Page 2 - Sonoma County Gazette March 2017

Dear Readers,
Our March edition tends to be a marathon that lasts a full month - well - actually three months. We begin working on the Gardeners Resource Guide as soon as we’ve finished the Small Shops guide.
This one takes an immense amount of research to make sure every locally- owned business is listed correctly. We mail, email and call them all! Some people don’t believe we’re giving them a free listing, so we have to chase them down. Our theory is that they are afraid we’ll ask them to advertise.
Fear of a sales person is common. People are afraid they won’t be able to say no, so they ignore us instead. We can’t publish without advertisers, so we do appreciate every one of them! We’re just not hard sell. You either want what we are selling - 35,000 copies of information out there across Sonoma County - IN ADDITION to our two websites - all year long...or you don’t want what we offer. We’re just like any other business. We like what we do for a living, see value in it for others, and we depend upon customers for our survival.
For the last 6 plus months, we’ve been working on a new mobile-friendly website. It’s just about ready to go live, so this month we are populating BOTH websites - and yes, the Garden Guide site as well. If all goes as planned, the new site will be ready to roll out mid-month - or at least with the April edition.
David Defries of WebHelper is our Mastermind in all this and he’s been patient with our long list of requests. This is all very exciting because even though our old site did many things we wanted, it was not mobile-friendly. It’s fun to watch this one automatically adjust according to the device we are using.
We’re still a tiny group of people working in our home offices. Not having
a building keeps expenses down and provides each of us a lot of flexibility. We’re all self-employed, working with other clients as well as with each other. The “more than one egg in our basket” provides financial security. If one thing doesn’t work, another will.
Right now we’re look for another sales person to help us connect with small businesses who want to reach our readers. Jon Russo, the man we
send out to meet people, is moving to Minnesota where he can
afford to purchase a house and retire. Pity for us because we love
him. But good for him. If you read the Gazette - and enjoy sales, please give me a call...707-887-0253. HAPPY SPRING!
COVER ARTIST: Bob Bowman is a photographer specializing in landscape - fine art photography. A California native, Sonoma County has been his home for the past 30 years.
Bob travels the western United States in search for beautiful landscapes but finds Sonoma County one of his favorite places to shoot. Bob fell in love with photography as a young teenager. This love combined with his love with the outdoors have made landscape photography his passion. His ability to see beauty in his surroundings is clearly visible in his photos.
As Bob has stated “I hope all who view my photo’s will enjoy this visual journey with me”. Bob went professional back in 2010 and since then has won several photo competitions, including those at the Sonoma County Fair and Sonoma County Harvest Fair. He has been published in books, magazines and newspapers as well as having images licensed for commercial use.
Bob’s portfolio can be viewed and work purchased on his website at
www.bobbowmanphotography.com. You can also find his work on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, 500px and Google+
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