AMBIT News

Edition 3

August 2009

What's New

AMBIT staff have just completed the program's first customer satisfaction survey. Thank you to all of those who have responded to our survey questions. If you have ideas about aspects of the program that you did not share during the survey, it's not too late.

You can always contact AMBIT staff with any feedback you have about what is and isn't working about the program.

The information gathered during the survey will be used to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the program and make changes to better serve entrepreneurs throughout Alaska.

-The AMBIT Team

Meet the Staff

Misty Garner, AMEP Intern

Misty M. Garner is a 2009 Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Inc. (AMEP) Marketing & eCommerce Intern on loan from the First Alaskans Institute.

Misty completed the first customer satisfaction survey of the Alaska Manufacturing Business Industry & Technology web portal. She called, emailed and wrote to 45 AMBIT portal customers. She developed the instrument, communication methods and executed the survey. Because of her diligence, she was able to get more than half of the customers to respond to the survey.

Misty, an Alutiiq and Haida, was born and raised in Anchorage. She is currently a student at the University of Alaska Anchorage, studying to become a registered nurse. After working in health care for most of her life she decided to work outside of health before settling into her career in health.

We Want to Hear from You

Term of the Week

AMBIT staff regularly gathers feedback from clients to improve services. We would love to hear from you about what type of impacts our services are having on your business and your community. Please call us at (907) 279.2637 with any comments or questions you have about the AMBIT program.

Upload:

The reverse process of download; copying or transferring files from your computer to another computer using an Internet connection.

You can upload photos and videos to your AMBIT account to enhance your eCommerce page.

Tip of the Week

E-mail can be a great way to keep in touch with customers, especially when those customers are hundreds of miles away. E-mail can be used to inform customers of new products, events where you will be selling products or special offers you may be advertising.

It is important to keep your e-mails clear, relevant and to use them carefully. No one appreciates receiving e-mail advertisements once a week. Space your e-mails out so that they will have maximum impact. Remind customers of an event you will be attending or that it is just about time to buy a Father's Day gift. Use the opportunity to highlight some of your products.

If there are tips or gift ideas relevant to your product, include them in the e-mail. It can be a way to differentiate your e-mails and create a relationship with customers.

How To...

Now that we have talked about the advantages of sending e-mails to customers, how do you do it? Each AMBIT page has the ability to gather customer e-mails. During account setup, unless you choose not to, the site is setup with the gather e-mail feature enabled. Anyone visiting your site can enter their e-mail address and join your mailing list. Once customers have joined your mailing list, you can begin sending out communications.

To see your mailing list, login to your AMBIT account and under the My Ads tab, select My Mailing List. To send an e-mail out to all of your customers, open whatever e-mail program you regularly use and write the message you intend to send. Go back to your AMBIT account and click on the Select All button at the top of the list. This will highlight all of the e-mail addresses on the list. Press the right mouse button on the highlighted list and select copy. Go to the To field in your e-mail program, right-click again and select paste. All the e-mails will appear in the To field and the e-mail will be ready to go.

AMBIT is an affiliate of the Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Inc. (AMEP). AMEP is one of 59 centers located in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. each center was created by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP) to help stem the loss of American manufacturing jobs. Founded in 1901, NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce.

A public and private partnership funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, The Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Inc. is committed to developing the state's economy through the provision of technical, business and economic training and assistance to Alaska's small manufacturers and to rural Alaskans producing, marketing, and distributing Native art and other home-based manufactured products.

Alaska Manufacturing Industry and Technology Program (AMBIT)

907 279-2637

Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership

701 Sesame Street, Suite 200

Anchorage, AK 99503