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muniSERV and LXM LAW LLP Announce Partnership

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Immediate Release – November 25, 2020

muniSERV and LXM LAW LLP Announce Partnership to bring enhanced membership value to clients of both organizations!

muniSERV.ca and LXM LAW LLP have joined forces to bring even more value to our respective customers and members by providing them with enhanced access to municipal procurement expertise as well as integrated savings!

Both companies offer powerful resources that have been developed to help municipalities throughout Canada. By working together, muniSERV and LXM LAW LLP are able to foster connections between municipalities, help build procurement capacity and provide unique opportunities and savings to muniSERV members.

Our partnership will provide a platform for muniSERV members to share lessons learned and best practices in municipal procurement while offering muniSERV members discounted rates on services. 

LXM LAW’s monthly open call-in shows will provide muniSERV members exclusive access to experts to answer their specific questions on procurement. 

Watch for dates and times of these upcoming call-in opportunities in the Events section on muniSERV.

For more information about muniSERV.ca and LXM LAW LLP, contact:

Lise Patry, Partner

613.601.6333| [email protected]

www.lxmlaw.ca   

 

Susan Shannon, Founder & Principal, muniSERV

855.477.5095 | [email protected]

muniserv.ca

ABOUT LXM LAW LLP

LXM LAW LLP is a multi-disciplinary Canadian law firm that offers legal and consulting services for procurement and contracting needs.  LXM LAW LLP has in-depth experience in Canadian municipal procurement through our experienced professionals.

Our legal and consulting professionals have been on the frontline of public procurement for decades. We’re exceptionally well-versed in both the legal and business aspects of procurement and contracting, including policy and procedure development for organizations of varying sizes and scale. 

ABOUT muniSERV

muniSERV is a uniquely original online platform that masterfully connects Canadian municipalities and the municipal businesses that serve them. Our membership continues to grow with now over 1,800 municipal and professional members across Canada.

Drawing on the 25 plus years of experience of the owner as a municipal administrator, puts muniSERV in the unique position of understanding how to bring an innovative business perspective to municipalities while at the same time helping the private sector gain a better understanding of municipal operations.

 

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Canada Job Grants Program

keyboard key with the word Learning

For the last number of years, each fiscal year, (April 1st to March 31st), the Canadian government provides funding to employers to invest in training for their employees. 

The Canada Job Grant provides direct financial support to individual employers or employer consortia who wish to purchase training for their employees. It is available to small, medium and large businesses with a plan to deliver short-term training to existing and new employees.

The federal government works with each province to roll out these grants.  The particular programs we were able to locate were; the Canada-Alberta Job Grant, the Canada-Ontario Job Grant (COJG) and the Canada-Saskatchewan Job Grant. 

Generally, employers can get up to $10,000 in government support per person for training costs. It is important to note though, that in the Ontario program at least, municipalities are not eligible for this funding.  So while each program is similar, eligibility criteria can vary from province to province so be sure you check the program offered in your province. 

If you’re a Canadian employer with a particular skills demand, the Canada Job Grant might be right for you. 

And, if you’re a muniSERV member don’t forget you’re eligible for member discounts off any of muniLEARN’s digital training solutions that ensure your investment in training is aligned with today’s expectations for your people and your organization.

Contact us and we’ll help you find the right courses to address your needs.

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A Sobering Thought – Is Your Succession Planning Underway?

How’s this for a sobering thought?

According to Statistics Canada’s – Canadian Demographics At a Glance – by the year 2030, deaths are expected to outnumber births in Canada. In addition, Statistics Canada projects that by 2021, one in four members of the labour force could be aged 55 or older.

This means there won’t be as many young workers entering the workforce – plus the current workforce is going grey as we speak.  The result of these two merging factors is labour shortages in many professions Canada-wide.  

Municipalities are no different.  In fact it may be even more difficult for municipalities to attract youth to these roles because youth do not really understand what municipalities do or what it means to work in a municipality. It’s therefore imperative for municipalities to find ways to reach secondary and post-secondary students to educate them on the merits of a municipal career in order to attract them to becoming tomorrow’s leaders. 

What is Succession Planning?

 

Simply put, succession planning is getting the right people with the right skills in the right roles at the right time.

In the words of one of our professional members, “Succession planning and development should be like a well- run relay race. The transitions should be smooth.” (Prism Group International, Sophie Mathewson, President & Coaching Practice Leader)

Many municipalities are proactive and have succession plans in place, but there are still many others that do not give it much thought or consideration until key personnel leave and there’s a scramble to replace them. Sadly, the exodus of one key person often sets off a domino effect that just results in another municipality needing to hunt for a replacement.  Again, there’s a real need to bring youth and new candidates into the municipal stream.

For those who have not given it much thought yet, here are few things to think about as you start to develop your succession plan.  

In broad terms, succession planning starts with a sound assessment process;  

  1. Identify key areas and key positions you will be losing (number of pending retirements, which year, etc.) so you can identify future needs. Create an inventory of sorts.
  2. Take a look at the key competencies the incumbent has now and determine whether or not these are the same competencies you need in that position in the future.  
  3. Create programs for pre-retirees and if they don’t already track their processes, have them start doing so.
  4. Assess the skills you have in-house and compare them to the skills you need in the future
  5. Determine if there are any interested employees in-house and assess their ability to fill any of the upcoming vacancies. Your performance management program will help with identifying if there are qualified in-house staff to fill positions.
  6. Match the skills and capabilities of your current employees to their career ambitions
  7. Identify any training needs and create customized development plans to develop talent.
  8. Evaluate whether or not you will need to move to an external hire and if so, set the wheels in motion to ensure that you can have the position filled by the expected vacancy date.
  9. Monitor and measure success. 

Don’t forget that using early retirees from the municipal world and municipal consultants can also form part of your succession plan.  These experienced veterans can often get you past the hump until you can find permanent employees. They can also be utilized to mentor your new hires and they can pass the relay race baton of knowledge and experience on to tomorrow’s leaders. 

The competition to replace retirees and fill vacant positions will no doubt be challenging over the next decade but by initiating a sound assessment process today you will be well on your way to having the right talent in the right positions by 2021!

 

Susan Shannon is the Founder & Principal of muniSERV.ca and muniJOBS.ca

[email protected]

 

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How Do I Set up a Webinar? Productivity Tools to Help

muniSERV’s professional members know that as part of their membership, we advertise their webinars directly to our municipal members. We know it’s hard to get past municipal gate-keepers so what better way is there to increase your visibility and credibility with municipal decision-makers, than with a webinar?

 

And our municipal members love webinars – particularly the free Lunch & Learn type webinars.  We know this because our open and click-through rates for our newsletters are consistently higher than the industry average rates.   

 

To be successful though your webinar must be educational and address a topic of interest to municipalities.  Municipalities won’t register for your webinar if they think it’s just about “selling” your product or service.  

 

Here’s What Our Members Say

 

“At Emergenetics we are always looking for strong, credible partners as we build our international brand in Canada and I have loved partnering with muniSERV and muniJOBS.  

I am continuously impressed by the outreach opportunities we receive with our muniSERV membership, the response we receive to our webinars and the quality of the audience it attracts.”

Gail Green, President – Emergenetics Ontario  April 2019

 

Ideas for Webinars

 

If you sell risk management software, provide some educational – or even scary statistics and inform municipalities on ways to mitigate online losses.

 

If you sell HR services, speak to the importance of performance reviews and what led you to develop your solution.  You can even provide a sneak peek of your solution with a quick demo – but again, it must be delivered as a solution to the problem you are educating them on and not just a sales pitch for your services.

 

Here’s where I feel a bit hypocritical though. I know the value and the power of providing webinars (that’s why we encourage our members to do so), but I confess, that while I have co-sponsored some webinars, I have never actually set one up myself.  (because shamelessly – I don’t know how to do it!)

 

So, in order for me to help you I had to help myself by learning how to conduct a webinar.  Here are some tricks and tools I learned along the way.

 

Webinar Tools

Your webinar can be as basic as creating PowerPoint slides and delivering a webinar by using remote conferencing services that use cloud computing, such as Zoom or JoinMe.  

 

I use Zoom to share my screen and provide online demos of muniJOBS.  While I pay the annual fee for Zoom, you can use many of their features for free. However, their specific webinar service comes at an additional cost.

 

If you want folks to register for your webinar (and you will so you can gather leads), you will need a way to handle the registrations even if registration is free.  There are many registration tools available, but one I’m familiar with is Eventbrite.

 

To create and deliver webinars you may want to consider using specific webinar software.  Here’s an article by Joe Warnimont for codeinwp, that summarizes and compares the Best Webinar software of 2019.  

 

Once you’re ready to start creating your webinar content, these Six Tips for Success are a great guideline to follow.  Don’t forget to engage your audience with a poll, some direct questions or an icebreaker to make it interactive and fun.  There’s nothing worse than listening to a “talking head”, with no opportunity to provide input or ask questions!

 

Also, be sure you turn off any chat windows and on-screen notifications that could (and will) pop up while sharing your screen.

 

And finally, be prepared with extra batteries for your wireless mouse and a fully charged headset – because we’re all well aware of Murphy’s Law!

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Service Delivery Reviews 101

The Province of Ontario recently announced they will be partnering with municipalities without pursuing a top-down approach. (a.k.a. not proceeding with regional restructuring). 

Instead they will be providing municipalities with the resources to support local decision-making with additional funding of $125 million through 2022-2023. The funding will help municipalities conduct service delivery reviews, implement recommendations from previous reviews and undertake a range of projects such as IT solutions or process improvements.  The Municipal Modernization Program is application-based and all applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.  

Why?

Well, over time, as municipalities and the needs of their citizens change, some services that have historically been provided may no longer be needed, or perhaps there’s a better way to deliver them.  Often times a review of the service is necessary to address budgetary pressures or to improve efficiencies and practice fiscal restraint.

As a result of the recent funding announcement, over the next while many municipalities will be engaging outside professionals to work with them to conduct service delivery reviews. Due to the level of detail and analyses that takes place with these reviews, municipalities often engage a knowledgeable, experienced, objective third-party to guide them through the review and to remove any bias or perceived bias with the evaluation process. 

Even though there are many consultants who can provide quality expertise it’s important to have a basic understanding of what a service delivery review is, its purpose and the work and analyses it will encompass.  

What is a Service Delivery Review?

A service delivery review is a systematic review of municipal services and programs to determine the most appropriate way to deliver them. 

It focuses on setting priorities and where possible, finding new, more cost-effective ways to deliver the services the municipality has determined it wants or needs to continue providing.

A review of local services and programs can be undertaken to improve a current service, meet new service demands and/or maintain a current service by finding efficiencies to reduce the costs of delivering it, for example.

A service delivery review is a rigorous evaluation process that ask questions such as;[1]

  • Do we really need to continue to be in this business/service?
  • What do citizens expect of the service and what outcomes does council want for it?
  • How does current performance compare to expected performance?
  • How is demand for the service being managed?
  • What are the full costs and benefits of the service?
  • Are there alternative/better ways to deliver the service?

There is a role for staff, Council, citizens and other stakeholders during a service delivery review and each should be asked these questions.

Service delivery reviews are labour-intensive, so identifying up front the staff with the range of knowledge and experience and the resources necessary for the review, is extremely important to its success. Typically, this will be the staff who is familiar with the operations of the service or program being evaluated.

The review will look to see if there are internal improvements that can be made or if there’s a need to investigate other methods available to deliver the service/program.  For instance could the service be outsourced more cost-effectively than trying to deliver it in-house, could staff receive quality training digitally rather than travelling to classrooms, is there a different bill payment solution to use, etc.?

Council has a critical role in representing the public and consider the well-being of the taxpayers by determining which services the municipality provides, as well as providing direction on the  specific outcomes or deliverables they want the review team to achieve.

Summary:

This is a very brief, high-level look at service delivery reviews. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs has a great online resource, “Making Choices A Guide to Municipal Service Delivery Reviews for Municipal Councillors and Senior Staff”, that sets out a six-stage approach to service delivery reviews.

The full guide was invaluable to me as the first CAO of a newly restructured municipality who was tasked with the responsibility of reviewing the services and programs of each of the five former municipalities and assessing whether they were still relevant in the new municipality and/or if there were better more cost-effective ways to deliver them.

Yes as mentioned, service delivery reviews are labour-intensive, but they are also an extremely interesting challenge – and a process, I thoroughly enjoyed.  When you open up your mind to thinking outside the box and adopting new ways of doing things it will save the municipality time and your taxpayers money.  And that’s rewarding!

One Final Word

My article just wouldn’t be mine without including a small plug to remind municipalities that over this past year, we have added more professional members who offer a wide variety of amazing new and innovative products and services that can help you achieve those efficiencies directed by the Province.

Why not search muniSERV for the service you’re looking for?  You’ll be amazed at some of their offerings!

You may even find that consultant who can help you with your service delivery review! 

Susan Shannon is the Founder & Principal, muniSERV & muniJOBS

Susan can be reached at [email protected]   855.477.5095

[1] A Guide to Service Delivery Review for Municipal Managers, Ministry of Municipal Affairs

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The Art of Story-Telling – The New Marketing?  

Everything I’ve been reading lately tells me that people love a good story and that story-telling is a way to position yourself as an authority in your field.

Anyone who know me well, knows I’d much rather tell a story than create marketing material.  Full disclosure here – marketing is not my forte and marketing to me often feels forced and unnatural.  That’s just not who I am.  I want to help people, not “sell” to them!

However, I do recognize that marketing is critically important to the growth of any business.  After all, people need to understand what you’re selling and how it can help them, if you want your business to succeed. 

So, let’s give this a try.  I thought you might be interested in knowing why I created muniSERV and why I’m so passionate about helping both municipalities and my professional members alike.

In case you didn’t already know, earlier in my career, I was a municipal Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), in small and medium-sized municipalities in Ontario.

We wanted to continually improve service delivery and operate more efficiently but with shrinking funding and legislation constantly changing, we were increasingly under pressure to find new and innovative ways to collaborate and streamline operations.   

Frustration #1

It used to drive me crazy when I needed to get 3 or more quotes in compliance with my purchasing by-law, but I didn’t know where to find companies or professionals who provided the services I needed and often couldn’t find one!  (I’m dating myself here, but the introduction of Pay Equity legislation comes to mind as an example).

I’d call a neighbouring municipality to see “who they used”, but every municipality’s needs are different, so a one-size consultancy doesn’t necessarily fit all.  We couldn’t afford the large firms but were legislated to comply the same as larger municipalities who could afford them. There was nowhere to search for more servicing options (i.e. smaller, independent consultancies, early retirees, etc.).  The result of this frustration – the development of the Find Municipal Experts & Services database.

Frustration #2

The RFP process also frustrated me (still does actually). RFP documents were time-consuming to develop, costly to advertise and opportunities for exposure were limited, with no focus on my target (posting in newspapers comes to mind). This resulted in limited and often no responses. A big waste of time and money! The result of this frustration – municipalities can post their RFPs, Bids & Tenders for free on muniSERV and our partnership with bidsandtenders gets them broader, national exposure and tracking of plan-takers capabilities, resulting in more responses and ultimately, more competitive quotes.

Frustration #3

Fortunately, in the municipalities in which I was CAO, we didn’t have too many job openings.  In fact, I am pleased to note that some of the folks I placed in positions after restructuring almost 20 years ago, are actually still working in the same municipality!  But, when we did need to post a job, the price was high, there were limited places to post it and the ROI was low, often with no one responding to the job ad.  The result of this frustration?  Working with municipalities to develop muniJOBS – Canada’s only online recruitment and career platform that brings municipalities and talented people together.

Frustration #4

I’m a big believer in coaching and mentoring people to become tomorrow’s leaders.  But, sending someone away to a course was out of the question by the time you considered; the cost of the course, the travel, the accommodations, meals, and time away from the office.  The result of this frustration?  muniLEARN – that provides digital training solutions for today’s environments.

There are numerous other resources, tools and strategic partnerships we’ve developed along the way and I don’t want to go through each one here. But by now you’ve guessed it – the common theme here is that every one of them was developed out of a frustration I felt in the CAO role – and I knew I was not alone! 

CAOs are busy people. They don’t have a lot of time to research things and in smaller municipalities they often don’t have the staff resources to do this for them either.

It seemed to me to be a no-brainer that municipalities should be able to go to one platform and quickly and easily find what they need – all in one convenient location.

But that’s not the end of the story!

All of this led me to thinking though, well, then how does a new or smaller consultancy or someone with a new municipal product or innovation for municipalities, reach municipal clients?

When I first entered the consulting world, I’d often hear complaints from professionals, that they couldn’t get past the gatekeepers in municipalities and that attending municipal conferences was cost-prohibitive for them as a new consultancy or business just starting out.

Then, when CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation) became law, this further eroded their ability to reach municipalities because it eliminated their ability to send emails to them. (and honestly, with my CAO hat back on here for a minute, if I didn’t know who was emailing me, it went straight to my trash folder) 

I realized there was a real disconnect here. 

Lightbulb moment!

The result of these two merging pain points; a) municipalities not being able to find consultants and services, and, b) consultants and professionals not having one location to market effectively to municipalities, is the premise of muniSERV.ca – “Connecting Canadian Municipalities and the Businesses That Serve Them.”

So, there you have it.  That’s my story.

I hope it helps you understand my passion for helping you, why I’m always working on your behalf to find new ways to do things – and why I will continue to always think outside the box! 

Please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].  I’d love to hear Your Story!

Susan Shannon is the Founder & Principal of muniSERV.ca, muniJOBS.ca & muniLEARN.ca

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Top Business Apps: 15 Apps That Will Make You Insanely Productive

Testing out the top business apps to use as a freelancer can take a lot of time. The good news though, is that I’ve done the work for you!

After spending several years as a self-employed biz owner myself, and working with a team of 3-4 people, I’ve tested out lots of different tools and apps to help streamline our business process.

This has allowed me to be more productive, as well as earn more money in less time.

From managing financial goals, to working with clients, to balancing everything on the go, we all want to work smarter not harder.

Likewise, you have big business goals and to accomplish them you need some serious apps to be more productive. And you want tools that stop you from wasting a lot of time and money!

To that end, here are the top business apps that will make you insanely productive so you can run your biz like a boss. They can help you make your business a massive success this year!

Read the whole article here to find out these time-saving tips!

By: Carrie Smith Nicholson

https://www.carefulcents.com/

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Predicting Municipal Contracts – The What, When & Why of Municipal Procurement

The What, When & Why of Municipal Procurement

No one can predict who’s buying what, when and why, but there are some key markers that can help you be strategic about reaching municipalities at the times they typically buy goods and services.

What they’re buying:
First, do your homework and research! Watch the news stories – are they mandated to get something completed by a certain time (i.e. asset management plans, accessibility regulations, etc.)?
Research and find out the contact person(s) for any municipal buying consortiums and then reach out and speak directly to them to let them know you’re interested in applying to be on their Vendors’ List and/or being notified of their procurement/bid documents. Once they know about you, you many even get them sending you a “heads up” about a bid solicitation they have coming up.

When they’re buying:
Municipalities purchase goods and services year round. But as a general rule based on my experience, in a calendar year;
     a) Construction RFPs typically are posted as soon as the budget is finished – so January to March each year, so that construction can begin once the snow is gone. Contracts for winter salt and sand of course are posted in the fall. Infrastructure projects are also posted in the first months of a new year, but generally not awarded until government funding has been confirmed. (In Ontario, after the provincial year end of March 31st) Check the fiscal year of the province/municipality you’re interested in working with and adjust your timing appropriately.

     b) More complex projects with contracts that take longer to assess and award are often posted in the spring. (new  software, consulting projects, etc.)

     c) Contracts like strategic planning are often be posted after a municipal election when a new council is elected. As part of council orientation, strategic planning is a great way to familiarize new council members with any current strategic plan and then work to update it based on their goals for the next term of council.

     d) Many municipal councils take the month of August off so municipalities slow down over the summer. From my personal experience, often the month of August is a good time to reach staff because they have more time because they’re not having to prepare reports, etc., for council meetings. I don’t mean to run out and start calling them all in August – but now is a great time to publish articles on our muniBLOG because municipal staff members often have a bit more time to read in August.

     e) Municipalities start budgeting in the fall for the next year. This is also when they will be looking at what they have left to spend in the current budget – and if they are underspent, they will be looking to finish projects or add new purchases, if they are in need of something. This means they will be putting out RFPs, RFQs etc., in the fall in order to spend the remainder of the budget before year end. Now’s a good time to register for a service that keeps you notified of RFPs – like our partner bidsandtenders. (and don’t forget new muniSERV annual members get 10% off a new bidsandtenders subscription)

Why they’re buying;
There is a multitude of reasons municipalities procure goods and services. Most are purchased for regular operational needs, while professional services are often purchased to research the feasibility and determine the need to purchase in the future.

Still other purchases occur because the municipality has been mandated to do so or because they have been granted funding. For instance this year in Ontario, municipalities received a one-time “efficiency” grant. Again, this comes down to doing your research and being in tune with what is happening in municipalities because if you have a product or service that will improve efficiency for municipalities be sure you tell them about it in a blog post or provide a free demo of it. muniSERV is here to help you spread the word directly to our municipal subscribers!

No one is a mind-reader so no one can predict with certainty or guarantee if they’re going to win a contract, but doing your homework and being prepared with the proper marketing strategy geared to the municipal calendar year and the ever-changing needs of municipalities, can help put you ahead of the pack!

Susan Shannon is Founder & Principal of muniSERV.ca & muniJOBS.ca. She can be reached at [email protected] or 855.477.5095

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Should you Blog? YES! Yes, you should!

This blog first appeared on the website of Skorski Web Design, May 31, 2019 where we were quoted providing tips on why and how to blog.

More and more experts are telling us about the importance of video and about how crucial it is to connect with customers in a visual way. It IS important – we won’t dispute that. But it’s not the only way to connect with your customer and sometimes it might not even be the best way. If you’ve been wondering if there is still space for the written word when it comes to promoting your business, the answer is a resounding yes.
Here’s why:

Blogging helps position you as an expert
Someone with subject matter expertise and who blogs regularly about what they know helps to both obtain and maintain a position on Google as an expert. Add in a dash of humor and people will keep clicking on your site because they know you to be entertaining too!

Blogging is shared across multiple platforms
You’ve heard of “old school” and “new school?” Well, if you want to appeal to a wider demographic it’s best to incorporate a variety of strategies into your marketing campaign. Some folks still prefer to read content and some platforms are more reader friendly. Think about LinkedIn. People who are posting blogs regularly to a forum like LinkedIn are business and thought leaders considered to be leading experts in their field. The written word holds more value on a medium like LinkedIn. Know your audience and where (and how!) to reach them.

Blogging is offering and / or sharing information of value, for free
Want to build some customer and / or brand loyalty? Give something away for free. What you are trying to accomplish here is building your “know, like and trust” factor amongst a wider audience. It costs very little to share some of your knowledge with potential customers for free but it could cost you a whole lot more if your competitors are doing it and they’re getting all the website traffic.

Blogging leads back to your website
Writing an article or blog is a great way to actually increase your Google reach. Search engines LOVE new content so blogging regularly and linking your blogs back to your website will help drive traffic to your website too. Make sure when you’re blogging you’re finding ways to incorporate key words into the paragraphs you write in order to capitalize on search engine optimization.

Blogging must be current to be relevant
Blogging frequently keeps you top of mind and helps keep content on your website fresh. You might not always be able to update your website but writing and posting a blog, that links back to your website, is a surefire way to stay current.
Blogging also encourages reader engagement and interaction because it allows followers to comment, share and post on your social media channels. Just make sure that you are as equally committed to engaging with customers as you are to writing the blogs in the first place!

Need some tips and tools on how to get started? We asked Sheralyn Roman, of Writing Right For You, to comment. Here’s what she had to say:

• Be scheduled and consistent. Frequency isn’t as important as the consistency of your posting schedule.
• Your goal is to create an audience and encourage reader engagement.
• Offer something of value for free.
• Write from your own life experience.
• It’s not a novel! K.I.S.S. (Keep it short and simple!) About 500 – 800 words.
• Practice “spontaneous” creativity – if you don’t write regularly you might have to practice. Think of it as a muscle that needs developing and start training!
• Keep a diary – use the “Notes” app on your phone to jot down ideas you have that could later be turned into blogs.
• Write what you know – stick to your area of expertise and become known for it.
• Your first 5 blogs? – Answer the 5 W’s. Who you are, What you do, Why you do it….you get the idea……
• Stay relevant by incorporating current events into your blogs.
• Always include a call to action – it’s fine to do so…make it a part of your final sentence or a tag line at the bottom of every blog.
• Use Key Words – make sure to maximize SEO by incorporating key words from your business / website into every blog you write.
• Commit to engagement – interacting with your followers is crucial – create a two-way conversation!

The bottom line – blogging is still relevant. In fact, we would suggest blogging must absolutely form a part of your marketing platform. We design stellar websites that exceed customer expectations but if you want to keep customers coming back, your website needs to stay current and be updated frequently. A blog is just one of the ways to drive traffic back to your core website content.

Don’t have time to blog? Hire an expert to do it for you. From art scratched on a cave wall, to text recorded on papyrus, mankind has relied upon some form of “graphics” and the written word to communicate since the dawn of time. Websites and blogging are just the most current method! Words and art were important then. They still are today!

If you’re looking to reach a specific target audience look for websites that provide the opportunity to publish on their blog. For instance, muniSERV.ca helps consultants connect with municipal clients. As part of your muniSERV membership you can publish articles on the muniBLOG where they will be seen by your exact target market – the key municipal decision-makers you’re trying to reach. Not only should you blog – you should be blogging with muniSERV!

About Sheralyn Roman
A strong background in Corporate HR and a former Teacher with Sheridan College School of Business, Sheralyn Roman is now the C.E.E. (Chief Executive Editor) of Writing Right For You. A Communications Strategist for small business, she is a blogging and web content expert! Sheralyn is also a published author and writes freelance for a variety of publications. 

If you’d like Sheralyn to help you with your blogging needs, learn more about Sheralyn.
or view her video. 

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Exclusive Opportunty for muniSERV Professionals Only!

You know muniSERV is a powerful online platform that helps consultants/professionals and municipal service providers showcase themselves directly to municipal decision-makers. Your muniSERV professional membership includes an SEO optimized professional profile with access to exclusive and targeted marketing to municipal clients. We help you build your reputability and visibility within Canadian municipalities to grow your business.

Now, muniSERV.ca and the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) are happy to announce the development of a Members in Transition Toolkit to help Canadian CAO members in transition access the information and professional services they need as they navigate their way through transition.

Our partnership with CAMA provides an exclusive and unique opportunity for your muniSERV professional profile to link directly to the CAMA Members in Transition Toolkit on their website – and to those CAMA members in transition who need your professional services. Participating in this special category increases your opportunity to build your practice/business locally and across Canada.

We are now looking for the following professionals from each province to provide specific services for inclusion in the toolkit: 

  • Employment Lawyers (who represent employees)
  • Financial Planners/Accounting Planning/Taxation Advisors
  • HR Advisors/Career/Transition Counsellors/Life Coaches
  • Recruiters/Executive Recruitment Firms/Head Hunters
  • Pension Advisors
  • Messaging/Communication Experts
  • Psychiatrists/Counsellors/Therapists
  • Business Coaches

How can you participate in the special transition/career services category?

muniSERV Members: If you’re already a muniSERV professional member, you’re all set. All you need to do is go to your dashboard and add the new, special Transition/Career Services in the “Build Membership Package” section.

New muniSERV Members:

  • Become a muniSERV member today to create your profile in your dashboard
  • Start appearing in searches in the Find Municipal Experts & Services database right away and get a Free Members Only rotating ad (value of $120) for your first month of membership.
  • Go to your dashboard in the “Build Membership Package” section and add the special “Transition/Career Services” category to your cart. 
  • Then select as many subcategories as you like in “Manage my Profile”
  • Membership and participation in the Transition/Career Services category is just $489/year. And, if you’re a CAMA member or sponsor, you pay only $460 annually.

*muniSERV is pleased to share the revenue from this special category with CAMA to support their members and future projects.

Click Here to get started or Contact us [email protected] for more information.

 

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