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An
Herb Business Seminar
will be held
April 21, 2007, at
Sage Herb Apothecary
in Severna Park, MD
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networking
... education ... friends
CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS......
PRESENTED BY
The Herb Growing & Marketing
Network
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Our upcoming Herb
Business Seminar will be held at Sage Herb Apothecary in Severna Park,
MD, April 21, 2007
Feeling a need to network?
Want to vent about your business problems to other like-minded
entrepreneurs? Need an emotional/creative boost to get your sales
popping? Then this is the event for you. It's an intensive
day of finding ideas that will get your herb business moving and noticed
online as well as in your area. We'll talk about website
promotion, how to create a successful healing practice, creative
copywriting to bring customers in with spending in mind. Plenty of
time to meet other attendees and find out what they're doing that's
successful. We're limiting this to no more than 50 people, no
onsite registrations. We find Not your normal herb conference!!! This
intensive not-to-be-missed event is limited to 50 people, no exceptions,
no on-site registrations. We found that our roundtable format from
our 2004 event works better with a small group
and when you find something that works, you continue it. Plus our
facility is smaller than a hotel (but so much more herbal). Port Murray is near
Allentown, PA, and Hackettstown, NJ. Closest airport is Newark,
NJ, but flights can also come into Allentown (35 miles) and Philadelphia
(110 miles).
There are many motels in the area. Our suggestion is the Comfort Inn at
Hackettstown, NJ, 908-813-8500. That’s where we’re having the opening
night reception and they are offering a discount on rooms for attendees.
One day of speakers and one day of small
group hands-on workshops covering the subjects requested in the
pre-registration questionnaire including developing marketing
strategies, internet business, commercial production, publicity, writing
a business plan, getting financing, grant possibilities and promoting
yourself. We will also work with FDA requirements, labeling regulations
and manufacturing concerns for small businesses. These groups will be
facilitated by our speakers who will be announced shortly. A
social hour on Thursday, hosted dinners with the speakers on Thursday
and Friday nights and touring area herb businesses part of the program’s
schedule.
You aren't going to hear about the latest
recipes and research. There are plenty of places you can find that information
online. This is an intensive where you will learn how to make your
business successful no matter what part of the industry you're in. You
will learn how to market through speaking, writing and developing press
releases. You will learn how to "brand" yourself. If you don't have
one, you will develop your mission statement and how to use that in
branding. You will learn how to create a successful website whether
your purpose is to sell or explain yourself to customers. You'll learn
how to determine who your market is and how to find those customers.
You will learn how to bring your herbal products from your
kitchen/workshop to the world. You'll leave with how to be a
success in marketing your particular herb business and products. With
thousands of people out there trying to sell the same products, your
business will have an edge. This is NOT an event for everyone....it's
for those that are ready to make their business more than a sideline.
It's not for listening but for participating and networking.
Confirmed speakers so far
are Melissa Hertzler of
www.honeybeegardens.com, Beth Lambert of
www.herbalist-alchemist.com,
Susanna Reppert of
www.therosemaryhouse.com, Maureen Rogers of
www.herbnet.com and Timothy
Kozak, Esq. of Long Island. We may have an additional speaker if
schedules permit. These speakers, along with other herb business
folks will be facilitating the roundtables on Saturday. Tours of Well-Sweep Herb Farm
and Herbalist & Alchemist are part of the program.
Since this event
is strictly limited in attendance, sign up now. Many of our
attendees from last year are returning and will get priority if we run
into problems.
http://www.herbnet.com/shop/index.php?shop=1&cat=11.
A pre-attendance questionnaire will be sent to registrants prior to the
event and responses will determine the actual roundtable themes.
For those that want more detail.....here's what's
happening currently (August 16, 2005)
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Thursday, September
22 – 5-7pm Registration
7pm- Hosted
dinners…each speaker will be the host for dinner at a local
restaurant…there will be menus available at the registration
desk. Cost is your own. Hospitality suite open after.
Friday, September 23
8-9am Exhibits Open—Come
see what other attendees have for sale
9-noon—Morning
Session
Noon-2 – Lunch
& tour of Herbalist & Alchemist
2-5:30 – Afternoon
Session
5:30-6:30 – Exhibits
Open
7pm – Hosted dinners—Different
restaurants from Thursday night. Hospitality room open again
after dinner.
Saturday, September
24
7-8am-Exhibits Open
8am-Noon – Morning
Session—During this section you’ll be broken into small groups
to work on specific issues that were requested in the
questionnaires you’ve filled out in the pre-registration. The
speakers will be facilitating each group based on their
specialty.
Noon-2:00pm—Lunch &
Exhibits Open. Tour of Well-Sweep Herb Farm
2:00-6:00pm –
Afternoon Session—Different groups and different issues
in this round.
Melissa
Hertzler will speak on bringing products
from the kitchen to the world, Beth Lambert is speaking on regulations and
procedures manufacturers (even the smallest) have to comply with.
Susanna Reppert will be covering promoting your business (and yourself).
Tim Kozak is dealing with legal issues small businesses face and the
pros and cons of incorporation along with the best form. Maureen
Rogers
is covering business practices, liability insurance, accounting
issues and putting together a business plan. Roundtables will go
into detail on internet marketing and website development,
self-publishing, putting together a speaker portfolio, getting
grants and loans, labeling and packaging, shipping plants and
other subjects registrants wish to work on. That part is really
open until we have all questionnaires back in order to make sure
we cover topics attendees want to work on. We found last year
that this worked really well for the attendees because it's
tailored to their needs and not what I think they'd want to see
covered.
We've done
follow-up surveys with last year's attendees and every one of them
stated it was the most productive seminar they'd ever attended
because it wasn't just listening to a group of speakers for 2
days. It's very interactive and our goal is that everyone leave
with solid steps they can take to increase their business.
The schedule
is for the speakers to give presentations on Friday with ample
time for questions. There is a two hour lunch break each day when
each tour will happen for those that want to attend. Saturday are
the roundtables and we run 4 two hour sessions with usually 4-5
topics being discussed concurrently. Attendees sign up on Friday
so we know which ones need to be run twice if the interest is
particularly high.
I know it's
different from other events but after doing conferences for 19
years this has been the most successful regarding attendee
feedback that we've ever done.
Speaker Bios:
Melissa Hertzler has been an
avid herbalist for 15 years. She began gardening at an early
age, and started to pursue her studies of the healing
properties of plants in college. Ms. Hertzler began making
herbal preparations in her kitchen for herself and her husband
using plants she grew in her backyard. It was the herbal
aftershave she formulated for her husband that provided the
impetus to create Honeybee Gardens, Inc., manufacturer of
natural body care and cosmetics. Now, celebrating her 10th
year in business, Ms. Hertzler owns three companies dedicated
to natural products. Distinctive Identities, Inc. has
provided private label services for some of the world's
largest corporations. Her list of clients include American
Airlines, Colgate Palmolive, Shaklee Corp, Borders Books, Izba
Spa and Harlequin Romance Novels. Honeybee Gardens, Inc. has
grown from a small mail-order business established in 1995 to
an internationally distributed product line with presence
in such stores as Whole Foods Markets, Sunflower Markets and
Akins & Chamberlains. Ms. Hertzler is also scheduled to
launch a new line of products developed exclusively for QVC.
"Naturella Cosmetics" will launch in January 2006 with an
up-scale water-based nail polish and an odorless nail polish
remover. Ms. Hertzler is also an accomplished author and
journalist.
Beth Lambert
is the Chief Executive Officer of Herbalist & Alchemist, a
company whose products are made from organically grown or
ethically wild-crafted botanicals. And the President of
Blueberry Health, a technology transfers partnership of NJ
Blueberry growers, Rutgers University and Herbalist &
Alchemist. She serves as Chairman of the Board of the American
Herbal Products Association and chairs its Education
Committee. She has a MBA from Harvard Business School, is a
former Managing Director of the Investment Banking firm,
PaineWebber, is a former Adjunct Professor at Cook College,
Rutgers University and has been an organic farmer of
medicinal herbs.
Susanna Reppert
grew up living
and knowing the herb business and gardens with her
mother,
Bertha Reppert. Susanna came to The Rosemary House everyday
after school
where she had a little desk for her crayons,
papers and homework. She would listen to
her mother answer
endless questions and absorbed the herbal knowledge along with
her milk and cookies. Eventually she worked after school and
on Saturdays always willing to join
in the herbal fun her mom
created. After graduating from Penn State University she
became manager of The Rosemary House. Susanna has continued to
develop her herbal knowledge of all the amazing and practical
uses of plants. Her most recent accomplishment is the
completion of a Herbal Medicine course at David Winston’s
Herbal Therapeutics School of Botanical Medicine. Susanna
is a sixth generation herbalist dating back to a German Herb
Doctor, who worked in Poland, and will now be passing her
knowledge onto the seventh generation, her sons Zachery and
Cedar and daughter Angelica.
Maureen
Rogers has been in the herb industry for over 25 years. She
currently is the
Executive Director for The Herb Growing &
Marketing Network, a trade association for
the industry, since
1990. She is also the creator of HerbNET.com and the editor
of
Herbalpedia, a digital encyclopedia on herbs. At one time
or another she has had a retail
herb shop, manufactured herbal
fragrance and body care products, been the business
manager
for a wholesale flower and herb farm and consulted as an
herbal practitioner.
She lectures to groups around the
country on herbs and the business of herbs. Her
latest
expansion includes hosting and designing websites specializing
in herb related
ones. She is also a Certified Public
Accountant, a Certified Management Accountant
and a Certified
Massage Therapist.
Timothy Kozak, Esq
is currently admitted to the New York
State Bar and has a practice on
Long Island. Tim comes to us not only as an Attorney with a
successful law practice, but
with a broad spectrum of experience gained as an independent
business owner and
manager. From landscaping and building maintenance to
Insurance and real estate,
From marketing and management to crew supervisor and field
representative; from sole proprietor to partner to corporate
officer, Tim’s experience runs the gauntlet of business.
Tim’s hands on experience in various businesses and positions
provides him insight to
many of the issues facing the independent business-owner.
Here are some comments from out attendees....hope you can
make it next time! Sorry, no tapes or proceedings. It was
the type of event you had to attend to appreciate.
"Just a note to let you know
how much we enjoyed the conference. Business has been slow so I
didn't know if we could afford it. Now I know we couldn't afford
not to. It was just the shot in the arm we needed! Wish we
could bottle up the enthusiasm and caring and bring it home."
Honey Rock Herb Farm
Herb Growing & Marketing Network
P.O. Box 245
Silver Spring, PA 17575
voice: 1-717-393-3295
fax: 1-717-393-9261
email:
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