"Hands Across Sunnyside" shows neighborhood solidarity

Principal Joe Gutierrez shows neighborhood unity in front of Killip School.

Today a human chain made its way along 6th Avenue in Flagstaff's Sunnyside neighborhood to show neighborhood solidarity. Citizens joined members of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association, Killip Elementary School children and teachers in the event to show the power of community. Passing cars honked and neighbors waved.

"It was heart warming to hear the children say, 'We love our neighborhood'," said Coral Evans, Executive Director at The Sunnyside Neighborhood Association of Flagstaff, Inc. The group whose motto is "Blending Cultures, Enriching Lives" hoped to bring out enough people to link 4th Street with West Street, a distance of about 1/2 mile. "We could have had it, if we'd stretched out a bit," said one participant.

"This is a good start. We have next year," said Deb Hill, community organizer. About 400 people participated in this inaugural event.


Children from Killip Elementary School (Kindergarten though sixth grade) made up most of the human chain. The school has a year-round schedule. Principal Joe Gutierrez held hands with children and smiled as he was tugged along in line.

Deb Hill in foreground with Coral Evans (in background) watching for the gap to be filled.

Jamie Hasapis helps direct the human chain in Flagstaff, AZ.

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Social Media Marketing Tip: Add more than one email to Facebook

Adding emails accounts to Facebook will help others "Friend" you easier. By registering and associating all the email addresses that you have, or have ever used, FB allows friends, family and biz associates to automatically and instantly send "Friend" requests to you.

The “Friend” request is activated by whichever email that they have in their email address book for you. But the request can only be connected to you in FB if you have also added that old/new email address to your FB account.  FB will then automatically link “Friends” to you via that old or new email address.

Tip: After adding email addresses to your FB account, make sure that you check the radial button of the email address that you want to use as your main FB contact email.

In Facebook go to: Account>Account settings>Email

Like this article? Share it with your friends using the buttons at the bottom of the posting. Stacey Wittig is an award-winning marketing strategist based in Flagstaff, Arizona.

7 secrets to successful promotion of Examiner

Have a website, but you aren't getting traffic? Here are seven secrets of internet marketing and email marketing to driving traffic to your website.

1.) Set up all your email accounts to populate an automatic signature at the bottom of each email. Then add a weblink to your website to the automatic signature. I use Bit_ly.com to shorten my URL (weblink) and get a count of how many people click-thru from my emails. (Bit_ly.com gives you a cool report on click-thrus.) My automatic signature looks like this:

Stacey Wittig
Freelance writer
PO Box 17032
Munds Park, AZ 86017-7032
http://bit.ly/5JPTqS
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.co/in/wittigwriter
http://twitter.com/travelwriter
wittigwriter.blogspot.com
wittigwriter@gmail.com

2.) Twitter Tip: As you can see from my email signature, I use Twitter and let all the people who get my emails know that I am on Twitter. That helps build my Twitter following. I Tweet three times through the day about info in my website and include a link to my website (again using bit_ly.com). I space the three tweets per article throughout the day. Click here to learn more about using Twitter: http://bit.ly/aw1qVM

3.) When interviewing someone, get their email address and Twitter name. They will love to see their name in print, so email them a link to your Examiner article. I always ask them to email it out to their customer or friend list. (Because they love others to see their name in print, too!) Do the same thing with Twitter, ask them to ReTweet the link to "their" article.

4.) If I have provided a link in my article to someone's website, I always ask for a link from their site to mine. That helps with SEO and getting a higher ranking on search engines.

5.) I set Twitter up to automatically populate my Facebook account. That way, I don't spend much time on Facebook, I let Twitter do all the work. I check my Facebook for messages and friend requests about twice a week.

6.) At the end of each article, I ask the reader to "subscribe" with this comment:

Enjoy this article? Receive e-mail alerts when new Phoenix hiking articles are available. Just click on the “Subscribe” button above.

7.) About once every 30 -45 days, I send a link to a funny or wide-appeal Examiner article that I have written to my personal email list of friends and family. I ask them to "Subscribe." I haven't gotten many subscribers, but people tell me that they enjoy the articles, so I am getting hits from the email marketing.

Stacey Wittig is a freelance writer and marketing consultant located in Flagstaff, AZ Shew writes for Examiner.com as "Phoenix Hiking Examiner" and "Grand Canyon Hiking Examiner." Enjoy this article? Receive e-mail alerts when new marketing articles are available. Just click on the “Subscribe” button above.

New marketing tool for you business

Twitter users watch as a million lights illuminate Red Rock Fantasy in Sedona, AZ

Sedona, Arizona -- Los Abrigados Resort in Sedona hosted the Sedona Tweet Up tonight as a million points of light were turned on for the lighting of  "Red Rock Fantasy." About 30 social media-savvy innovators watched as Santa Claus arrived via helicopter.

You can bet that those tweople will be twittering about the gala to all their friends and family on Twitter and Facebook tonight and tomorrow. You can't BUY advertising that good! Word-of-mouth advertising is as good as it gets. That's what 1000s of customers told me when I was selling newspaper, Outdoor or Yellow Page advertising. Recommendations will drive traffic to your business faster than the printed (advertised) word. Much of the time, when a friend refers a potential client to your business, that potential client won't question price.  That's an added bonus.

So what lesson can be learned here? What is the new marketing tool for your business? To coincide with your next company event, invite your Twitter followers. Ask them to invite THEIR Twitter followers. Tell them to RT (re-tweet) your invitation. Call it a "Tweet Up." Offer appetizers, raffle prizes or free drinks.

Don't have an upcoming company event? Then plan one. It could be a little get together in the lobby, the lighting of a Christmas tree in the break room, an open house in the garage. Make it a "Tweet-up" and soon you'll be the talk of the town. Or the Tweet of the town...

BTW, you can see the awesome display of lights, and take photos like the one I captured above from now until January 2, 2010. 

Los Abrigados Resort

160 Portal Lane, Sedona, Arizona 86336

877-695-4161 (Online Specials & Promotions)
928-282-1777 (Los Abrigados Resort Front Desk

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Stacey Wittig of Wittigwriter Marketing and Sales is a Flagstaff marketing strategist and copy writer. Follow her blog for more FREE marketing ideas, Twitter tips and free marketing advice on how to use social media and internet marketing to promote your service or product. Simply go to the right column and "Follow" or "Subscribe." It's FREE!

Make Twitter Work for Your Business

Larry Pollock (macsupportcasts) shares Twitter tip as Margo Christensen (PrescottTourism) and Paula Monthofer (PaulaMonthofer) look on.

Sedona, Arizona -- Last night I attended the Sedona / Verde Valley's monthly Tweet-Up at the  Hilton Sedona Resort and Spa. The lively gathering of over thirty business tweople shared Twitter tips. Here are just a few of those Twitter tips on how to make Twitter work for your business:

1. Link your Twitter to your Facebook account. Save time: your Tweets will automatically populate to your Facebook wall, as shared by Jane Ginn of Sedona Cyber Link.
2. "I increased my hits 30-50% by adding a video or photo link to my Tweets," said Megan Aronson of SedonaTV and Red Rock TV 16. Tweeting about Sedona? Megan says go to her You Tube channel and help yourself. www.youtube.com/user/sedonatv
3. Use CalTweet as an event management tool.  Sheryl, our fabulous hostess from HiltonSedona said she likes to use FutureTweets.com as well. The free service lets you schedule your Twitter messages, but no spam allowed!
4. TweetStats.com is another handy tool for tracking  your Tweets. For instance, TweetStats tells me that I rarely Tweet on Sundays, and hardly ever between midnight and 9 a.m. during the remainder of the week. Using this data, I could schedule Tweets using FutureTweets.com. That might help with building my European and African audience.
5. Best Twitter tip of all: join us Thursday November 19 at 5:30 Shef's Bar at  Los Abrigado Resort & Spa in Sedona. There will be complimentary appetizers, drink specials and Raffle prizes. Afterwards you can take a tour of the 19th Annual Red Rock Fantasy light show. Tickets are discounted this year" $5/adult, $2/child ages 5-12.

Tweeps from communities across northern Arizona including Sedona, Verde Valley, Flagstaff, Williams, Prescott and Munds Park congregated at Hilton Sedona.

Proceeds from the event and raffle went to Camp Soaring Eagle, a Paul Newman "Hole in the Wall" camp for children with serious and life-threatening medical conditions. Did I mention that I won a HUGE bouquet of fresh flowers and also a year's subscription to Arizona Vines and Wines magazine last night? Yeah, baby!

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Stacey Wittig (Travelwriter) of Wittigwriter Marketing and Sales helps market small businesses using the internet, social media and plain ol' paper media including business cards, brochures and reports. Call her to discuss strategies for your business. 928-699-0696

Largest Collection of AZ Artist Available for Public Review

Williams, AZ -- Bronzes by B R Pettit recently launched a website featuring the largest collection of bronze sculptures by Williams, Arizona artist B R Pettit. This is the first time that so many pieces of the artist's work are together for public showings.

B R Pettit was an Arizonan artist who is best known for his monumental statue entitled "Ole Bill Williams" that stands as a sentinel to "The Gateway for the Grand Canyon" in Williams, AZ. The eight-foot tall monument of the mountain man, for whom Williams, AZ was named, has become a Route 66 icon. http://www.mountainmanbronzes.com/

Pettit's work was prominently displayed in the Oval Office by President Ronald Reagan during the duration of his terms in office. The piece entitled "Ole Bill" was taken cross country to Reagan's home in California. That bronze statue by Bill Pettit is currently in the collection of the Reagan Presidential Library and assigned the reference number 1985.00359.01.

The original limited edition of 30 was sold out in the 1980s. For the first time since then, a second limited edition is being made available to the public. Read more at http://www.mountainmanbronzes.com/

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Stacey Wittig of Wittigwriter is a marketing strategist and social media consultant. Subscribe to this website for free internet marketing tips and strategies.

Is a Colorado River Rafting Trip on YOUR "Bucket List?"

Jack Nicolson and Morgan Freeman star in the comedy-drama film, "The Bucket List." They portray two terminally ill men on a road trip in a race to check off each of the things on their wish list, before they "kick the bucket." After watching the movie, many of my traveling friends have drawn up their own "Bucket Lists." Running the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon is on many bucket lists. With bookings down, 2010 might just be the year to check this one off your wish list.

So don your wide-brimmed hat, pull on your Tevas and pack plenty of waterproof sunscreen. Head downstream for the ultimate family adventure vacation. With cold spray of the Colorado River on your face and the hot Arizona breeze in your hair, you’ll experience the magical grandeur of the Grand Canyon.

Hike to cool grottos or ancient ruins, experience thundering whitewater or dip into blue-green pools below bubbling waterfalls. The adrenalin rush and thrill of surging through fast-moving water may give you “Rapids Fever." Or you may simply enjoy the serenity of a personal journey that reconnects you to earth, family... and yourself.

The choice is yours. Perhaps a 15-day trip accompanied by a string quartet is the voyage for you. Listed as Sunset Magazine’s Top Ten Rafting Trips, the quartet performs in acoustically-perfect side canyons of the Grand Canyon along the way. Other specialty Colorado River rafting experiences include Arizona Highways Photo Workshops and Elder Hostel trips with Northern Arizona University.

Flagstaff River Rafting companies offer six-day to eighteen-day trips. You may choose from oar rafts, paddle rafts, motorized rafts and pontoon boats, or dories. Hybrid trips which include a combination of oar rafts, paddle rafts and kayaks create even more options.

Join people from all walks of life that make this incomparable journey down the breath-taking Grand Canyon every year. You may come as a solo adventurer or book your whole family for the unrivaled vacation of a lifetime. If a white water adventure is on your bucket list, contact any of the following Flagstaff river guides. Tell them Vagabonding Lulu sent you!

Arizona Raft Adventures, Inc.
4050-F E. Huntington Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86004

928-526-8200

Canyon Explorations/Canyon Expeditions
P.O. Box 310, Flagstaff, AZ 86002

928-774-4559

Canyoneers, Inc.
P.O. Box 2997, Flagstaff, AZ 86003

928-526-0924

Stacey Wittig of Wittigwriter Marketing and Sales is a travel writer and marketing strategist. Let her help you with compelling web copy, email campaigns, social media and blogging.