On a cold, windy, misty day, the Probus gang ventured out to Mound, MN.

Destination: Camp Voyageur.

Mission: Ready to give our time, sweat, and tears of joy assisting in the campus spring cleanup.

After being given orders from “Law Dog” Scott Pillers, part of our group grabbed pitchforks, shovels and wheelbarrows. We were confronted with five or six HUGE stacks (well, maybe medium to small) of wood chips. Then Law Dog yelled out, “BUILD US A ROAD!!!”

The other Probus crew members—truly shaken—were taken up the road a bit and asked if anyone could run a log splitter. With blank expressions on some faces, finally a true blue leader stepped forward and said, “I CAN!” (way to go, John). Then “Law Dog” barked out his command: “SPLIT ALL THIS WOOD!!” Safety Bob had to treat one guy when he fainted, but thank goodness he was ok.

After a couple hours of unprecedented, grueling pain and sacrifice, the Probus team accomplished their tasks.

I, Safety Bob, was under the weather that faithful afternoon and could only take pictures. But what I watched was a group of highly trained Probus employees working together to accomplish an almost unobtainable goal!

We can now add to the Probus resume, “We built a road and split a LOT of wood.”

I have asked the Voyageur staff if they could name the wood chip trail “Probus trail.”

Teamwork, commitment, attitude, and, of course, some wheelbarrows and a log splitter. We all made a difference!!

Our blogger for OneTouch Massage published an article in Massage & Bodywork (May/June 2012) called “Marketing for Introverts.” You can view the digital edition of the magazine online.

Massage and Bodywork magazine article

Sneak Peek:

“Spa owner Heidi Lamar has seen plenty of therapists come and go in her years hiring for Spa Lamar in Arizona. ‘Some are quite comfortable handing out their [business] cards wherever they go, but others would rather walk barefoot across shards of glass,’ Lamar says. ‘My busiest, most successful therapist is one of those. How did he become my highest paid therapist? The old-fashioned way: he does a great job, and he has been at the spa for almost 10 years.’

Lamar’s example proves that you don’t have to force yourself to act like an extrovert in order to fill up your appointment book. You don’t need to stand outside your office with a sandwich board yelling out to people on the street. All you need to do is figure out what type of marketing strategies fit your strengths and put them to work…” Read more

George Lee was invited by MO.com to share how the rapid advance of technology and the Internet has impacted his company’s approach to ecommerce and social marketing.

While the old Internet marketing model was based largely on paid search, Lee claims that “Paid advertising is no longer the path to gold. The rules have changed, and you need to think differently to survive.”

Thinking differently has led Lee and his company down a path of continual change and growth, including the startup of SnapSocialMedia.com, the website design and social media services division of Probus, and the nonprofit organization Jobs Foundation.

The recent growth in technology has allowed Probus OneTouch to scale their knowledge base and abilities in order to offer their services to other businesses and nonprofits—over 150 at present.

The interview explores the breadth of Probus’ ecommerce experience, the organization’s commitment to give back to the community through Jobs Foundation, and the impact of social media and mobile marketing on the future of the business.

To read the full interview, visit MO.com.

Marines care package for February

Probus’ latest giving project centers around one of our own. Neil, the son and brother of three of our employees, is a Marine and currently deployed in Afghanistan.

In support of Neil and his squad, the Probus family is sending out monthly care packages to let our service members know they are not forgotten.

Chasity, Vice President of Customer Relations, organized the care package project. As a military wife who survived a year-long deployment, Chasity has a heart for supporting the military.

She describes Neil’s situation as a tough one: “He has been deployed since October and has 4 more months to go. Neil and his squad are based in very remote locations without very nice, comfortable accommodations. His work is intense and often requires the whole squad to be ‘on the front line.’”

February’s care package was themed around Valentine’s Day, with an emphasis on gifts relating to hearts and body parts: knitted hats for cold heads, Trail Mix for hungry stomachs, chapstick for chapped lips, and tattoos for bare skin.

As Chasity said, “It takes just a moment of time to donate an item or a letter or funny card – but it makes a huge difference to our service members — to know they are not forgotten and to know we are thinking and praying for them.”

Nesvig quoted on Open Forum

Ben Nesvig, Snap Social Media division team lead, snagged a mention on the American Express Open Forum blog for an article on “8 Easy Ways to Boost Your Website on a Budget.”

Nesvig’s idea revolves around offering daily or weekly deals to consumers. Katie Morell, the author of the post, summed up Nesvig’s tip: “Try offering a daily or weekly deal that is exclusive for your online customers and publicize it on your homepage.”

Nesvig recommends talking to customers in person about your deals, too. “Do what you can to blur your offline and online business worlds,” Nesvig said. “Consider doing merchandising that promotes your website, along with an incentive to go there.”

You can read the full article at OpenForum.com.

Teresa Mataui Sanders overcame the end of one business by launching DogWonderful.com, a dog-friendly travel site. George Lee, president and CEO of Plymouth-based online retailer Probus OneTouch and digital marketing company Snap Social Media, said DogWonderful.com scored 94 out of 100 in his staff’s review of key elements.

But the site doesn’t get the benefit of that high score because of technical issues, he said. Better use of links, page descriptions and keywords would optimize the site for search engines.

While Sanders is active on Twitter and Facebook, adopting social media engagement strategies likely could build her brand and drive traffic to DogWonderful.com, Lee said.

“She appears to be in a very good vertical online business,” Lee said. “With a little work, she might generate a significant amount of additional revenue.”

For the full article, visit the Star Tribune Business page.

George Lee featured in the Star Tribune (photo by Bruce Bisping)

Did you catch us in the headlines? Check out Monday’s edition of the Star Tribune for a special feature on Probus OneTouch’s web services division, Snap Social Media. Launched just over a year ago, Snap Social has grown to provide services for over 125 companies—most of them small businesses in the Twin Cities metro area. The Snap pricing model is designed to make web services affordable for small businesses and nonprofit organizations with tight marketing budgets.

Snap builds on the online skills honed by the team at Probus OneTouch, particularly in the areas of technology and marketing. The online retailer’s success drew requests from other business owners wanting to benefit from the company’s expertise, which has recently become available through Snap Social.

What’s the motivation behind starting a business like Snap Social? “I don’t have pure financial goals,” Lee told the Star Tribune. “I’m trying to build the economy. We can have a greater impact on the economy and the job market in Minnesota by what we’re offering through Snap than anything else.”

What do Snap’s clients think of their services? Connected Families president and founder Jim Jackson said that Snap’s services have greatly increased the reach of his nonprofit organization in Chaska, Minnesota. “When we met George we were getting an average of one or two visits to the website a day,” Jackson said. “Now there are days when it’s in the hundreds.”

Read the full article online at StarTribune.com.

Glitter, puppies, neon – oh my! Snap Social Media is looking for the ugliest, most unorganized, unattractive websites in Minnesota. Do you know a website that is in desperate need of some online therapy? We want to play Dr. Phil.

Snap has launch an Ugly Website Competition in hopes to encounter small businesses and nonprofit organizations in Minnesota who desperately need help with their online presence.

Why are we doing this, you ask? Today more than ever it is crucial for businesses to have quality online presence. Think about it: what’s the first thing you do when you want to get more information about a product or service? You check it out online! Consumers have high expectations from whom they make their investments. Excellent online presence will only help reinforce a company’s great product(s) or service(s). We’re here to help!

Until December 31, 2011, a gallery of nominees will be located on Snap Social Media’s website, where anyone can vote and nominate. The grand prize winner will receive one (1) free redesigned tier 1 website* plus one (1) year of free hosting charges. The runner-up will be rewarded one (1) free custom-designed Facebook “Welcome” page. Winners will be announced mid-January.

Nominated businesses and organizations are encouraged to help spread the word about the contest, directing their customers and employees to vote for their website as the most in need of a makeover. May the ugliest site win!

Have an opinion? Visit our site to submit an ugly website or vote for the ugliest website!

Star Tribune photo of Brian Holmes (Pad & Quill) and Jeff Polacek (Trendex)

CEO George Lee, owner of Probus OneTouch and Snap Social Media, was interviewed by the Business editor at Star Tribune for a feature on Pad & Quill, a startup e-commerce business and client of Snap Social. Sales for Pad & Quill’s iPad book covers have exploded in 2011 and are projected to reach close to the $1 million mark by the end of the year.

George Lee is partnering with Pad & Quill owner Brian Holmes on a strategy for further growth and expansion. Snap Social Media, one of Lee’s businesses, currently provides Web design and social media marketing strategy for the Minneapolis-based client, but Lee and Holmes are looking into other opportunities for partnership as well.

One of the biggest opportunities for growth in iPad cover sales is in the business and education sectors, according to Lee. Lee and Holmes have discussed the possibility of offering a wider selection of covers and price points, including budget cases imported from China, premium leather covers from Mexico, and the current Twin Cities-handcrafted covers that Pad & Quill currently sells.

As Lee said to the Star Tribune, “Everybody has a different reason for buying a protective cover—security, protection, it looks like a book, it feels like a book. But guess what—everybody wants a cover of some kind.”

The popularity of iPad covers, tablet computer covers, and e-reader covers is a trend that is expected to continue for the next few years. According to recent studies, sales for tablet computers will grow from 25-30 million units per year to 120 million per year in just three to five years. Lee and Holmes plan to take advantage of this projected growth in their business partnership.