualpa theme for Wordpress, one that I recommend if you want a dynamic theme that will do a lot without creating your own. I admire her for starting a website business while raising small children. Enjoy the interview, and please click on the screenshot at the top of the post to visit her site.

1) How did you get the idea for NJ Playgrounds?

It was simmering for a while. I wanted to find a good meeting place for a bunch of moms from Union County that were posting about a playdate and was surprised to see that the internet didn’t have good information on playgrounds in general. I knew that playground information is helpful for me as a new mom, and thought why not share it when I get it?

2) What did you do before you had kids?

I had graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with a B.E. in Chemical Engineering, but never practiced engineering per se. I began a career in explosives trace detection involved in everything from product support, training, sales, evaluations, and then right before 9-11, I took the position as the FAA Program Manager. The following years were incredibly active and had to travel quite a bit. I’m glad I was able to do this even though it was so busy, I missed my husband but I was able to work with such great people and it really helped me grow personally and professionally.

3) How would you like to see NJ Playgrounds grow? What ideas do you have for your site?

Ultimately I’d like to see NJ Playgrounds take on a life of its own, and be community driven. Making it easy for people to contribute, but also make sure that the information is what people are looking for. I think that there can be too much information, and filtering it, making it easy for the reader is one of the things I’m focusing on next. One of my pet projects for this fall/winter is getting a summary of all NJ Indoor Playgrounds, play areas, storytimes, children museums in one page but easily categorized. It has started, and we’ve got some great feedback already. Also, just started a Pioneer of the month to highlight the efforts of one person or organization that has transformed their community in NJ. Change isn’t easy and we support those who take it on.

I’m also in discussion with another playground maven who does the paper version of NJ playgrounds. She is an amazing person so I’m hoping our focus and goals line up so we can partner together. As most people can relate, doing everything yourself can limit you, especially when you have your own limits with time and money. I’m hoping to branch out a bit. Some advertising dollars wouldn’t hurt either.

4) Can you give advice to someone who wants to start a blog or website?

Ask yourself some questions first, like

• Who is the blog for?
• Who is your audience?
• What is your purpose?
• Are you passionate about it? If yes, write it down, focus, and then let it rip.

It helps to take on something that fills a void. There is nothing wrong with the tons of blogs out there already, but if you do want to stand out, you may want to find a void in a specific area, chances are other people feel that void too. I always think about how will my blog/website service others? And it can be anything, laughter, information, support, music, art, tips…

Once you get the idea, then you can start looking at the mechanics of a blog. Get dreamhost or Godaddy for hosting and domain name, check out wordpress.org, download it and then I just follow @leoraw for my wordpress tips.

On a side note, I completely agree with Hannah’s assessment on Wordpress, it truly has been a blessing. I get about 70% of my traffic via search engine. Can be a headache when you own your own site, but you have complete control. It’s been great.

5) Any comment on the slogan you sent to me:

“RaisingKids + Freelance/Website/Blogging = Sanity”

Although I’ve left my work identity behind, I do truly enjoy working with adults and freelancing/blogging has allowed me to kinda stay in touch with the working world. It has helped me stay sane, and as I take my kids to new places, it’s like a bonus that I can share it with others. Raising my kids comes first but offering something that is helpful to other moms makes me feel like I’m contributing to society.

6) What are some of your favorite posts/articles?

Although playground posts are pretty dry, I’ve enjoyed a few biggest and best- highlighting our favorites:

• Rockefeller Playground- experimenting w/ text on photos via picasa
• Land of Make Believe from Sue M, who guest-posted
• Indoor playgrounds featuring a map that is edited as people send me suggestions.

7) How has Twitter helped your blog/website?

It really has helped me branch out and although I don’t get much traffic from twitter per se I’ve been able to network and meet people who lead me to some solutions and advice. I met my playground twin in CA, OCPlayParks, who I still want to chat with soon. She’s done a similar thing with Orange County Parks, in CA and is quite an amazing person. I learned about the mapping program through her and her site.

What made you decide to set up this new blog? What goals do you hope to achieve?

Over the years I’ve met experienced homemakers who don’t save leftovers or store food safely. And many people never learned how to cook from scratch. I’m lucky to have learned kitchen management at home from the most efficient cook I’ve ever met–my mother Touby z”l.

Cookbooks are usually about buying a set of ingredients and following instructions. I like to look at the whole picture–starting with what you have in the house, then choosing recipes and meals according to your specific needs. I want to teach people how to get from menu planning and shopping through cooking and cleanup without becoming exhausted or throwing away half the food at the end.

I see CookingManager.Com as a legacy to my mother, who died almost twenty years ago. She developed a chronic illness that forced her to work using the minimum number of steps. My mother believed that resources, including time, money and energy, should never go to waste. Originally I thought about a book or a website, but since I’ve been blogging for several years I decided on this format.

Why did you set it up with self-hosted Wordpress (as opposed to using Blogger or Wordpress.com)?
Self-hosted Wordpress is used by most successful bloggers. Blogger has little flexibility and Wordpress.com’s free service doesn’t allow advertising. You have to pay for self-hosted Wordpress, but you own your own content.No one can close you down, as has happened on free platforms. And Wordpress is superior when it comes to getting traffic from search engines.
The difference between Blogger and self-hosted Wordpress is like the difference between renting and owning a home: Owning is a responsibility and sometimes a headache, but a good investment and ultimately more satisfying.

Who is your target audience for your new blog?
Anyone who wants to save money and time when making home-cooked meals. It can be for people setting up a kitchen for the first time, growing families who find they spend too much on prepared food, or people on special diets who cannot use processed products.

What was the hardest part of setting up the blog?
I’m still intimidated by coding, design and technical details. Keeping up with my post schedule has been a challenge over the busy summer.

The fun parts?
Writing, and interacting with my readers. I love to help readers with their specific problems, like what kind of pressure cooker to buy or how to use meat drippings to flavor future recipes. One mother of eight wrote that she learns something new with every post. I am still finding my voice on CookingManager.Com, so if you have questions come join the conversation while my audience is still small.

If someone wants to set up a professional blog, how can one get advice on doing so?
Most people offering professional advice also have a public website. Before spending money, spend time on a few different sites to see if the style and focus is right for you. I highly recommend Leora, who advised me on setting up the Wordpress blogs and designed the banner for A Mother in Israel. I also like Problogger.net, DailyBlogTips.com, and Nice2All.Com.

Don’t worry about missing a great offer as there will always be another one. If you don’t want to spend you can find hundreds, if not thousands, of free Wordpress marketing articles and tutorials including Wordpress.org, an active forum that helped me numerous times.

Has using Twitter helped promote your new site?
I haven’t developed my Twitter account much yet,( twitter.com/cookingManager), but I plan to. In the meantime I use it mostly for posting links to new posts. You can follow me both there and at @mominisrael, where I tweet more often.

Are you looking for guest posts for your site? What kind of posts would you like?
Mimi at Israeli Kitchen contributed a delicious chick pea recipe, and I would love to have more. I’m not a “foodie,” but I’ve realized that readers appreciate simple recipes too. And a few have sent me their own recipes to publish. See the tab “Submit Recipe” on the front page.

What are some of your favorite posts on the new site? Why are these your favorites?

• For efficiency, see Putting Quick Meals Together and Eleven Tips for Easy Kitchen Cleanup. These posts have basic information for people who want to be more efficient with their time.
• Leora and others challenged my post Preventing Food Issues in Children, the most controversial so far. I like it when readers make me rethink things.
• My favorite post about my mother’s cooking is My Mother’s Re-Recycled Meat Soup.
• On Sunday I write about kitchen appliances and equipment. My mother was an energy conservationist before it came in style, and taught me about knowing your appliances and using them wisely. It’s something that not all home cooks think about.

Leora, thank you so much for the interview. I’m looking forward to feedback from your readers.

How did you get started doing art?
I have always been an artist. It is a personality disorder that somehow becomes acceptable when channeled through pen on paper.

What was your childhood relationship to art?
Crayola

What is your training?
Growing up I had very little access to art or the artistic mentality. My parents are not artists and growing up in a religious school with no art program did not help either. I did what I could on my own but it was not until the age of 16 when I attended a pre-college program at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) that I understood for the first time how representing subject through mark making could be such an enlightening experience.

College furthered what I had gotten a taste of in pre-college. Each of my 4 years gave me a deeper understanding of how any art is conceived, designed and constructed. I received a BFA in Illustration at Pratt Institute, an art and design college in Brooklyn.

What motivates you to do art?
Drawing from life. I enjoy the experience of translating one mode of experience into another. The illustration is an end product of my excitement to study and reflect without too much questioning during the process.

What in particular do you find difficult about doing “Jewish” art? Any conflicts?
The problem with “Jewish” art is that Judaism is built on the concept that God is infinite and we are contained within God. Therefore all our our earthly experiences are illusions because everything that we see as being separate, is really one unified entity. Whenever I attempt a “Jewish” art piece, it seems pointless to show material garments, ritual items and customs, because those only exist for us to find a way to connect with the ephemeral. It boils down and boils down until not even a blank white piece of paper to gives off true meaning. There is a reason we are commanded not to make graven images, people get absorbed in the image and not the meaning. I think this idea has helped Judaism survive for so long by the fact that no matter where we are in the world, we as Jews have no attachment to ritual as connected to physical things. The idea survives even when large portions of the population is wiped out.

My connection to Judaism is through action. So it is rather my process of creating the art, in which I connect to the infinite connections and acknowledging the spiritual path that it follows, that bring me to an end product which I feel is Jewish. Because there is no separation between my being and my artistic product, the product is inherently spiritual.

What would you suggest to someone who wants to learn art? Illustration?
The best advice I can give is to draw from life. Often times we draw from experiences, but our memories have a funny way of selecting what we remember, which is very limiting. Drawing from life opens up the artist to nuances and connections that would be otherwise hidden. Using our hands, we as artists have an easier time connecting to different parts of our brains, resulting in “happy accidents,” and allow us to take something physical and transform it into something representational and meaningful.

I studied illustration because it takes the principles of art and design and applies them in a more directed setting suitable for performing commercial work compared to what is generally taught in the contemporary fine art educational setting. Direction is important, because without focus artists tend to turn to their own desire to be admired by others, rather than contributing their abilities to the enlightenment of the public.

Can you tell us about the Hipsters and Hassids project?

I constructed an illustrated book titled “Hipsters and Hassids: The Youth of Williamsburg North and South.” It is an investigative illustrative study which discovers the surprising similarities these seemingly polar opposite communities have in common. I went inside the neighborhoods, with a strong focus on the Hassidic side, particularly concerning the women, to see first hand what life is like behind the surface is like. One of the biggest misunderstandings (and commonalities) is that both sides are so off-putting. On the Hipster side they sell their look and lifestyle as a product. Life is valued by the self absorbed fascination with the party, the outfit, and obscure references to music and culture, but lacking any meaning which had once held strong associations to those things. On the Hassidic end of things they are very protective of preserving their customs and way of life and outside influences are harmful in that respect. The truth is that people are the same everywhere, there will always be people open and close-minded, self absorbed and absorbed in other things, those of respect and those who bring shame to the human race, but the important thing is to remember the unity that all people share. We are all a part of this world for a reason and an obsession with particular fashions just aint it.

Elke is looking for publishers and those interested in self-published copies.
selections from the book are featured here:
http://www.elkerevasudin.com/portfolio/williamsburg.html

Please check out her website: http://www.elkerevasudin.com
and blog updated constantly with new illustrations:
http://www.elkerevasudin.com/blog.html

     

I met Itzhak Schier through Twitter. He has helped me with some of my questions on Drupal. Last week, he asked the following in a tweet: “is looking for ways to use Twitter to promote my sites without resorting to spam as well as ways to use this as a real social network.” So I thought, oh, great post topic! I emailed some questions to Itzhak.

1. What are you selling?

WOSWN.com is a site where all merchandise or services that are offered on sale, at a discount, or at reduced price can be listed. It is the first in a galaxy of open source sites that will include social networking, goal-setting and business oriented sites with launches occurring at least weekly over the next six weeks.

2. To whom are you selling? What is your market?

Audience: Online and offline business ranging from occasional Ebay, Etsy, Bonanzle, Amazon etc sellers to major retailers.

3. What would you say if you were not afraid of spam?

WOWSN, which stands for What’s On Sale Where Now, is a simply designed, easy to use and economical worldwide listing of sales and discounts, online and offline. It is meant for all merchants who offer reduced price or free/bonus merchandise, from occasional E-bayers and users of sites such as Etsy and Bonanzie, to major bricks and mortar retailers. With sales easily indexed by category of merchandise, type of sale, price, and location, WOSWN.com is the premier resource for consumers who look for sales and discounts especially in these recessionary times when discounts mean more and more to shoppers.

Until now, there has been no listing of merchandise which is available at a reduced price. Now, with WOSWN.com, a shopper will begin looking for sales at her fingertips, and act immediately to either purchase the merchandise online using the easy link to the offering site, or to head out to the location where the merchandise is offered.

In essence, WOSWN.com is the clearance or sale rack of the Internet and the place shoppers will search in order to find the best deals across the Web, across the world, or across the street.

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My response: first, Itzhak, it is an honor to have you on my blog! As I know you are an excellent webmaster from your skill in answering my Drupal questions, it sounds like you also need to learn marketing, sales and public relations. A small business owner who wears many hats! Years ago, my brother told me if he wants to learn a topic, he offers to teach a course. I am not a professor or teacher, but as a blogger, I can write a post on marketing, sales and/or public relations in order to learn along with you.

Idea 1:
I follow Jennifer Fong on Twitter whose specialty is Direct Sales. One of the tweets I see her using over and over again is “What can I do for YOU today?” In other words, try to help the folks with whom you are trying to connect. Instead of telling them what they need, ask them what they need. For lots more of Jennifer’s great ideas, please read her blog on Direct Sales & Social Media.

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Idea 2:

Another person I follow on Twitter is Deidre Breakenridge. I am reading the book that she wrote with Brian Solis, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR. Much of the book is directed toward larger companies, but we can apply some of it to your case as well. Here are few snippets from her book:

“Figure out who your customers are and where they go for their information. This forces PR to mirror sales strategies to reach people who could benefit from the product or service. Different people go to different places for information. First determine where you want to be, and then work backward from there.” (p. 13)

And on p. 146 there’s a great subtitle:

It’s Not About Selling, It’s about Dialogue

A tip on p. 149: Learn by reading other blogs and from the successes of others.

Regarding the successes of others, who else is doing websites of sales? Are there others that charge similar prices and do well (who are your competitors)? What can you learn from them?

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Idea 3:
When I put up a website, especially one that is trying to make sales, I say put up some general information that the people in your market can use. For example, I did a website last year for a hypnotherapist, and we included a page with general information about the health benefits of hypnotherapy. Even better than a static page would be a blog with information that can help your potential clients. Then you can tweet a new post of helpful information. Once on your blog, a reader might want to click to see other pages of your site as well.

Can anyone else give Itzhak some ideas or guidance? Thanks!

Riva Ben-Ezra started Dulce Catering as a means of serving the smaller events in people’s lives – Shabbat dinners, birthday parties, Sheva brachot*, and other small gatherings. Based in Hashmonaim, Israel, Dulce Catering makes mouth-watering meals for small groups, artistic dessert platters, and eye-catching birthday cakes for your special occasion. All food is strictly kosher. Dulce also packages gift baskets for Purim and all year round.

For the past year Riva has run the first and second grade Beit Yeladim on Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, cooking and baking with them as an extension of their informal education process. She believes that teaching children to cook gives them independence, self-satisfaction, and is an excellent way to express their creativity.

Before moving to Israel, Riva and her family lived in Highland Park, New Jersey.

How did you get started in catering? I love to cook, and especially to bake. Someone has to eat all that food! Seriously, after the birth of Renatya (my second child), I wanted to find a more flexible work schedule, something that would keep me at home more and would be the creative outlet I felt was lacking in my present profession (veterinarian).

What types of catering do you do? I am not interested in giant cookie cutter affairs (pardon the pun) – I like to see the expressions on people’s faces when they eat my food, and I like to give people the feeling of being spoiled by receiving a scrumptious meal as a gift. For that reason, I prefer to do family dinners, sheva brachot, and other parties of less than 50 people. I also make designer birthday cakes and Purim baskets customized to your theme. My newest venture is children’s baking workshops and birthday parties for lower-elementary-school-aged children. Those are a lot of fun. I sell homemade ricotta cheese as well.

Where would you like to see your business in five years? I would love to have my own kitchen storefront to sell takeout and baked goods and a web site where people can order meals for their friends and family overseas. I would also like to expand to personal chef work.

What would you recommend to someone interested in catering? It isn’t just making good food. You need a strong business sense, willingness to put in a lot of unpaid/unrecognized hours, and you have to be a real people person. You must also be a stickler for detail, and be an extremely organized person. As Ina Garten says, it doesn’t matter how good the cake is if they don’t have forks to eat it with.

Visit the Dulce Catering Facebook Group

*Sheva Brachot are celebration meals the week after a wedding (literally, “seven blessings”)